Wedding then divorce for Sky pair. It was left to Sky News boss Angelo Frangopoulos to finally sack long-standing anchor John Mangos last weekend after suspending him for a tasteless line on a Chinese lottery winner. Insiders remember Mangos was the master of ceremonies at Frangopoulos’ wedding a couple of years ago. True, Frangopoulos confirmed to Crikey today: “And we remain friends.”

Expensive new web system at Aunty. The ABC is making major upgrades to its back-end website systems, or web content management system (WCMS). One Aunty insider tells Crikey the expensive project hasn’t gone to plan, with delays in implementation and overruns on the bill: “They’ve stopped even giving an ETA for when it will be launched and are keeping rather quiet on the subject.”

The broadcaster insists it’s been all smooth sailing. CoreMedia, as it’s been dubbed, replacing a 14-year-old system, was implemented for opinion site Unleashed (part of The Drum) last year and is now being phased in across the News Online portal. “The cut over [which began on June 2] involves testing the system live to ensure its stability before full implementation goes ahead,” a spokesperson told Crikey. “The project is progressing well, further testing and beta runs will be underway in the coming weeks.” That refutes our information that the system has been delayed three times because of bugs.

The system from an overseas firm is believed to have a price tag of some $35 million, though Aunty wasn’t commenting about cost. “This is a large scale, complex and major capital works project for the ABC with a significant investment,” the spokesperson said.

Hotel burning the midnight oil. A Crikey spy in Sydney reports:

“Which council in Sydney’s eastern suburbs is refusing to fulfil its statutory obligation under S76A of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 No 203 to fine a controversial hotel for trading after DA consent hours (midnight) since July 2010, when the hotel’s trial DA for 3am closing finished? Despite the urging of the local area command “police” who are writing tickets council is refusing to do anything. This council has just received the highest rate rise in NSW from IPART and is crying poor. Every night the hotel trades after midnight — the daily $300,000 fine over the course of the 20 months before the case is held in the Land and Environment Court in September could net $200,000 in total, more than enough to cover the court case costs. The council is refusing to act and the police association think ICAC need to get involved.”

Trans-Tasman halal killing. The Australian reminds us today that halal killing — where cattle is effectively drained from the throat before processing — happens in Australia, too. And across the ditch, according to one reader: “My mate was offered a job in the mid-1980s in New Zealand, paying around NZ$60,000 (a hell of a lot for that kind of job at the time) slaughtering lambs Halal-style for export to the Middle East. He turned it down because he found the prospect slightly too gruesome.”

House parking, not energy. Yesterday, environmentalist Jon Dee reported on the bi-partisan push to cut power bills at Parliament House in Canberra. Crikey reader John Gleeson has a longer memory: “It would be appropriate to remember that there was a proposal to utilise thermal energy and thermal storage in NPH at the building stage, as a huge advert for green energy.  This somehow got lost, and the area became an underground car park.”

Conditions, whatever, blahblah. We’re sure the Real Estate Institute of Victoria takes its website conditions more seriously than it suggests …