Hours after L.A. Weekly editor Drex Heikes announced his departure from the paper, Riverfront Times managing editor Sarah Fenske has been introduced as his replacement. From the L.A. Times:

“This is all very, very late-breaking,” Fenske said in a brief interview.

She said she has never worked in Los Angeles before. “Obviously it’s a very exciting city, a gorgeous city and I am looking forward to working there.”

The announcement was so hurried, in fact, that staffers at the Weekly still hadn’t been told about Fenske’s ascension when Village Voice executive editor Michael Lacey emailed The Times to say that she had the job.

In her ten years with VVM, Fenske has built a solid reputation as an investigative reporter and columnist. In June, she received the Livingston Award for young journalists for a 2010 investigative story that appeared in Phoenix New Times. While at that paper, she was twice named as the best columnist in AAN’s AltWeekly Awards.

She’s also received accolades from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, the Arizona Press Club, and the Association for Women in Communications.

Fenske will officially take over for Heikes at the L.A. Weekly on October 31.

Previously: L.A. Weekly Editor Drex Heikes To Step Down