Emmy-winning Cleveland grad returns to Rio Rancho

Many see Emmy Award-winning reporter, and weekend morning anchor, Feliz Romero on KOB 4 news.

However, what some people don’t know is that Romero is as Rio Rancho as it gets.

In fact, the former Cleveland High School graduate was just named the new KOB Rio Rancho Bureau Chief.

“It’s something that I have always wanted. People want to get out of their hometown and go somewhere else, but it was always New Mexico for me, always the Rio Rancho-Albuquerque area for me,” Romero said.

Romero grew up in the Enchanted Hills area and completed all grade-level schooling at RRPS.

“Mrs. Ortiz was my fifth grade teacher; she did a lot for writing and for fostering that love of writing … Mrs. Salinas, Mrs. Lirosi are both really wonderful people and both really impactful for me,” Romero said.

She was a student at Vista Grande Elementary, Mountain View Middle School and graduated from Cleveland High School in 2015.

“I was really fortunate to go to Cleveland High School. It was really exciting; my sister was in the first graduating class,” Romero said.

At Cleveland, Romero was on the tennis team and was heavily involved in student government, serving as the student body president in the 2014-15 school year.

“I think in my student body president speech at graduation, I was so confident that I was going to be a nutrition major. I changed trajectory and it worked out, and I am really happy,” Romero said.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in public communication with a concentration in political communication from University of New Mexico. At UNM, her first journalism job was covering the UNM baseball team for ESPNU.

After college, Romero chose to gain experience out of state and worked in stations in the Midland-Odessa area as well as Oklahoma City.

“That was a little more difficult for me because I could have come back home, but I decided to do two years in a different place and a little bit of a bigger city. Monday through Friday was strictly reporting, and I really just wanted to hone in on my reporting skills,” Romero said. “I reported on Julius Jones on death row; I was there when Governor Kevin Stitt pardoned him, like, hours before he was set to be executed.”

During her time in Oklahoma City, her work in the KWTV story “Seminole Tornado” won her an Emmy award.

Now, Romero is back home in the Land of Enchantment and will be working closely with the CIty of Vision.

“If you see me out, say ‘Hi!’ If you have a news tip, email me … just feel free to reach out. I think it is so rewarding going places and knowing that I am making an impact,” Romero said.

“It is a responsibility, but it’s a responsibility that I don’t mind because I’ve wanted it for so long.”