Recent buyouts and transfers pretty much cleaned out the religion desk at the L.A Times. To fill the void, veteran state desk reporter Louis Sahagun is moving to the religion beat. Memo follows:

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To: The Staff

From: Janet Clayton, Assistant Managing Editor

Louis Sahagun is the new religion writer, replacing the retired Larry Stammer.

In his most recent assignment as a state reporter, Louis was known for his versatility and aggressive pursuit of good stories. Last year, he was the first to break the news of the pending sale of the ski resort at Mammoth, wrote about how research on desert tortoises is leading to new theories about animal personality, and reported on Oakland's "sideshow" street racing fad.

Louis joined the paper in 1981 and has covered a variety of local, state and national assignments. He was Denver bureau chief from 1992 to 1997. Over the years, he has played a pivotal role in the coverage of several big breaking news stories, including the 2003 Southern California wildfires. He also was a member of the team awarded the Pulitizer Prize for public service in 1984 for a series on Southern California's Latino community.

Louis also has written a book -- "Hollywood Plato: The Life and Times of Manly Palmer Hall" -- that chronicles the history of mysticism in Los Angeles and California.

He earned his B.A. in liberal arts from Cal State Los Angeles.