From the Post's internal email, obtained by FishbowlDC:

I'm delighted to announce that Rachel Hartigan Shea, our paperback columnist and part-time editor extraordinaire, will take on the post of cultural editor that Jabari Asim left in August to head up The Crisis, the NAACP's magazine.

Rachel came to us two years ago from the U.S. News and World Report, where she was an education and culture editor. Since her arrival, she has contributed greatly to our pages, covering paperbacks, travel, adventure, education, women's issues, science fiction, and a number of other subject areas, as well as writing a monthly review for Book World in Style. As senior culture editor for us, she will be responsible for social issues across the board, pop culture, intellectual history, literary history, criticism, and the arts.

We're very excited about the enthusiasm and ranging portfolio Rachel brings to this job. She begins next week.

And...

We are pleased to announce that Kristen Mack, a political columnist and reporter at the Houston Chronicle, will be joining the Prince William bureau next month as government and politics reporter. She succeeds Tim Dwyer, who left The Post to become executive editor of The Day in New London, Conn.

Kristen's column is a must-read in Houston, providing readers with analysis, news, introspection and humor that help readers understand not just the nuance of politics but also why it matters to them.

She is eager to bring that skill and talent to Prince William, which is undergoing rapid change and has been at the forefront of several transcendent issues, most notably immigration.

Before joining the Chronicle in September 2001, Kristen was a Hearst Newspaper Fellow and interned at the Seattle Times, Memphis Commercial Appeal and the Miami Herald.

She is a graduate of Emory University in Atlanta and the UC-Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She will join the growing contingent of Golden Bears on the Virginia staff. Please join us in welcoming Kristen.

In response to the above, one Postie wrote: "so I guess we're hiring from outside again, which is good..."