Theresa Vargas

25/02/2025

As the local enterprise editor, I work with a team of reporters. I also get to work with reporters across the Metro desk on deeply reported pieces that explore lives, expose wrongdoing and delve into complex issues. These are not easy stories to tell but they are important. In the last few weeks, I worked with two teams of thoughtful and talented reporters on stories that ended up running on the front page. I'd be grateful if you took the time to read them.

One offers an up-close look at what first responders experienced after the deadly plane and helicopter collision near Regan National Airport (free link below).

The other shows how a Maryland crematory was allowed to keep operating for years despite officials seeing red flags (free link in the comments).

After American Eagle Flight 5342 and an Army helicopter collided, firefighters, boat operators and others from D.C., Maryland and Virginia went into action.

31/12/2024

I used to share my columns here, but since it's been a year of change, I want to take a moment before the year ends to share some of the highlights of being an editor.

I'll start with this story:

Four years ago, I wrote a column about how an injury forced a man (who looks a lot like Santa) to let his award-winning lights display go dark.

Every year that followed, I checked back with that man to see if maybe that would be the year the lights returned.

But 2021 passed without his display. Then 2022. Then 2023.

Well this year, a reporter on my team, Mike Laris, wrote this beautiful piece:

After an injury, Bill Vaughan couldn’t put up his award-winning Christmas display in 2020 or in the years that followed. Would 2024 see the lights return?

29/09/2024

A story about a photo – but also so much more.

In 1974, a group of friends met the unthinkable with a lavish celebration. The real story behind a photo that captured the moment remained a mystery until now.

25/05/2024

For my final column, I wrote about the role you played. (Thank you to everyone who read, emailed and took action over these last six years!)

Together, over the last six years, we took on complex issues, met interesting people and did some good.

20/05/2024

Some personal news (that I’m really excited about)…

Vargas will oversee high-impact accountability reporting, incisive narratives and conceptual scoops, working with a team of reporters on a range of issues that impact our communities.

17/05/2024

Families who lost loved ones in crashes with large trucks and people with national organizations are now calling for an investigation.

Families who lost loved ones in crashes with large trucks and people with national organizations are now calling for an investigation

05/05/2024

My grandma was a wonderful cook and had this amazing ability to make food stretch. I wrote about her, and my older son and the power recipes hold to connect us to those around us and those who are no longer with us.

For Cinco de Mayo, people across the country will be reaching for Mexican food. So will my son and I, but for a different reason.

02/05/2024

A heartbreaking update in the search for a missing Maryland teenager I told you about in an earlier column:

After Maryland teenager Jason Abarca went missing in December, his family pleaded for the police and the public to see him as more than a fugitive.

21/04/2024

When the teenager fled Afghanistan and arrived in the U.S., he was alone. He has since seen a community come together to help him and his four brothers.

14/04/2024

The shuttering of a store in D.C. is not usually newsworthy. But Monarch Novelties wasn’t just any store. My column:

An iconic photo taken at Monarch Novelties in 1968, as parts of D.C. burned, shows three brothers standing, guns in hand, ready to protect the family business

07/04/2024

In recent days, those who knew Lillian Orlich as “Miss O” have learned that, even in death, she will continue to play an important role in the school system’s community. Orlich left a $1 million donation to SPARK, the education foundation for Prince William County Schools.

Even after her death, Lillian Orlich, who served as a teacher and counselor before retiring at the age of 89, is still helping a Virginia school system

01/04/2024

The creators of Capitol City Crunch were searching for joy after loss when they entered the cereal business.

The creators of Capitol City Crunch, which honors the city in more than name, were searching for joy after loss when they entered the cereal business

10/03/2024

Long before a lawsuit detailed the shameful ways that a lack of reliable school bus service has been burdening local families, D.C. officials knew they were failing disabled students.

City officials have long known that unreliable school bus service is disrupting families and keeping children from arriving at school on time or at all

07/03/2024

“The Purple Alert could have been the voice he needed,” Jimmy Hall said of his son, Rashawn Williams, who has Down syndrome and was missing for six days. “And it could be the voice for the next family who goes through this situation.”

Rashawn Williams was missing for 6 days, and a public alert was never issued. Legislation would create a new Purple Alert in Maryland for vulnerable people.

03/03/2024

I stepped out of my columnist role briefly to serve as the editor of this piece. I was one of the reporters who covered Relisha's disappearance a decade ago, so working on this story was deeply personal for me. The wonderful Ellie Silverman did an amazing job with it. I hope you'll take the time to read it.

Relisha Rudd was last seen in March 2014 after a janitor at a D.C. homeless shelter took her. Her disappearance altered practices and people.

18/02/2024

Getting children to read more can sometimes pose a challenge. But students at an elementary school in Maryland know exactly what would help pull them into their school’s library and make them want to stay there. They also know that the grown-ups around them have been trying to fulfill their wishes.

While the nation has been focusing on book bans, some schools have gone without enough (noncontroversial) books. One in Maryland has been trying to raise funds.

15/02/2024

On Monday, I gave myself a long overdue gift — braces.

I was about 10 when a dentist first suggested I get my teeth corrected.

11/02/2024

The 83-year-old Maryland resident is a Holocaust survivor, and for most of his life he thought his situation was unique. But in recent years, he has met other people like him who live in the U.S. but don’t belong to this country or any other.

Fear has long kept stateless individuals in the U.S. from speaking out. But some are done staying silent.