Association

Thursday October 6, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator - Thursday October 6, 2016 'Monsters in clown costumes': Mystery surrounds terrifying trend It's a phenomenon that's sweeping across North America, from Georgia to Glace Bay, N.S. Mysterious, occasionally armed individuals dressed as terrifying clowns, who are frequentlyÊspotted wandering the streets at night, standing in bizarre locations, or menacing members of the public. There have been no reported injuries stemming from the behaviour, but severalÊincidents have led police to get involved. There have been numerous reports of "creepy clowns" in the U.S. over the last month, and evenÊa few in Canada. In Nova Scotia, for instance, a woman in her car turned down a sideÊstreet to avoid one clown, only to be surrounded by five more who stood and simply stared at her. On Tuesday, a photo of a clown standing beside a Halifax high school wasÊposted toÊInstagram. The accountÕs biography reads, "We stalking you so keep your eyes open. We ain't killing we just creeping.Ó In some cases, police have been called to investigate. Two teenagers are facing charges in connection with allegedly uploading threatening Facebook posts about clowns at schools inÊColchester County, a community north of Halifax. A 17-year-old boy from Stewiacke, N.S. and a 16-year-old girl from Shubenacadie, N.S. are facing mischief charges. In aÊstatementÊreleased Tuesday, Truro Police said Òthere is nothing to indicate that these posts were going to be acted upon.Ó Police have not described details of the posts. In yet another incident in the Maritime province this week, a 24-year-old man was arrested in Clarks Harbor, N.S. on Tuesday after witnesses told police he was walking down the streetÊdressed in a clown mask and t-shirt and allegedly grabbed at the clothing of a young boy. The suspect, who police have not identified, faces charges of breach of undertaking. And back inÊmid-August, Gatineau police let two teens off without charges aft

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday October 6, 2016

‘Monsters in clown costumes’: Mystery surrounds terrifying trend

It’s a phenomenon that’s sweeping across North America, from Georgia to Glace Bay, N.S. Mysterious, occasionally armed individuals dressed as terrifying clowns, who are frequently spotted wandering the streets at night, standing in bizarre locations, or menacing members of the public. There have been no reported injuries stemming from the behaviour, but several incidents have led police to get involved.

There have been numerous reports of “creepy clowns” in the U.S. over the last month, and even a few in Canada. In Nova Scotia, for instance, a woman in her car turned down a side street to avoid one clown, only to be surrounded by five more who stood and simply stared at her. On Tuesday, a photo of a clown standing beside a Halifax high school was posted to Instagram. The account’s biography reads, “We stalking you so keep your eyes open. We ain’t killing we just creeping.”

In some cases, police have been called to investigate. Two teenagers are facing charges in connection with allegedly uploading threatening Facebook posts about clowns at schools in Colchester County, a community north of Halifax. A 17-year-old boy from Stewiacke, N.S. and a 16-year-old girl from Shubenacadie, N.S. are facing mischief charges. In a statement released Tuesday, Truro Police said “there is nothing to indicate that these posts were going to be acted upon.” Police have not described details of the posts.

In yet another incident in the Maritime province this week, a 24-year-old man was arrested in Clarks Harbor, N.S. on Tuesday after witnesses told police he was walking down the street dressed in a clown mask and t-shirt and allegedly grabbed at the clothing of a young boy. The suspect, who police have not identified, faces charges of breach of undertaking.

And back in mid-August, Gatineau police let two teens off without charges after they were arrested for donning clown costumes and frightening small children.

In the U.S., clowns have been spotted in the woods of South Carolina and North Carolina, near schools in Ohio, Georgia and Long Island, N.Y., and standing outside an apartment complex in Kentucky. The Kentucky case led to the arrest of a 20-year-old, who appears in his arrest photos wearing a clown costume, sans mask. (Source: CTV News)

 

2016 Cartoonist Convention

ACC2016Cartoonists from across Canada and the United States are gathering in Toronto for a weekend convention celebrating, obsessing, and worrying about the future of their craft. We’ve done this every two years in almost every major city in Canada, including my hosting in Hamilton. The last one in 2014 was our first foray outside the mainland when we touched down in Havana Cuba. While it’ll be tall order to top the palm trees and salsa dancing of Cuba, the charm and skills of Wes Tyrell, the event organizer, is sure to please all in attendance. Wes is depicted in the above drawing in the bottom right hand corner. He single handedly organized our Cuba visit, and now herds the people who’ll host cartoonists in the centre of the universe.

We cartoonists are a solitary breed, and while social media has kept many of us in close contact outside of these conferences, nothing quite matches the benefits and camaraderie that comes with these rare get-togethers. It’s impossible not to notice how our numbers have shrunk with every passing convention as colleagues lose their jobs, retire, or pass away. There will be those forecasting the death of the newspaper industry within the next 5 years, as has always been stated with every convention I’ve attended for the last 2 decades. Old faces will make appearances, new people will be introduced, the association will persevere, and after we wrap up we’ll all go home energized and optimistic about the work we do.

For a look at our schedule of events surf on by the website of the Association of Canadian Cartoonists.

ACC2016