Comes the news from Gary Scott’s fine reporter-g blog that Molly Okeon announced Tuesday that she is leaving the Pasadena Star-News for the L.A. Daily Journal.  Since Molly, along with Carolyn An, was picking up the tail of Altadena news following the layoff of Elise Kleeman last week, this comes as a huge blow for local news coverage.  According to Scott, this leaves five reporters in the PSN newsroom — 50% of what it was just two years ago — and with a hiring freeze in place, nobody to pick up the slack.

On the other hand, the Society of Professional Journalists is holding a mixer in downtown LA on March 26, and offered this invitation:

*** SPJ-LA Special – For anyone who was let go from the Los Angeles Newspaper Group this past month, arrive before 7 p.m. and we’ll buy you ONE FREE BEER. ***