Beth Barrett was a mainstay of the Ron Kaye era at the Daily News — and before — digging into city and county spending and other investigative projects. Today's exit memo du jour from Editor Carolina Garcia:

All,

After more than two decades Beth Barrett is leaving her beloved DN. In that time, she has ferretted out thousands of investigative stories that set the standard for the DN. Not the least of which was her exclusive on LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's affair with a television reporter that made national and international headlines. She has been indefatigable in her vigorous and unflagging pursuit of news, and for years has been the Daily News' key watchdog on a variety of issues including the DWP and LAFD.

Over the years she has broken high-profile stories on everything from inflated DWP worker salaries and City Hall overspending to police suicide rates, and gang violence patterns and trends. Her decades of experience this year earned her the honor of being named SPJ-LA's Distinguished Journalist of the Year. She is a stellar journalist - and she also plays a mean game of basketball.

We wish Beth the very best as she pursues a variety of new opportunities. Beth's last day will be Sept. 12, and she promises to finish her next big project.

Gracias,
Carolina

Yesterday it was City Editor Judi Erickson. My post listed many of the others who have left the DN this year.