anchor

Thursday June 29, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday June 29, 2017

Peter Mansbridge plans quiet exit from ‘The National’

Peter Mansbridge doesn’t want to make a fuss about leaving the anchor’s chair at CBC’s  The National.

At Issue

Nearly a year after telling viewers he planned to retire from the public broadcaster’s flagship program, the 68-year-old newsman who defined an era at CBC News plans to sign-off for the final time with little fanfare.

“Don’t expect much,” he said in a recent interview. “I’ve never wanted it to be about me, this program.”

As Canada’s 150th celebration nears on Saturday, so does Mansbridge’s chosen date to say goodbye. The procession begins Wednesday night when he delivers his final broadcast of The National from the CBC’s Toronto studio.

Brian Williams

Carole MacNeil helms Thursday’s show, which will pay tribute to Mansbridge’s 50-year career, including almost 30 years as The National anchor. He’ll then return to the newscast one last time on Friday from Ottawa, before leading the CBC’s Canada Day broadcast at Parliament Hill.

“I’ve always taken most of the summer off anyway, so it seemed like a good exit point,” he said.

Mansbridge’s storied journalism career was launched at 19 thanks to a stroke of luck. He was plucked from an airport cargo job in Churchill, Man., after a CBC Radio manager heard his broadcast-ready voice over an intercom system. (Source: Global News) 

 

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Thursday August 16, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Thursday August 16, 2012

There have been secret talks about local casino

City staff say there’s “interest” brewing about building a casino in Hamilton — but not even council is allowed to know who’s behind it.

Tim McCabe, the city’s director of economic development and planning, said he has had “absolutely confidential” discussions about a new gambling facility in the city.

“I have had some discussions through a third party, and there is some interest in Hamilton,” McCabe said.

McCabe’s comments came about after Councillor Sam Merulla put forward a motion asking for a moratorium on any new gaming facility in the city until the public can vote in a referendum on the issue during the 2014 municipal election.

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation announced a massive “modernization” earlier this year that includes plans for one casino in the Hamilton/Burlington area. It’s still not clear whether that means Flamboro Downs will remain open — council’s preference — or whether a new facility will be built.

Though Merulla’s argued that locating a new casino in the city would be as contentious as the Pan Am stadium debate, McCabe warned councillors that passing Merulla’s motion could potentially cut the city off from millions of dollars’ worth of investment. Councillors were divided about whether or not to approve the referendum.

Councillor Judi Partridge said the city’s role is “not to roll over or chase an elusive carrot” and criticized the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, arguing the city has “a chance to say no, and to be in the driver’s seat.”

Mayor Bob Bratina argued that the city should be open to all possibilities.(Source: Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Saturday February 23, 2002

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Saturday February 23, 2002 Asymptotic Analysis with CBC's Brian Williams If you have been watching the Olympics in the evenings these last few weeks -- or if you have ever watched CBC's telecast in your entire life -- then you have probably become well acquainted with Brian Williams, master of the time zone, Mr. TimeAndDate himself. After spending quite some time practicing analyzing the runtime of algorithms while listening to Brian Williams relate the time in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Greenwich and Turin I was feeling a little timed out and last night finally went over the edge: The nightmares came all last night in anticipation of today's midterm, Brian Williams teaching algorithm runtime analysis. For every question, not only having to compute the runtime in Waterloo, but then translating that into Pacific, Central Standard, Greenwich Mean, and Mountain Standard times. Now, I know what you must be asking, what should be of more worry: dreaming about algorithmic analysis or about Brian Williams. Now, I'll tell you my opinion. Given the choice, I'd want to dream about big-Oh over old Brian every day of the week. My peaceful night sleep can do without him telling me "there's more to come", and that he'll have the runtime for me in a minute. Then giving me a disapproving look, while he leans forward and taps his pencil on the paper, telling me that in fact if the runtime is O(n) in Waterloo, then in Sydney it's O(n-14h). Can you imagine if after years with CBC sports Brian Williams deciding that he was in dire need of a career change and going into teaching. Although he would be good at consoling you after a failed test -- having had much experience interviewing athletes after bitter defeat, asking uncomfortable questions and forcing them to relive the entire ordeal in detail -- having to memorize the time conversions for every time zone and how they related to each asymptotic order would be worse t

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday February 23, 2002

Asymptotic Analysis with CBC’s Brian Williams

If you have been watching the Olympics in the evenings these last few weeks — or if you have ever watched CBC’s telecast in your entire life — then you have probably become well acquainted with Brian Williams, master of the time zone, Mr. TimeAndDate himself. After spending quite some time practicing analyzing the runtime of algorithms while listening to Brian Williams relate the time in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Greenwich and Turin I was feeling a little timed out and last night finally went over the edge:

The nightmares came all last night in anticipation of today’s midterm, Brian Williams teaching algorithm runtime analysis. For every question, not only having to compute the runtime in Waterloo, but then translating that into Pacific, Central Standard, Greenwich Mean, and Mountain Standard times. Now, I know what you must be asking, what should be of more worry: dreaming about algorithmic analysis or about Brian Williams. Now, I’ll tell you my opinion. Given the choice, I’d want to dream about big-Oh over old Brian every day of the week. My peaceful night sleep can do without him telling me “there’s more to come”, and that he’ll have the runtime for me in a minute. Then giving me a disapproving look, while he leans forward and taps his pencil on the paper, telling me that in fact if the runtime is O(n) in Waterloo, then in Sydney it’s O(n-14h).

Can you imagine if after years with CBC sports Brian Williams deciding that he was in dire need of a career change and going into teaching. Although he would be good at consoling you after a failed test — having had much experience interviewing athletes after bitter defeat, asking uncomfortable questions and forcing them to relive the entire ordeal in detail — having to memorize the time conversions for every time zone and how they related to each asymptotic order would be worse than dreaming of nothing but Brian Williams for a year. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)