I’ve been hearing some unconfirmed rumors lately that the downtown character / guitar shredder / panhandler / icon Johnny Yarborough was recently hit by a car and died in the hospital.  I’ve searched local media and have found nothing to confirm this.  Has anybody else heard of this or know of its validity?

We’re looking into it, but a few phone calls in, it seems to be a rumor. We’ll post something if there’s anything to it.

It appears to be a rumor. One of our news reporters, Brian Postellle, has been in touch with the APD about this, and they claim that, as far as they know, he’s still alive and kicking.

Although I wouldn’t claim to be good pals with Johnny or anything, he did mention to me in one of our many interactions that he occasionally goes to visit his sister in the eastern part of the state. So, if he seems strangely absent, it may just be that he’s bailed on the city for a while.