Amelia Santaniello

Amelia Santaniello anchors the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts on WCCO-TV. She joined the staff in May 1996.

City Pages editors named her Best Newscaster in the Twin Cities in 2000. Readers of The Minnesota Women's Press picked her as their favorite local female television personality.

Amelia came to WCCO-TV from WTIC in Hartford, Conn., where she was the weekend anchor. She started her career in Washington, D.C., at WUSA, where she was a reporter trainee. From there, she went to WETM-TV in Elmira, N.Y., where she anchored the weekend newscasts. Then she moved on to WNEP-TV in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Pa., where she reported and filled in as anchor.

Amelia was born in Alexandria, Va. She grew up in a career military family and lived in Virginia, Japan and Texas. She attended Marywood University in Dunmore, Pa.

Santaniello chose to make Minnesota her home because of its wealth of culture and entertainment, as well as the friendliness of its people.

"WCCO-TV is unique in its team atmosphere," she says.

Amelia is an honorary board member of the Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery. She's also involved with several other Twin Cities Organizations including Big Brothers Big Sisters, Cancer Kids Fund, Thank God for Kids and the Hope Chest for Breast Cancer.

In her free time, Santaniello enjoys spending time with her family, reading and golfing. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband Frank Vascellaro, son Sam, and twins Francesca and Joseph.