Fox29 not renewing Dawn Stensland's contract

Dawn Stensland will end her eight-year run as a main anchor at Fox29 by the end of the year when her contract expires, a station spokeswoman said yesterday.

The last day for Stensland, 45, has not been determined.

"Fox is not renewing my contract," Stensland said in a Twitter message yesterday. "I wanted you to hear that directly from me. Thank you for all your love and support over the years."

Kerri-Lee Halkett, 38, will assume the female seat on the station's 10 p.m. show with Thomas Drayton.

Stensland's nearly 20 years in news includes two years as cohost of CBS News Saturday Morning and four years as anchor at KYW (Channel 3).

She moved here in 1997 to join her then-fiancé, Larry Mendte, whom she met in Chicago. The couple married in 2000.

Stensland was widely praised for showing grace on the air during Mendte's legal ordeal, remaining stoic as her colleagues reported on her husband's admission of hacking into the e-mail accounts of his onetime colleague Alycia Lane. He pleaded guilty in federal court and received six months' house arrest.

Halkett, who won the local Emmy for best anchor last month, is expected to keep the 5 and 6 p.m. shows, in addition to the 10 p.m. newscast, to which she now contributes.