JULIE WUNDER joined the News 13 Weather Team in September 2003. You can catch her weather reports during the weekday morning and noon newscasts. She also contributes weather related news stories to WLOS.

Whether giving the weather reports from the field or studio, Julie prides herself in delivering accurate information with a smile. She also attempts to cook in the Carolina Kitchen and uses her role on television to help find homes for animals.  She has worked with local animal advocate groups including, Asheville Humane Society, Animals Compassion Network, Blue Ridge Humane Society, and Sarge and Friends Animal Rescue foundation.  Yearly she is the Honorary Chairperson and Host of many local fundraisers.

In 2008, Julie won an EMMY award for her weather reporting.  The National Weather Association has granted her their Seal of Approval for her weather forecasting. Also, she is the recipient of a Silver Award from the Radio Television News Directors Association of the Carolinas and a Florida AP award.  In 2003, the Save-a-Pet organization of Georgia awarded Julie for her efforts.

Julie graduated with honors from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Telecommunications and Minors in Dance and Political Science. She holds a Certificate of Broadcast Meteorology from Mississippi State University.  Additionally, she is a member of the National Weather Association and the American Meteorological Society. She is teaching a Broadcast Meteorology class at UNCA.

Before coming to Asheville, Julie was the Chief Weather Anchor at WGXA in Macon, Georgia. While in Macon, Julie also worked for WPGA. Julie has also had jobs in both radio and TV in Gainesville, Florida. Julie grew up in Orlando, Florida, and spent time working at Walt Disney World. She danced in parades and played Mickey's best friend, Pluto. In her free time Julie loves to read, travel, watch Florida football, and play with her longhaired dachshund named Rhett.

E-mail Julie: jwunder@wlos.com

VICTORIA DUNKLE joins News 13 as the station's Morning and Noon anchor by way of Lansing, Michigan, where she was the main news anchor at FOX 47. She took the opportunity to be part of the new news program at FOX 47 in 1997. Eight months after the news started, the station promoted Victoria to the main anchor position.

Along with the newscasts, Victoria co-produced and anchored several health specials. She also worked closely with the local American Heart Association chapter and the Lansing Area AIDS Network.

Victoria started her career at the NBC affiliate in Erie, Pennsylvania, in 1993. She worked as a reporter, producer and fill-in anchor. In 1995, she moved to Traverse City, Michigan, to anchor and produce the new morning news for WPBN/WTOM, the NBC affiliate.

Victoria also has a strong interest in community involvement. She encourages young people to read and believes that reading and writing are fundamental to becoming successful in life.

A native of western Pennsylvania, Victoria is a graduate of Clarion University of Pennsylvania, where she earned her bachelor degree in communication.

Victoria and her husband, Dave, now call the mountains of Western North Carolina home. It didn’t take Victoria and Dave long to realize they wanted to raise their family here in the mountains. 
In their time here, have had a son and a daughter, August and Lorelei.

E-mail Victoria: vdunkle@wlos.com

FRANK FRABONI comes to WLOS from Greensboro, North Carolina, where he has lived and worked for the past 10 years. Before moving to the mountains, he was employed at WLOS' sister stations, WXLV and WUPN where he anchored the evening newscasts.

Frank first moved to North Carolina in 1983, landing a position as a reporter and anchor for Park Broadcasting's legendary WNCT-TV in Greenville. His story assignments included President Ronald Reagan's visit to Camp LeJeune after the Beirut bombing, deadly hurricanes and tornados and the annual ritual of the tobacco market. He then moved to Winson-Salem as a bureau chief for WXII-TV, covering everything from wildfires in the mountains to KKR's $31 billon takeover of RJR Nabisco, the largest commercial buyout in American history at the time.

His career then took him to Tampa, Florida where he anchored weekends for WFLA-TV before moving across town to anchor mornings at WFTS-TV, a brand new ABC affiliate owned by Scripps Howard Broadcasting, right across the street from the Buccaneer's Tampa Stadium. It was here that he interviewed such notable figures at New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, Former Vice President Al Gore, and ABC's Charles Gibson and Joan Lunden.

