Versatility and experience may be the best words to describe Penny LeGate, who has climbed mountains, traveled remote roads of Africa, and gone scuba diving with sharks to get the news. Known as a daring storyteller with a heart, she can be seen regularly anchoring Saturday mornings on KIRO 7 Eyewitness News.

Penny's broadcasting career spans 30 years and includes hosting, reporting and producing for both television and radio. With a popular local television presence, her many honors include an Emmy award for writing, hosting, and producing a documentary on Springer, the orphaned orca captured in Puget Sound and returned to her pod in Canada. Penny also won an Emmy for her work as host of "Evening Magazine" as well as numerous other nominations for producing and writing.

An active participant in many local charities, Penny feels strongly connected to causes devoted to children, animals, and the environment. Among her contributions, Penny created a fundraiser called "Tuxes & Tails" for the Humane Society which has raised more than 3-million dollars. She has reached the summit of Mt. Rainier twice as a participant in the Climb for Clean Air and cycled 150 miles on a bike trek to raise money for the American Lung Association. Every year since 2002, Penny has traveled to Ethiopia at the invitation of Rotary International, raising awareness of various global health issues, including the ongoing battle to eradicate polio. As a result, Rotary has awarded Penny the prestigious Paul Harris fellowship five times for her humanitarian work in Africa. She feels privileged that her gritty experiences in remote places have helped open her eyes to the suffering and needs of others. In recent years, Penny has traveled to Ghana, Ethiopia, Bolivia and Uganda on charitable missions and is sponsoring children in three developing nations.

A native of Nebraska, Penny earned a bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Nebraska and a master's degree in Telecommunications from Indiana University. She has worked as a writer, producer and reporter in Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Wichita and Omaha.

Penny lives in Seattle with her husband, two daughters and a bunch of rescued animals. She enjoys exotic travel, reading, skiing, hiking, biking, and scuba diving.

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