Philly loves its newscasters. Philly loves it more when its newscasters have drama. Stations have seen many come and go, so here’s a look at where some of them went.

Alycia Lane

Lane was last seen on the air in December 2007 after the now-infamous incident involving an NYPD cop and a few choice words. She was no stranger to making news in Philly, not necessarily for good reason.

Lane has sued CBS3 for wrongful termination. But she is leaving Philadelphia behind and following her beau, radio host Chris Booker, to Los Angeles. She says she hopes to get a job in TV, although rumors of a future in real estate are also swirling.

Larry Mendte (larrymendte)

Mendte is a household name in the Philadelphia area — a local guy who people trusted. However, he was convicted last August of illegally accessing former co-anchor Alycia Lane’s e-mail account hundreds of times. He recently got off his sentence of six-months’ house arrest.

He has kept himself under the radar lately. He has started a blog in which he shares stories, poetry and other writings. Mendte’s wife, Dawn Stensland (dawnstensland), anchors the 10 p.m. newscast on Fox 29. Other TV projects may be in the future.

Gerald Kolpan (geraldkolpan)

Kolpan was a 21-year veteran of Fox 29, the most tenured member of its on-air staff. Kolpan was the go-to features reporter, known for his quirky stories and quirky delivery. He was released from the station earlier this year.

His release came just months before the release of his book, Etta, which is a fictional tale of the Sundance Kid’s companion. Kolpan is also keeping busy with an age discrimination lawsuit with Fox 29.

Don Tollefson and Billy Vargus

Within a year, Fox 29 canned two of its three sports anchors. Don Tollefson, a well-known broadcaster in Philly, was released last year (literally days after returning to the air after recuperating from a car accident). Billy Vargus was released this spring after 12 years at the station. No word on any future in the Philadelphia sports scene, though. Vargus still has a link to Fox 29 — his wife, Sue Serio (sue_serio), is the meteorologist for Good Day Philadelphia.

Joe Staszak is now the lead sports anchor/reporter, occasionally getting help from former Eagle Hugh Douglas and 610 WIP’s Anthony Gargano. Senior sports producer Tom Sredenschek has also taken up anchoring duties.

Angela Russell (thenewslady)

Russell was an anchor/reporter at CBS3. She co-anchored the 4 p.m. newscast with local news legend Marc Howard and reported for the 11 p.m. newscast. Known for her conversational tone and engaging reports, she was released from the station in January.

However, she quickly landed on her feet. She picked up the lead anchor job at KIRO in Seattle, Wash. She anchors the 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts.

Paul Deanno (pauldeannoKOMO)

Deanno was a popular morning meteorologist for CBS3. He was one of the few reporters to (reportedly) leave on his own terms to become chief meteorologist at WTVJ in Miami a few years back.

Miami must not be like Philadelphia. There were no reports on why Deanno quietly left Miami in the fall of 2008, but he is reunited with former CBS3 colleague Angela Russell in Seattle. He is the morning meteorologist at KOMO.

Sally Ann Mosey

SAM, as she was known by colleagues, was a popular, cheerful meteorologist at 6ABC. Like Deanno, she (reportedly) left on her own terms, making a name for herself at WNBC in New York City.

However, WNBC announced some hefty layoffs beginning in December 2008. The station released many of its big name personalities, likely to cost cut. Mosey was among the cuts.

Rumors quickly swirled in Philadelphia about a possible return to the area, much like Fox 29 meteorologist John Bolaris after his stint in NYC. Mosey has followed his example. She is now a freelance meteorologist for WTXF, and her first appearance back on air in Philadelphia will be on July 19.

Former CBS3 anchor Alycia Lane has left PHL en route to LAX.

Lane is moving to the Hollywood Hills to follow her boyfriend, former Q102 DJ Chris Booker, who is working at KAMP in Los Angeles. She reportedly has a house in the Hollywood Hills.

Not familiar with the Lane name? You will after reading a few posts. She’s been absent from here for a while.

Her future plans — Lane said she hopes to land a TV job. Just no more trips to New York City this time.

In the spirit of good TV news gone wrong, here are a few more fine examples of reporters taking embarrassing live moments in stride.

First, Anderson Cooper gets a surprise on his birthday.

Next, a one-man-band reporter in Missouri is at the wrong place at the wrong time. (Side note: is it wrong to hope something like this happens to me one day?)

And, finally, Fox News anchors don’t really know what they’re supposed to report.

Everyone wants to be on television. Some people go to school for training. Others let alcohol do the work.

Exhibit A: Las Vegas Action News reporter who went to school. Exhibit B: Drunken man on the street. The horror in the anchors’ eyes completes the presesntation.

Not surprisingly, TV pitchman Billy Mays continued to work on new commercials until the day he died. He was in Bensalem last week finishing up some commercials for Media Enterprises, Inc., the company that produces Mighty Putty and Mighty Mendit. (The rocky landing on a plane from Philadelphia en route to Tampa had nothing to do with his death, an autopsy report said.)

The fate of those commercials has been announced.

Many Billy Mays commercials will be pulled until July 6, the day of his funeral. After that, they will air once again, including new ones premiering July 11.

Here are a few videos from FOX 29. The first features an interview with Billy Mays from June 2008. The second is consumer reporter Michelle Buckman’s memories of meeting the infomercial king.

• A June 2008 visit by FOX 29 cameras to a Billy Mays commercial shoot
• Consumer reporter Michelle Buckman’s reflections on her interview with Billy Mays

He reached the milestone before Cole Hamels had the chance.

12-year-old Colby Gage, a pitcher for his Little League in Adams, Mass., struck out 18 consecutive batters to secure a perfect game.

While a milestone, this article from News 10 in Massachussetts says Little Leagues don’t generally track such records, but it says the event of pitchers’ striking out all batters could happen “a few times a year.”

Regardless, buy this kid a drink. (Not that I condone underage drinking whatsoever.)

Fresh off house arrest, former CBS3 anchor Larry Mendte is suing the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Also involved in the suit is Inqy columnists Michael Klein and Jonathan Storm and retired Daily News columnist Jill Porter.

The suit alleges that the three columnists put Mendte in a negative light and prevented him from salvaging his broadcasting career. He says Klein and former co-anchor Alycia Lane formed a close friendship that, in essence, distorted some facts in his reporting. The inaccuracies, the suit says, caused the district attorney to up the charges from misdemeanors to felonies.

Mendte is seeking $50,000 in damages.

Meanwhile, Lane is still in the process of suing Mendte, CBS3 and Daily News gossiper Dan Gross.

Check out the Social Security Web site’s database of the most popular baby names by year. Does yours rank in the top 1,000 of the last nine years?

“Christopher” happens to be quite popular, coming in at No. 9 for 2008.

See if your name makes the list here.

In a new one-minute commercial, General Motors, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday, is letting customers know the company hasn’t kept up with changing times.

Acknowledging that eight brands is too many and its cost structure can no longer compete worldwide, GM attempts to ease customers’ (and 60-percent owners’) concerns by saying the only “chapter” the company is focusing on is chapter one.

I find the commercial oddly entertaining. And at the 48-second mark, the Phillies make a cameo in a photo from just after their 2008 World Series win.

An all new cbs3.com. It’s basically the same, but cleaner and whiter. Good? Bad? Indifferent?

The template is the same that all the CBS owned and operated stations use. If you were to go to KCBS in Los Angeles or WCBS in New York City, you’d see a very similar site.