Nix leaving the Breeze

Daily Breeze reporter Denise Nix is leaving the paper to work for the child-advocacy group First 5 LA. Nix covered the courts for the South Bay newspaper and won this year's distinguished journalist award from the local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Prior to the Breeze, Nix worked for the Los Angeles Daily Journal and the Associated Press.

Here's part of the goodbye memo from city editor Frank Suraci:

Denise's award this year from SPJ capped off a stellar career here at the Breeze. Not only has she done a yeoman's job tracking all our court cases and handling the day-to-day grind, but Denise has covered some major cases for us over the years as well as helped initiate our popular Crime+Courts blog with Larry [Altman].

We'll miss her hard work and dedication but wish her all the best in her new venture.