Ezra David Romero is a reporter and producer with Valley Public Radio. He is a graduate of California State University Fresno, where he studied journalism (digital media) and geography. He has worked for the Fresno Bee and was an intern at Al Jazeera English in Washington, D.C. During his undergraduate education, Romero worked as a news intern with Valley Public Radio, where he produced news reports for the station. In 2012 he was a Gruner Award finalist for his 13-part Sanger Herald series on obesity in Sanger, Calif. Also in 2012, Romero was awarded a grant and internship with the California Newspaper Publishers Association where he worked for the Fresno Bee as a general assignment reporter covering police, elections, government and higher education.

Articles

Kids play in the San Joaquin River. (Photo by Ezra David Romero/KVPR)

A reporter finds his best stories down by the river

The hardest part of reporting on the health implications of Central Valley rivers was not the research or content, but finding the right characters for the stories. In the end, a radio reporter discovered the best way to find the characters that brought his stories to life was on the river itself.

Environmental Health
Showers Porterville

Drought-stricken Central Valley town gets hot showers

Drought conditions in parts of Central California have become so harsh that it’s normal to turn on the tap have no coming out. Now, some of the town’s residents will have access to something they haven’t had in months — hot showers.

The barren river bed in the photo on the left is the channel off of the Tule River that in a wet year refuels the aquifer to homes in East Porterville. The photo on the right is of the Tule River just a mile north of where the wells have gone dry. (Ezra David Romero/KVPR)

Wells have run dry in one Central California community

Drought conditions have gotten so bad in California that in some places, turning on the tap and having nothing come out is common. The lack of running water has especially plagued the little farming town of East Porterville in the San Joaquin Valley, leaving scores of homes without working wells.

Photos by Ezra David Romero / Valley Public Radio

Healthy Rivers: Will wealthy Fresnans block access on the San Joaquin?

How are rivers and health linked in California's Central Valley? Ezra Romero paddles down the San Joaquin River in Fresno to discuss public access to a natural resource in a city that ranks last in the nation for access to parks and has some of the worst health disparities in the state.