'Tampa Tribune' Editor Turns Reporter to Cover Plane Crash

By: Joe Strupp Janet Weaver hadn't covered a news story in about 15 years. But when the executive editor of The Tampa Tribune saw rescue vehicles speeding past the restaurant where she was lunching with a reporter Monday, duty called.

The result was Weaver's co-byline on a Web story today about a small plane that crashed into a nearby house, exploded into flames, and killed one person. Reaching the scene with reporter Josh Poltilove, Weaver said she interviewed the occupant of the house and a neighbor.

"It did remind me of the reporting piece of this, the part with adrenaline and it did make me kind of miss it," said Weaver, 43, who has been the paper's editor since 2004. "Reporters do this all day long so it is not a big deal. Any of us should be able to go out and do the basic job."

The reporting adventure began at about 1 p.m. when Weaver and Poltilov were lunching at a Thai restaurant on Davis Island, near South Tampa, she said. As they were finishing, weaver said both noticed many fire trucks and other emergency vehicles speeding by toward a local airport. "So many were going by, we knew something had happened," she recalled. "We went there and started interviewing people."

Weaver, who said her last reporting job was in 1991 at the Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, said she and Poltilove drove in their separate cars through a hard rain to get to the scene. "I drove as far as I could, then ditched the car and ran the rest of the way," she said. "I did ruin a perfectly good pair of shoes. I am going to charge the Web site for them."

But while Weaver's past reporter instincts kicked in, her new technology approach did not. She says she never thought to use her cell phone to take photos, forgetting that her Treo model has a camera. "It didn't even occur to me until I got back," she said. "I could have taken a picture."

Weaver's nostalgic experience occurred just over a month after she made news in a less-boastful way, being arrested for drunk driving while coming home from a late dinner. She said that charge is still pending and she is able to drive for work-related needs.