The Mirthala Salinas affair isn't going away -- at least not as quickly as Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa or the Telemundo television network would like.
On Friday, a day after NBC Universal's Spanish-language Telemundo division suspended Salinas for two months without pay for a conflict of interest because of her romantic relationship with the mayor, questions about the company's internal probe persisted. But NBC Universal and Telemundo declined to address them.
And Villaraigosa, during an event at the Port of Los Angeles, was hounded by reporters, one of whom was shoved into the side of a metal cargo container by police.
Did Villaraigosa feel any responsibility in the punishment of Salinas and her Telemundo superiors? Had the scandal pulled down his poll numbers? (He didn't know). And this, from a dogged reporter with KNBC-TV Channel 4: "How many chances does a sinner get?"
Villaraigosa did his best to stay on-message, reminding the group that he was there to tout the port's announcement that retail chain Target would use 100 trucks powered by cleaner-burning liquid natural gas.
"That's the real news here, by the way," Villaraigosa said.
A few minutes later, however, Villaraigosa got another example of how this story continues to live on and drag more people into its messy web. As Villaraigosa began to leave, Los Angeles Port Police formed a phalanx to keep the media at bay.
"How come we're not allowed to talk to him?" one reporter demanded.
When the police line relaxed, the journalists started chasing after the mayor, who usually permits camera crews and reporters to follow him to his city vehicle.
Leading the charge was an Azteca America TV reporter, Alicia Unger, who tried to dash ahead of one plainclothes officer only to have him push her into a 20-foot cargo container.
"That's wrong," a television reporter screamed at the officer, Port Police Sgt. Kevin McCloskey.
"You can't hit a woman like that," another reporter told him.
The shoving incident was videotaped by several cameramen, but the best angle was captured by Telemundo's KVEA-TV Channel 52, the same station where Salinas in June sat in the anchor chair and delivered the news that Villaraigosa's 20-year marriage was falling apart. The 35-year-old newscaster did not disclose to viewers that she was dating the mayor.
