Luz Pena
A notebook: blank pages waiting to be filled with ideas, stories, and memories. The medium remains constant, but with time the stories change. At age 11, the pages were filled with childhood memories from my hometown in Barranquilla, Colombia. At age 12, the memories and adventures stopped and were replaced with simple words and phrases: "Hello", "My name is Luz", "I'm from Colombia". My notebook became my tool to learn English as a young immigrant to the US. Today, my notebook is for our community, where each blank page is an opportunity to give someone a voice. What's your story?
I've worked in the NY, LA, and SF markets. In the Bay, I was a video journalist for Univision 14. In Los Angeles, I was a reporter, host and digital correspondent for Fox Spanish national network, and Fox Sports/Fox Deportes. In New York, I was a reporter for the FoxNews.com platform.
Throughout my journalism career, I've been honored with 9 Emmys, a Society of Professional Journalist - excellence in journalism award, a L.A Press Club Award, and named one of the top 40 Latinos in American Media by the Huff Post. I graduated from Hofstra University in New York with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism and Political Science.
I'm thrilled to be part of the ABC7 news team and would love to tell your story! Reach out anytime on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
Luz's Stories
How could the US Supreme Court's case Grants Pass v. Johnson impact SF's unhoused community?
The case City of Grants Pass v. Johnson is the most significant case on homelessness in more than 40 years. It would make it a crime for anyone without a home to sleep outside when they have no other options.
SF Zoo gears up for giant pandas as it plans for multi-million dollar facility
Pandas in San Francisco will come with a hefty price tag. Before the pandemic, the estimated cost to build a new facility for the pandas at the zoo was estimated at $25 million.
SFMTA announces traffic safety proposal after family of 4 killed in West Portal
The changes are designed to prioritize people walking and shopping in the West Portal district, but some say it's a "half-baked plan" that will hurt businesses.
SF gears up to give out more parking citations. SFMTA calls it 'intense operations'
ABC7's data team found that in 2023, the majority of San Francisco parking citations were for street cleaning with over 500,000 tickets. Now SFMTA will be increasing enforcement, focusing on public safety.
Here's what protesters could face for blocking off Bay Area freeway, bridge
A similar disruption happened on the Bay Bridge during the APEC summit last year; 80 protesters were charged with five misdemeanors.
Tow company in viral video was recently banned from doing business with SF, city attorney says
Prior to this incident, San Francisco received complaints from multiple victims who were allegedly scammed by Specialty Towing, according to City Attorney David Chiu.
SF to close storefront Mission vendors have been using during vending ban
San Francisco has decided to close down the "El Tiangue" store and move the vendors to an outdoor location on 24th, which has less foot traffic being further out from the main street.
Group of SF 7th graders using QR codes, bowls of soup to tackle cyberbullying
In San Francisco, a group of middle schoolers are building a better Bay Area by bringing awareness to topics that matter the most to them. One of those topics is cyberbullying.
SF is not the only CA city struggling with downtown recovery; mayors collaborate on solutions
Mayor London Breed addressed San Francisco's "historic office vacancy" during a legislative hearing on California's downtown recovery, on the same day another retail store closed its doors.
SFMTA's train system running on floppy disks; city fears 'catastrophic failure' before upgrade
SFMTA's train system in San Francisco is not only relying on humans to run it, but turns out that a floppy disk has been playing a key role for decades.