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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Lawyers for Rickia Young, 28, and her son said she was battered, separated from the child for hours, and kept in handcuffs while being treated at a hospital. No charges have been filed against her.
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"Here's why: they were improperly trained and did not have the proper equipment by which to effectuate their job," the family's attorney said on Thursday. The officers' names have not been released.
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The retail giant removed firearms and ammunition from its shelves saying it's a precautionary step amid the recent outbreak of civil unrest. But the weapons are still available, if you ask for them.
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An alert warns hospitals and health care providers that there is "credible information of an increased and imminent cybercrime threat."
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Miles Taylor defended his decision to criticize the president anonymously, saying it forced Trump to address the merits of the claims "rather than creating distractions through petty insults."
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The early season arrival of a mix of rain, snow, sleet, freezing rain and gusty winds, which first struck on Monday night, caught public utility companies unprepared for the massive power losses.
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Police shot and killed Walter Wallace, a 27-year-old Black man, in a confrontation Monday. National Guard troops will be deployed, at the county's request, amid protests following the shooting.
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The trial studied the efficacy of bamlanivimab in combination with the antiviral remdesivir on hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Researchers concluded the antibody treatment was "unlikely to help."
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Strong wind gusts are battering the region, spreading wildfires across Southern California. Officials said the wounded firefighters suffered second- and third-degree burns in the Silverado Fire.
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"We understand that lemurs are adorable animals, but Maki is a highly endangered animal that requires special care. We are asking the public for help in his return," zoo officials said on Wednesday.