LA Times names Yoshino its new biz editor

Kimi Yoshino, a metro editor at the Los Angeles Times, has been named the newspaper’s new business editor.

She replaces Marla Dickerson, who resigned to become Brazil bureau chief of The Wall Street Journal.

Here is the email from editor Davan Maharaj:

Kimi brings many valuable qualities to this important job: a passion for news, a commitment to digital journalism, a background in business reporting and a collaborative spirit.

For the past few years, Kimi has been the morning assigning editor in Metro and a driving force behind L.A. Now, our most-read blog. During her tenure, L.A. Now established itself as the go-to source for reliable, real-time coverage of the biggest stories in Southern California. A very partial list of highlights would include coverage of the Christopher Dorner saga, the LAX shooting and numerous Southern California wildfires.

Kimi also helped guide our reporting on the Bell corruption scandal, which won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal for Public Service. Last year, she helped shepherd an eye-opening series about construction on or near seismic faults in L.A. and the mortal risks posed by inadequately reinforced concrete buildings.

Kimi came to The Times in 2000 after stints at the Fresno Bee and Stockton Record. She started in Orange County, where she covered Disney theme parks and quickly became our resident expert on dangerous rides.

As a reporter for Metro and Business, she covered Anaheim, the Orange County beach cities and the cruise industry, among other beats. Along the way, she did two reporting rotations in The Times’ Baghdad bureau, where she met her future husband, Saif, then a translator for the paper.

Kimi grew up in Modesto and attended UC Davis. She and her husband live in Long Beach.