Vanessa Romo
Vanessa Romo is a reporter for NPR's News Desk. She covers breaking news on a wide range of topics, weighing in daily on everything from immigration and the treatment of migrant children, to a war-crimes trial where a witness claimed he was the actual killer, to an alleged sex cult. She has also covered the occasional cat-clinging-to-the-hood-of-a-car story.
Before her stint on the News Desk, Romo spent the early months of the Trump Administration on the Washington Desk covering stories about culture and politics – the voting habits of the post-millennial generation, the rise of Maxine Waters as a septuagenarian pop culture icon and DACA quinceañeras as Trump protests.
In 2016, she was at the core of the team that launched and produced The New York Times' first political podcast, The Run-Up with Michael Barbaro. Prior to that, Romo was a Spencer Education Fellow at Columbia University's School of Journalism where she began working on a radio documentary about a pilot program in Los Angeles teaching black and Latino students to code switch.
Romo has also traveled extensively through the Member station world in California and Washington. As the education reporter at Southern California Public Radio, she covered the region's K-12 school districts and higher education institutions and won the Education Writers Association first place award as well as a Regional Edward R. Murrow for Hard News Reporting.
Before that, she covered business and labor for Member station KNKX, keeping an eye on global companies including Amazon, Boeing, Starbucks and Microsoft.
A Los Angeles native, she is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University, where she received a degree in history. She also earned a master's degree in Journalism from NYU. She loves all things camaron-based.
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New research out of New York found the protection of the vaccine against infection in kids ages 5 to 11 dropped from 68% to 12%. -
Burnout and thinning substitute teacher rolls plus the fallout of the omicron surge is pushing school leaders to the brink of desperation. Lawmakers are responding by rewriting hiring rules. -
New data from the CDC released on Tuesday shows that while omicron remains the dominant variant, delta — which is the more severe strain — is still a worrisome driving force behind the current surge. -
Americans are scrambling to find out if they're COVID-free so they can go through with their plans. But for many, that means queuing up for hours or tracking down scarce at-home testing kits. -
The COVID-19 vaccines continue to provide powerful protection, even against the delta variant, the CDC said. It also found that vaccinated people were 10 times less likely to be hospitalized. -
The nation's poison control centers saw a 245% jump in reported exposure cases from July to August as more people take the anti-parasite drug that some falsely claim treats COVID-19. -
A judge ruled Gov. Ron DeSantis' ban on school mask mandates "is without legal authority" and can't be enforced. But that's not stopping the State Board of Education from withholding paychecks. -
The cards need to be both protected and available to show when needed. You can carry the original paper card with you, plastic coated perhaps. But lots of people stash it away and show a digital copy. -
Gov. Ron DeSantis ratcheted up a confrontation with school superintendents on Monday, saying anyone who defies his ban on mask mandates might lose a paycheck. Teachers and staff wouldn't be punished. -
COVID cases are down, half of the country is at least partially vaccinated and the wanderlust has struck. But the rebound could also mean new challenges for your getaway. Here's how to avoid them.
