Anchor

WJZ anchorman Al Sanders has cancer, station management said yesterday."Al Sanders has been diagnosed with cancer and is resting comfortably. We ask that the privacy of the family be respected at this time," WJZ Vice President and General Manager Marcellus Alexander said in a prepared statement. "That's really all the information that I have," Alexander added, declining to discuss Sanders' illness, hospitalization or how the newscaster's absence will affect the on-air lineup at WJZ.Sanders, who turned 54 this month, looked exceptionally tired on-air in recent weeks -- to the point that The Sun received several calls from viewers inquiring about his health.

If there's anyone who knows what a good Olympic television anchor is supposed to be, it's Jim McKay, whose warmth, sincerity and intelligence guided American audiences through two decades of coverage.And from his living room, both in his winter home in Florida and in his usual residence in Maryland, McKay says CBS' prime-time anchor, Jim Nantz, who has drawn some criticism for being a bit aloof, is doing just fine."He's one of the most sincere guys I've ever met in my life. He's really hit his stride, and he's hit it well," said McKay.

In a few weeks, Mark Viviano will regain his regular sleep patterns, but he'll have to go to Atlanta to do it.That's because Viviano, who anchors sports on Channel 11's Saturday and Sunday morning news shows, as well as doing morning-drive sports on WBAL (1090 AM) and WIYY (97.9 FM), will be leaving the Hearst empire for an anchor slot with CNN/SI."I didn't have to wake up at 3: 30 in the morning, but I loved doing it. I loved working with [WBAL radio morning anchor Dave] Durian and everyone here.

Longtime WJZ-TV (Channel 13) anchor and reporter Sandra Pinckney is moving to WMAR-TV (Channel 2), but not until after a year-long, paid vacation similar to the one Sally Thorner enjoyed when she jumped in the opposite direction from WMAR to WJZ.Thanks to a clause in her WJZ contract that bans her from appearing on a competing station for a year, Ms. Pinckney will be paid by her new employer to idle until July 1995, when she takes over the 6 o'clock broadcast...

BRISTOL, Conn. -- From his perch at the "SportsCenter" desk, Dan Patrick is the cool, calm, authoritative anchor personified, a guy who looks not to have a care in the world.And, in a certain sense, he really doesn't have a concern. Patrick, probably the lead "SportsCenter" anchor as the core of the signature 11 p.m. show, has had his appearances trimmed to twice a week -- at his own request.In addition, ESPN officials have also created a daily radio talk show for Patrick, again at his request, to take his career in a different direction after 10 1/2 years here.

Fifteen years ago, the Lakes Mall in Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., was a showplace. It isn't anymore.Instead, it is a stark example of a decline in suburban enclosed malls. The decline is expected to continue far into the future.Back in the middle to late 1970s, the Lakes Mall was like popular, modern malls everywhere: One or more big "anchor" stores owned by giant department store chains, a multi-screen movie theater, a food market, a sizable pharmacy and dozens of smaller specialty shops. The place was crowded each day from the moment it opened to the moment it closed.

Rudy Miller will return full time to local television Sept. 16 as part of WMAR-TV's expansion of its weekday morning newscasts.The station yesterday announced the hiring and spelled out plans to air its news show from 5:30 a.m. to 7 a.m., setting the stage for one of the most interesting battlegrounds on the local television front this fall. Beginning Monday, WJZ-TV (Channel 13) will expand its morning newscast from 60 to 90 minutes, also by starting at 5:30 a.m. Don Scott and Marty Bass will continue as co-anchors.

Deborah Weiner has walked away from her job as a top anchor for Baltimore's WBFF after failing to reach terms with the station on a new contract. Weiner, an award-winning journalist and former network correspondent, said she made the decision to leave reluctantly. She said the dispute did not spring exclusively from the question of money and alluded to the difficulty of reconciling professional and family responsibilities. For three years as a reporter and four as an anchor, Weiner said she flourished as she helped prepare and present a newscast with a distinct feel.

WBAL-TV news reporter/anchor Sade Baderinwa knows the news. Her mother is Edie House, former WBAL anchor and public affairs manager. As a kid, Baderinwa appeared in station promo shots. "It's really interesting that this has happened, that I fell back into it," says Baderinwa, who majored in agriculture business and resource economics at the University of Maryland, College Park. She came to WBAL six months ago after newscaster positions in Washington and Roanoke, Va. As viewers in all three markets can attest, Baderinwa's got that on-air look down hot: very professional, but with "a little flash."

After more than two decades at the Baltimore TV anchor desk, WJZ newswoman Sally Thorner says she is retiring, and her last day at the station will be Dec. 18. She came to represent local broadcast news at its best - serious, trustworthy and nonsensational, but also reassuring and friendly. Thorner, who was on the air for 10 years at WMAR before she joined WJZ in 1993 in one of the most highly publicized anchor moves in Baltimore TV history, could certainly ask the hard questions. She was an excellent reporter.