I'm delighted to share the news that Jim Puzzanghera, one of the most talented reporters I've ever met, will become the Globe's next Washington bureau chief, following an enormously successful run in the nation's capital for the Los Angeles Times.

This is something of a homecoming for Jim, born and raised in Melrose and a worshiper of the Globe's sports section dating back to when he devoured it on his breaks working at a local Brigham's or in the bleachers of Fenway Park. Truth is, I've been trying to lure him to the Globe since I was in Washington in the 1990s, and again as metro editor a decade ago. Sometimes you have to keep at it.

Believe me, he's worth the effort. Jim is a well-sourced reporter with an enterprising approach to the news and a writing style that makes you wonder how it is that someone can make it look so easy. He's particularly excelled for the past decade as the LAT's lead reporter covering the economic collapse of 2008, the unpredictable recovery, and the often fraught politics around it in the era of Donald Trump.

Before the Times, Jim worked for the San Jose Mercury News covering Silicon Valley and then in its Washington bureau. Prior to that, he was an editor and reporter at Newsday and a reporter at the then-St. Petersburg Times. Across his career, he's covered September 11, the Clinton impeachment, presidential campaigns, and everything to do with the economy. His focus on business and tech will be very welcomed here.

Jim's been around the Globe orbit for the better part of forever. While editor-in-chief of the Northwestern University school paper, one of his trusted editors was Steve Smith. Later, when Jim arrived in DC for the Mercury News, he replaced a guy named Tom Farragher who had just left for the job of a lifetime in Boston. I met Jim when we were at the New Haven Register still getting house-trained.

There's another thing about Jim that's worth noting, and it's that he's a world-class human being, a former Scout leader, a coach, the father of a pair of college-aged sons (one here at Northeastern) who both aspire to be writers. Jim's wife, Elizabeth Wasserman, is an editor at Bloomberg. I've talked to a lot of people about this position over the past few months, including some tremendously impressive journalists, and came away convinced that there's nobody better to lead the Globe's bureau and represent us in Washington. ... He will join Liz Goodwin and Jess Bidgood...