Fox's Beth McDonough hits hard times; Fox's Troy Aikman finds some new pals

Beth McDonough appears to no longer have voice mail at Fox 9, a possible harbinger of her unemployment after her second DWI arrest in two years.

The station suspended McDonough last week after she was charged with drunken and careless driving in a Hennepin County complaint that recounted an alleged raucous, protracted incident worthy of a TV crime show scene.

Word around the newsroom is that McDonough is in rehab and that when she gets out she will not return to a job at the station. On Sunday I began trying to reach McDonough for a comment about a "The Gossip with Marnie Hall" philly.com video, at philly.com/philly/video/081107_pc_gos.html. On Monday I left a voice mail on McDonough's cell phone.

"Some more sad news about a former Philly newscaster," began Hall in the video, which is a gentle drubbing, if there is such a thing. After recapping McDonough's latest Minnesota legal matter, which included allegations that she hit another car and fled the scene, Hall said, "Unfortunately, McDonough has been down this road before. When she worked for NBC 10 in Philly and dated a Delaware state trooper, McDonough had a few close calls after some nights of heavy drinking, according to several eyewitnesses," said Hall on the video, which did not include a date of McDonough's alleged "most ugly Philly incident." A Philly cop reportedly drove McDonough home, said Hall, who ended her video by mournfully uttering "Beth."

THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR DRINKING AND DRIVING. A poll of the very few friends I have would reveal that they have heard me say that if I have written about them and they get caught drinking and driving, they will be picked apart in print by me.

McDonough, who is regarded as a tenacious reporter, terrific colleague and great person around the Fox 9 newsroom, is the second high-profile member of the media to get into a substance abuse scrap. KFAN's Jeff Dubay recently got tossed after being charged with felony drug possession.

I don't understand alcohol and drug addiction, but I get regret and have to believe that anybody who loses a job for these reasons would later decide it was just plain dumb.

Save Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie, mugs shots normally capture people during their worst moments in life. A bad mug shot represents nothing ironic.

However, it was a little shocking to see that the closing credits of Marnie Hall's video includes a shot of her at a bar, in front of what looked like a glass of wine. Even though her video reports don't always involve someone's DWI, Philly.com might want to end with another image of the adorably perky gossip.

Yummy and Aikman Troy Aikman's stroll through Bellanotte on Friday night was like watching the personification of a 6-foot tiramisu for my source Barfly.

"Troy Aikman just walked by," she called to report. "I heard he was going to meet some Fox people." Aikman was in town to provide color analysis for the Vikings' victory over the Packers.

How did he look? "Tall. Cute. Yummy," Barfly replied.

Report on Madonna Somebody get a stage, a mike and some musicians for Cheryl Tiegs' next act.

The Minnesota-born supermodel was on "Entertainment Tonight," reacting to seeing a concert stop on Madonna's current tour.

"Madonna looks fantastic," said Tiegs, gesticulating more than I think I've ever seen. "I wanted to be Madonna tonight!" All right now.

Dialing up rumors There's a rumor that the local world of radio is about to experience a big shake-up. The rumor is that Mick Anselmo, the former Clear Channel emperor, is going to replace CBS radio executive Mary Niemeyer.

On Monday night, I called both, and only Anselmo returned my call. He said: "I can't confirm or deny rumors, but I will ask you this: Did you really think I was going away?"