After 8 years in the sunshine state, Frank returned to North Carolina, the place he's raised his four children and called home for more than 16 years. Upon his return, he replaced long time broadcaster Lee Kinard as the evening anchor at WFMY-TV before joining Sinclair Broadcasting in Winston-Salem.

Frank's award winning career spans more than 20 years with honors for his reporting and anchoring. Frank began his broadcasting career at his hometown station WGMF in Watkins Glen, New York at the age of 16. There, he mentored under a retired writer from the Reuters' news service. He went on to study broadcasting and journalism at SUNY College in Buffalo. During an internship, Frank worked undercover with an investigative reporter at WIVB-TV. Their work resulted in several honors, including UPI's Best Investigation Award for a story that captured New York Telephone workers routinely drinking on the job. Frank went on to receive awards for Best Newscast from the Associated Press in Greenville and Best Feature from The Society of Professional Journalists in Tampa where he documented the plight of the homeless by living for three days on Tampa's city streets.

Frank spends most of his free time with his wife Sara and their four children traveling and visiting family in Eastern North Carolina. He enjoys volunteering at the children's schools and staying active in the community. He's an active member of his catholic church and a member of the Knights of Columbus. Frank is an avid outdoorsman and loves boating, skiing, fishing and camping.

"North Carolina is our home," according to Frank. I've lived up and down the east coast and there's nowhere else I'd rather be. The people are warm and friendly and nothing beats a Carolina blue sky."

E-mail Frank: ffraboni@wlos.com

HEATHER GRAF joined the News 13 News Team as the reporter of the Waynesville bureau, in November 2007.

She comes to us from WMGT in Macon, Georgia, where worked as a one-man-band reporter, shooting, writing, and editing her own stories. Before that, Heather worked at WTEV/WAWS in Jacksonville, Florida. She started out on the assignment desk there and quickly worked her way up to producer, first of the station's morning show, then noon, and eventually weekend newscasts. She also worked as a Traffic Reporter on the morning show.

Heather is no stranger to the Carolinas. She grew up in Charleston, South Carolina, and graduated from North Carolina's Elon University in May of 2004, where she earned a degree in Journalism and Broadcast Communications.

In her spare time, Heather enjoys traveling, going to the beach, and spending time with family and friends. Her favorite thing about reporting is meeting new people and telling their stories - so drop her an e-mail and say hello!

E-mail Heather: hgraf@wlos.com

DARCEL GRIMES , News 13's afternoon and evening anchor, has been making it in the news business for more than two decades. She began her career as an anchor/reporter at an all news radio station in Jackson, Mississippi. Darcel had dreamed of reporting the news since she was a junior high school student in Washington, DC. Little did she know her dream would take her so far from the people she loved and the place she called home.

"I think the hardest decision I ever made was to leave Washington and move to Mississippi. But I did." And for Darcel, the move paid off. She spent six months at the radio station in Jackson, before landing a job as a reporter at a television station in Tupelo, Mississippi. After a month on the job, the news director asked her to fill in for the 10pm anchor, and Darcel has been a news anchor ever since. As an anchor and reporter in Mississippi, Darcel covered civil rights protests, the reapportionment of the Mississippi Legislature, and the inauguration of President Ronald Reagan.

In 1981, Darcel decided it was time for another change. It brought her to Asheville and WLOS. She accepted a job as the nightside reporter, co-anchor of the 11pm Monday through Friday newscast, and host of a Saturday news magazine show. She worked six days a week. A year and a half later, her long hours and hard work paid off. In January, 1983, WLOS management asked Darcel to co-anchor the 6pm newscast as well as the 11pm. Over the last 21 years she has become a familiar face in hundreds of thousands of households in North and South Carolina. While Darcel loves anchoring, she has a passion for reporting. Her Healthcast reports have won awards, and her special reports from Israel, the Holy Land, raised money for local charities. When Good Morning America came to Asheville, she represented WLOS with an insightful report on Acid Fog. In her two decades with the station, she has also covered a political convention, a Presidential inauguration, the visit of Prince Charles, and the heart wrenching stories of children coping with cancer.

