“I have some physical issues, including early-onset osteoarthritis,” Pedraza said over the phone on Thursday. “It got to the point where I couldn’t continue in the job I was doing. I’ve gone head-over-heels carrying gear three times in six months because I had a joint lock up. It just happened a couple of months ago.”
Pedraza said her heart is still in broadcast journalism and that she has no plans to leave the Wichita area. Because of a no-compete clause, however, she won’t be allowed, she said, to work for a competing television station for one year. Her TV beat included politics and education as well as breaking news.
“Pilar is a dedicated journalist and a hard worker. We wish her all the best in what comes next,” KWCH news director Brian Gregory said.
Pedraza made the announcement Thursday on her Twitter feed. Pedraza is a graduate of Iowa State University, where she studied broadcast journalism and Spanish, and worked her first full-time TV job in Iowa.
