Noteworthy: Mayoral race could be doozy

By Bruce Penton on August 13, 2025.

So far, Medicine Hat has two people officially in the running for mayor, although a third, former UCP MLA Drew Barnes, said in a News article last week that he, too, would be filing papers to be on the ballot Oct. 20.

Alan Rose was the first to declare his intention to run for mayor, and former police chief Andy McGrogan officially joined the race by filing his papers at city hall Aug. 5.

Rose, who finished third in a five-candidate race for mayor in 2021 with about seven per cent of the nearly 20,000 votes cast, is hoping for a stronger showing this time around. His website, alanrose.ca, offers a wide variety of information about where he stands on certain issues.

McGrogan, meanwhile, is so far the only current member of city council to express a desire to return to the council table. He was a rookie councillor from 2017-21, when ‘turmoil’ was the overriding description of what took place. McGrogan seemed to be a calming voice among the turmoil and he might be rewarded by voters as a result.

Grapevine rumours suggest current Mayor Linnsie Clark will run again, which would make the mayor’s race on Oct. 20 the political highlight of the year.

While 11 citizens have so far filed papers to run for councillor, it’s interesting to note that none of those names are current council members. Declaring their intentions to date are Kelly Allard, Dana Christensen, Gordon Cowan, Ron Fode, Chris Hellman, Donald Knudson, Adam Koch, Pamela Kunz, Clayton Stevens, David Toth and Troy Wason. Allard and Koch are the only ones with candidate websites.

Elections that day will also choose school trustees for the public and Catholic boards of education.

The last day to submit nomination papers is Sept. 22 at noon.

– Murray Irving of Medicine Hat is riding his bicycle to fight kids’ cancer.

A senior consultant with Lifetime Fitness, Irving’s goal is to ride 1,000 kilometres and to raise $1,500 in the Great Cycle Challenge. To date, Irving has ridden 149 kilometres. He is ranked 233rd in Alberta and 1,854 in Canada.

Why is he doing this? On his website – https://greatcyclechallenge.ca/riders/MURRAYIRVING – he says “because right now, more than 1,700 children are diagnosed with cancer every year. It’s the biggest killer of children from disease in Canada.

“Kids should be living life, not fighting for it.

“Please support me by making a donation to give these kids the brighter futures they deserve.Your support will change little lives,” Irving says on his website.

– Still with great causes, Sean and Trish Rooney continue to raise money for Alberta Children’s Hospital through their Dominic Strong campaigns. Sean reported on LinkedIn the other day that the Medicine Hat Mavericks presented the Medicine Hat couple with $2,703 from Superhero Night at one of their playoff games.

Next up is the Dominic Strong online auction Sept. 26-28. If you’ve got something to donate, or you’d like to help, email donations@dominicstrong.com.

Everything goes to support the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation by way of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals’ Extra Life program.

The Rooneys’ happy-go-lucky, darling little boy, Dominic, was admitted to Alberta Children’s Hospital, diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, on Sept. 12, 2013. He wasn’t quite one year old. He died Sept. 3, 2015, a month short of his third birthday.

– Short snappers: Buck Martinez has returned to the broadcast booth for Blue Jays games following treatment for lung cancer, and while we wish him all the best in his battle for good health, we wish he and his annoying voice would retire gracefully. Like, now. … Will Pierre Poilievre reach or exceed the 82 per cent total of the vote achieved by Battle River-Crowfoot MP Damien Kurek when voters go to the polls in a byelection next Monday? The ballot contains more than 200 names thanks to protest interference by the Longest Ballot Committee, and on Monday, voters will write the name of their preferred candidate rather than marking the traditional X next to their name. … What is this, Pimchompoo Chaisilprungruang, people, place or thing? Actually, it’s the full name of the world’s No. 1 women’s amateur golfer. She also might be No 1 in the category of ‘most difficult names to pronounce.”

Bruce Penton is a retired News editor who may be reached at brucepenton2003@yahoo.ca