Darcel is married and the mother of two boys. When asked her formula for success, she answers, "hard work, perseverance and prayer."

E-mail Darcel: dgrimes@wlos.com

HOLLY HEADRICK Holly Headrick is a native to Western North Carolina.
She is anchor for the News 13 Weekends show as well as a general assignment reporter.

She also knows her way around the newsroom as she had worked as a producer and assignment editor at WLOS before becoming an on-air talent.

She returned to the mountains after reporting at WWAY-TV in Wilmington, NC. During her time there, she received the Associated Press Rookie of the Year award in 2001.

Holly is a graduate of UNC Chapel Hill where she earned a degree in Journalism and Mass Comunication. She was also recognized as an award winning journalist while in school by the Society of Professional journalists and Hearst Foundation.

Holly's always called the mountains home. She grew up watching News 13 and is excited to be a
part of WLOS.

In her spare time, Holly enjoys spending time with her family and friends and snowboarding, and traveling.

E-mail Holly: hheadrick@wlos.com

CHARU KUMARHIA came to News 13 in May, 2002, leaving a Bureau Chief position at the ABC affiliate in Huntsville, Alabama. She has worked at CNN International, National Public Radio, several newspapers and even one-man banded at her first job! She graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in broadcast news and political science.

Charu reported for ABC affiliates across the country during coverage of a prison escape near Birmingham. She won an Associated Press award for radio reporting and an Emmy award for "Remembering Mitch Carver"  a series of reports about a Leicester army pilot's life and tragic death.

Charu is a news junkie from Georgia who is especially fond of following international events.  She is very close to her parents and two younger sisters all back home.  She enjoys working out, salsa dancing, cooking and traveling. 

Charu says the smartest thing she ever did was marry her husband - a Swannanoa native and rabid Tar Heel.  Together they enjoy gardening, hiking, yoga, and debating politics. They also share their home with two boston terriers - Spartacus and Maximus.

E-mail Charu: ckumarhia@wlos.com

JOHN LE 's mission is pretty simple: to find the most memorable story of the day. Sometimes he finds an emotional, human story. But more often he thrives on meeting the colorful characters that make Western North Carolina such a diverse place. No matter what type of assignment, John enjoys the thrill of writing and telling a good story.

John is originally from Orange County in sunny Southern California, where he majored in Broadcast Journalism at Cal State Northridge. His humble beginnings included a memorable stint as a reporter in Fayetteville, Arkansas, at ABC affiliate KHOG. The call letters of that station made the job especially enticing.

John also attended Rancho Santiago Community College, where he teamed up on college news productions with Will Ferrell. Ferrell later became a famous comedian on "Saturday Night Live." Ever since those days, John has never been afraid to have fun on camera when the opportunity presents itself.

In 2007, John was named North Carolina "Reporter of the Year" by the Radio Television News Association of the Carolinas. That year, the NC Associated Press also honored him for "Best News Writing."

In 2008, he received two first place AP Awards in the "General News" and "Best Feature" categories. John also took home three Southeast Regional Emmy Awards for outstanding news writing, sports report, and health/science story.

E-mail John: johnle@wlos.com

Katie Killen joined the News 13 team in December of 2009 as the Rutherford County reporter. Before making her move to the mountains, she was the morning anchor at TV3 Winchester, in Winchester, VA. While in Virginia, Katie wore many hats, including producer, reporter and weathercaster.

Katie also spent time as a news assistant at CNN in the nation's capital. While there, she earned a master's degree in Journalism and Public Affairs from American University. She also holds a bachelor's degree in English and Communication from Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA.

She grew up in central Pennsylvania, where she enjoys spending time on her family's farm. She can't wait to try out some of the great hiking trails here in beautiful western North Carolina!

