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Larry Mendte admits hacking his co-anchor’s e-mail

August 22nd, 2008 by Scott Marks

Larry Mendte & Alycia Lane star in a dinner theatre production of “You’ve Got Mail”

Those of us living in Chicago between 1991 to 1995 will never forget the on-screen antics of news anchor/investigative reporter/scivosa Larry Mendte, 51, or as Steve Dahl affectionately called him, “Larry Mental.”

What a muckraking sleazeball this guy is. Larry spearheaded WBBM-TV’s switch to tabloid journalism and there wasn’t a better man for the job. In April 1992, the Chicago River burst through a utility tunnel causing 250 gallons of water to flood the Chicago Loop. Forget about the built-in drama, Mendte exploited the disaster for everything it’s worth by directing the prop department at Ch. 2 to construct an enormous flood diorama for him to deliver his nightly panic reports. Prefabricated mayhem has seldom been as funny.

In spite of his pandering ways (or is it on account of them) Mendte eventually landed on a couple of high profile infotainment shows (Hard Copy and Access Hollywood) before settling in as anchor at Philadelphia’s KYW-TV. In March 2008, The Philadelphia Enquirer reported that Mendte was being investigated by the FBI for hacking into his 36-year-old co-anchor Alycia Lane’s personal e-mail account. Larry was suspended pending the outcome of the investigation. Before the FBI delivered its findings, the CBS affiliate conducted it own internal investigation and released Larry from his contract.

According to Wikipedia, “On Monday July 21, 2008, the U.S. Attorney’s office of Philadelphia charged Mendte with one felony count of intentionally accessing a protected computer without authorization, as he continually logged into Lane’s Yahoo Mail and .Mac accounts not only from the station, but from his computers at home and at the private Union League of Philadelphia, with 537 log-ins between January and May 29, 2008. A conviction could bring a six-month prison term under federal sentencing guidelines.”

Questions arose as to why Larry felt the need to spy on his co-anchor. Ms. Lane’s attorneys speculated that Mendte was eager to discredit her because Ms. Lane was drawing a higher salary than he was after she signed a new contract in April 2006. (She was making $780,000 a year while poor Larry raked in only $700,000.)

At a press conference today, Larry fessed up to his wrongdoings stating that his actions grew out of a feud with Lane that began after he ended what he said was a flirtatious and improper relationship with her, including long dinners and late nights out together. Larry is married to his former WBBM co-anchor Dawn Stensland.

Mendte will be sentenced on November 24. He faces a maximum sentence of five years, but more than likely they’ll go easy on him. Let’s hope that we’ll all get a front row seat on Court TV to see Larry’s best performance.

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Filed Under News

Dig A Hole: Chicago TV anchor Randy Salerno

January 25th, 2008 by Scott Marks

randy-salerno.jpg

Having been away from the Chicago TV scene for going on nine years, my last recollection of Randy Salerno was on the WGN News at Noon.

WGN was never known for their cutting edge and something about Salerno always seemed out of place. First off, he possessed a certain degree of wit, something that you’ll never find in Steve Sanders or Allison Payne. When Randy read the news he made viewers aware that there was something more going through his head than just teleprompter copy.

The only thing surprising about his jump to WBBM was that it took so long.

Randy Salerno was killed last night in a freak snowmobiling accident. His snowmobile broke down and while hopping a ride from a lifelong friend, they slid off the trail, Randy was thrown from the vehicle and hit a tree.

My thoughts and prayers go out to his wife and three children. Randy Salerno was 45.

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Filed Under Obituaries