H-L finds a Higher Ed Reporter

Welcome Ryan Alessi. This is great news. Next - H-L finds a K-12 reporter?

This from John Stamper at PolWatchers:

If you didn't read to the end of Ryan Alessi's Notebook column today, you missed the important part. Here it is:

My last political column

After more than four years of writing the weekly political notebook column, this is my final one.

Later this month, I will begin covering Kentucky's colleges and universities, as well as higher education policies and trends, for the Herald-Leader.

It's a new challenge that I'm eager to tackle. But it doesn't signal a cutback in the Herald-Leader's commit ment to covering state government and politics. Eventually, a new political writer will be named.

For the nearly six years I served in that capacity, I had the tremendous fortune of learning from some of the most knowledgeable and insightful sources and analysts, who patiently taught me the history and nuances
of Kentucky's unique and colorful brand of politics.

And although the ranks of the Frankfort press corps have shrunk in recent years, a host of talented reporters remain. Many of those journalists — starting with the dean of the Capitol press corps, the Herald-Leader's Jack Brammer, and including some of this newspaper's chief competitors — unknowingly served as role models for me.

To all of them and to those dedicated readers of the Herald-Leader's political coverage, I will be forever grateful.

Kentucky already has benefited so much from Ryan Alessi. He's the hardest working person I've ever known. Period. It was Ryan's decision to take on the challenge of a new beat and there's no doubt that he'll succeed magnificently. He always does. In the meantime, we'll do our best to patch up the gaping hole his absence creates in our Frankfort bureau as quickly as possible, but we've got our work cut out for us.