E-mail Katie: kakillen@wlos.com

LEIGH ANN LONG joined the News13 team in July 2008. You can catch her on the anchor desk during News 13 this Morning and reporting during the week.

Leigh Ann comes to the mountains of Western North Carolina from the mountains of West Virginia. Most recently she worked as the 6pm and 11pm main anchor at WVVA in Bluefield, WV. Before that, Leigh Ann worked at WHCP in Charleston, WV and WOAY in Oak Hill, WV.

During her time in the mountain state, Leigh Ann covered notable stories like the Sago Mine Diaster, the explosion of a gas station in Ghent, WV and the Virginia Tech Shootings.

Leigh Ann's love for news started with her first internship in college at the NBC affiliate in Columbus, Ohio. Leigh Ann also interned at The Ohio News Network and NBC News in London.

Leigh Ann is originally from Cincinnati, Ohio. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from The Ohio State University with a BA in Mass Communication and a minor in Business. There she helped found Buck-iTV, the University's TV station.

When not reporting the news, Leigh Ann enjoys spending time with her husband, Matt and their dog, Ally. Leigh Ann also loves hiking, camping and whitewater rafting.

E-mail Leigh Ann: lalong@wlos.com

STAN PAMFILIS , Sports Director, first joined News 13 WLOS more than twenty years ago, in 1979.

Prior to anchoring the sports reports here at News 13, Stan wore many hats at WJHG-TV in Panama City, Florida. He was the Weatherman, News Anchor, Talk Show Host and Sports Director. During his career in Western North Carolina, Stan has also worked as the play-by-play announcer for Western Carolina University's Catamount football and basketball.

Born March 23rd in Atlanta, Georgia, Stan graduated from the University of Georgia.

Stan spends most of his spare time on the golf course but he also enjoys weightlifting, history and going to the movies.

E-mail Stan: spamfilis@wlos.com

JAY SILTZER , News 13 morning anchor, joined WLOS in 1999. He is in his 19th year in the news business.

After co-anchoring morning news for News 13 and MY 40, Jay provides health stories for News 13 at 5 p.m.

Also a meteorologist, Jay completed the broadcast meteorology program at Mississippi State University. He is a member of the American Meteorological Society and holds the AMS Seal of Approval for Television and the AMS Seal of Approval for Radio. Friends call him "Stormy" because outdoor conditions are often at their worst when he fills in at the weather desk.

A 1989 graduate of Lander University with a bachelor's degree in political science, Jay previously worked as a reporter for WVLT-TV in Knoxville, TN; WJHL-TV in Johnson City, TN; and the Index-Journal newspaper in Greenwood, SC.

Since joining News 13, Jay has followed the oldest-ever Tarheel voter to the polls, covered the capture of Eric Rudolph and witnessed the execution of a death-row inmate. Jay's work in 2000 earned him a first place Associated Press award for general news reporting.

When he's not working, Jay often shares his experience as a two-time cancer survivor with school, civic and church groups. Jay and his wife, Kelly, live in Henderson County with their son, Malachi. They are members of Mills River United Methodist Church and share their home with Caper, a destructive tabby cat.

E-mail Jay: jsiltzer@wlos.com

TAMMY WATFORD, before moving to the mountains, worked at television stations in Alabama and Florida. After graduating from Troy State University, she landed her first job at WCFT in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Four years later the Dothan, Alabama, native accepted a job in Tallahassee at WCTV-6. In 1993 she arrived in Asheville just ahead of the "Storm of the Century."

Tammy currently anchors the 5:00, 5:30 and 6:30 news programs, and continues her education franchise, "Never Stop Learning."

She has won several awards in communications including the North Carolina Association of Educators' 2002 School Bell Award for excellence in coverage of education issues. She also received Associated Press Awards for Best Newscast in Alabama, Florida and Georgia. Tammy also captured the AP's Best Photographer award while working in Tuscaloosa.

E-mail Tammy: twatford@wlos.com