Sandi Gibbons retiring from DA's office

Former reporter Sandi Gibbons, a public information officer for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office for 24 years, announced today she will be retiring on March 31. That's from veteran AP reporter Linda Deutsch, who posts on Facebook: "I covered trials with Sandi as a reporter going back to the Manson trial and have relied upon her expertise since she became the press liason for the D.A. She has been a good friend and a straight talker and I know she will be missed by reporters covering crime in this town." A list of tributes from journalists is already starting to queue up on Deutsch's page.

Gibbons served with three DA's — the recently departed Steve Cooley, predecessor Gil Garcetti and Ira Reiner. After Jackie Lacey was sworn in, the top spokesperson job in the office went to former LA Times reporter Jean Guccione, who had been the head of community relations under Cooley.