L.A. Times expands...in Fresno

Ashley Dunn, the California and local editor at the Los Angeles Times, emailed the staff to let them know that Diana Marcum, a freelancer for the Times since 2010, is joining the staff as Fresno correspondent. She was formerly an enterprise reporter at the Fresno Bee. She's the first LAT staffer based in Fresno, I believe, since Mark Arax resigned a few years ago after that nasty clash with the managing editor over Armenians and Turkey.

In addition to news and features from the Central Valley, Marcum will apparently pitch in on agriculture coverage for the Business section. That's because the Times' ag beat reporter there, PJ Huffstutter, is leaving to cover the beat for Reuters out of Chicago. She starts there in November.

Previously on LA Observed:
2007: Those wacky Times