PERSON: Paula Francis

Anchor

Paula Francis anchors the 5, 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts at 8 News NOW. She was born in Queens, N.Y., grew up in a Chicago suburb and had her first job in broadcasting in Madison, Wisconsin, right after finishing college at the UW-Madison. She has lived in Las Vegas since 1985.

Paula has been chosen "Best TV Anchor in Las Vegas" by the readers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal every year from 2000 to 2012, except in 2004 when she was second only to Gary Waddell, her co-anchor and dear friend.

Paula was inducted into the KLAS-TV Hall of Fame in July 2000. An honor shared with Howard Hughes, Bob Bailey, and Jack Lehman, among others.

Paula is a founding member of the Nevada Chapter of the International Women's Forum.

She has received a number of humanitarian awards for her community involvement, especially her campaign for breast cancer awareness, Buddy Check 8.

In 2005, Paula was honored as a Woman of Distinction by the National Association of Women Business Owners for her years of community service. The same year, she received the prestigious "Heart of Gold" award from the American Heart Association. She has won numerous awards for medical reporting.

Paula helped commemorate the Las Vegas Centennial by taking part in the video history project, "The Story of Classic Las Vegas." The interview will be on permanent archive at UNLV.

She loves reading to students during Nevada Reading Week, and speaking to community groups about health issues.

Paula has been married to Steve Francis since 1988. They have two cats, and share interests in politics, travel, hiking and photography. They can often be found lifting weights together at the gym!