I was contacting a few of my favorite religion reporters today to let them know about a some events in St. Louis on Sunday and Monday regarding the Lutheran Church -- Missouri Synod's surprising cancellation of the popular radio show Issues, Etc. Anyway, while I was trying to track down Stephanie Simon, who I have a complete reporter crush on, I found out that today is her last day at the Los Angeles Times!

My heart stopped a beat when I found out but there is great news as well: she's moving to the Wall Street Journal.

We frequently commend the Los Angeles Times for its quality religion coverage. But this, along with the retirement of K. Connie Kang, is a huge loss to the paper.

I'm not sure what her exact beat is, but it's no secret the Journal has been wanting to beef up its general news coverage, including the faith and values beat that Simon has covered so well over the years. Simon will continue on from Denver and will cover the geographically tiny region of Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming.