Two items:

Josiah Beeman, the former aide to San Francisco politicians and Ambassador to New Zealand and Western Samoa for President Clinton, died at age 70. He ran three Jerry Brown campaigns but quit the 1980 presidential race, calling it the "worst political experience of his life" and saying it proved that a campaign based on "holistic health groups, followers of the swami and the no-nukes" vote couldn't win. Wonder what he'd say about Jerry running for AG 26 years later. (LAT obit)

Richard Paddock, the former Capitol reporter in Sacramento for the Times, is returning from a decade overseas to cover higher education out of the LAT bureau in San Francisco. This afternoon's memo follows:

To: The Staff
From: Janet Clayton, assistant managing editor

I'm happy to announce that Rick Paddock, currently on the foreign staff based in Indonesia, is returning to California. He will be based in San Francisco and will cover higher education, as well as breaking news.

Rick, a deeply experienced and versatile reporter, will be a great asset to the California staff. We're delighted to welcome him back after 10 years on foreign assignment.

Rick, who has been based in Moscow and Jakarta, has reported from almost 50 countries. Among his many stories, he covered the fall of Boris Yeltsin, the Bali nightclub bombing, the Indian Ocean tsunami and the war in Iraq.

Before going overseas, Rick worked in Sacramento, San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles, working government and court beats, as well as general assignment. He's a graduate of UC Santa Barbara. He'll join us in early September.