Since January, the mayor has repeatedly faced questioning that began when reporters noticed he and his wife, Corina, had stopped making public appearances together and his gold wedding band was missing from his ring finger. The mayor glibly rebuffed all probes when the questions reached a peak in January, and aides said he had been working out a lot and lost weight so the ring was at the jeweler's getting resized.
But with the Daily News set to publish a story about his relationship with Salinas, an anchorwoman and reporter for NBC-Telemundo (Channel 52), and his mother-in-law's account of the climactic moment in his marriage, Villaraigosa issued the following statement:
"It is true that I have a relationship with Ms. Mirthala Salinas. As I've said I take full responsibility for my actions, and I once again ask that people respect my family's privacy. For my part, I intend to stay focused on my job, and to work as hard as I can every day to be the best mayor I can be."
Salinas did not respond to repeated requests for an interview.