A couple of months ago, I reported that we had hired a new business reporter for the North Raleigh News -- Delawese Fulton, who before that had been our schools reporter. I promised to get back to you on who would replace Delawese covering northern Wake schools.

Well, I'm getting back to you, but not with the news that I expected. As you will read in her column today -- her last -- Delawese is moving again. She has taken a business reporting position at a newspaper in Georgia and is leaving The News & Observer.

We'll miss Dela, and we wish her well, but I'm happy to report that we won't skip a beat in our business coverage. You've probably noticed by now a new byline in the North Raleigh News section -- Sam LaGrone, who has been reporting for us for the past month. Sam will be our new business reporter.

Sam came to us from The News & Observer's business section, where he was an intern. Though young (Sam is 24), he had impressed business editors enough that he was highly recommended. (It's great to have so much talent at The N&O that I only have to look around the building when I have an opening.)

In Sam, you will find someone who is enthusiastic, smart and, with the kind of childhood he had, probably more open to new ideas than the average person.

Sam is the son of an Army Special Forces officer who served around the world. To quote (with his permission) from the short biography we ask job candidates to write: he grew up "dodging insane traffic in Bangkok, herding reindeer in northern Finland and watching the sun set over the East China Sea from the cockpit of a C-130 en route to Japan."

Sam also spent time in Estonia, where, among other things, he studied European politics at the University of Tartu and helped found a newspaper for international students. He is a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute.

Sam's first column will appear next week. If you have a story idea or news about a business opening or closing, you can reach him at 829-4951 or slagrone@newsobserver.com

As for who will cover schools, I'll get back to you.