Judie Garcia is a longtime Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 news anchor and reporter who currently works as a news reporter and soon to be promoted to anchor on Midday News for WGN-TV

WGN-TV

WGN-TV, virtual channel 9 , is the CW-affiliated television station in Chicago, Illinois built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WGN-TV's studios and offices are located at 2501 W...

.

Early life and education

Born in Chicago to Mexican-American parents, Garcia earned a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Texas in 1990.

Professional career

Garcia worked for many years as a paralegal before beginning her broadcasting career at the age of 34. Her first television job was at KMOL-TV (now WOAI-TV

WOAI-TV

WOAI-TV, virtual channel 4 , is the NBC affiliate television station serving the San Antonio, Texas metropolitan area. Its transmitter is located in Elmendorf, Texas, with its studios located in downtown San Antonio....

) in San Antonio, followed by work as a reporter at KWES-TV

KWES-TV

KWES-TV, channel 9, commonly referred to as NewsWest 9, is the NBC affiliated television station in the Midland/Odessa area. The station is owned by the Drewry Communications Group. It also operates a satellite station, KWAB-TV , in Big Spring, Texas.-History:KWES began broadcasting in 1958 as...

 in Odessa, Texas

Odessa, Texas

Odessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small portion of the city extends into Midland County. Odessa's population was 99,940 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Odessa, Texas Metropolitan...

/Midland, Texas

Midland, Texas

Midland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, Texas, United States, on the Southern Plains of the state's western area. A small portion of the city extends into Martin County. As of 2010, the population of Midland was 111,147. It is the principal city of the Midland, Texas...

. Garcia then took an on-air job as the 11 p.m. anchor at KNTV

KNTV

KNTV, channel 11, is the NBC owned-and-operated television station in the Bay Area market. It is licensed to San Jose, with its transmitter located on San Bruno Mountain, just south of San Francisco. It shares facilities in San Jose with NBC Universal sister station KSTS and CNBC's Silicon...

-TV in San Jose, California

San Jose, California

San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...

.

In September 1996, Garcia joined WLS-TV

WLS-TV

WLS-TV, virtual channel 7, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, located in Chicago, Illinois, USA. The station operates their full power digital operations on UHF channel 44, with their digital fill-in translator on VHF channel...

 in Chicago as a news reporter and fill-in news anchor, according to a September 25, 1996 article in the Chicago Sun-Times. Several months later, Garcia was promoted to co-anchor WLS' two Sunday morning newscasts, first alongside WLS' John Garcia (no relation) and later next to Beth Spicuzza and then Dick Johnson

Dick Johnson (reporter)

Dick Johnson was the morning news co-anchor for NBC owned television station WMAQ-TV in Chicago and is currently a street reporter and a back-up weeknight anchor at WMAQ-TV....

.

Garcia left WLS-TV in June 2001 to pursue opportunities in and out of broadcasting, according to a June 8, 2001 article in the Chicago Sun-Times.

In April 2002, Garcia joined WBBM-TV

WBBM-TV

WBBM-TV, virtual channel 2 , is the CBS owned-and-operated television station in Chicago, Illinois. WBBM-TV's main studios and offices are located in The Loop section of Chicago, as part of the development at Block 37, and its transmitter is atop the Willis Tower.-History:WBBM-TV traces its history...

 in Chicago as a per diem free-lance news reporter, according to an April 2, 2002 article in the Chicago Sun-Times.

In 2003, Garcia joined WGN-TV

WGN-TV

WGN-TV, virtual channel 9 , is the CW-affiliated television station in Chicago, Illinois built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WGN-TV's studios and offices are located at 2501 W...

as a reporter.