We welcome the Statesman's Kristin Rodine to her new beat.

Rodine, of Caldwell, returned to reporting in 2007 after editing six years at the Statesman and, before that, four at the Idaho Press-Tribune in Nampa. She most recently covered Canyon County, K-12 education and aging issues. She wrote the cover story in Business Insider's Feb. 19-25 edition, "Caregivers in the Workplace." She also wrote the story on page 9 of this issue on Boise lawyer Paula Kluksdal.

The Kluksdal piece reflects many of Rodine's strengths: thorough reporting that anticipates ordinary readers' questions, and stories that show her mastery of both the technical side of writing - word usage, grammar, punctuation, style rules - and the more difficult lyrical side: flow, structure, imagery and tone.

Consider this lead on an August 2011 story about amateur small-town historians:

Perpetually curious, Madge Wylie has a tendency to make everyone an interview subject. And what she learns, she remembers and catalogs.

"I'm a busybody, " Wylie says.

Makes you want to read on, doesn't it?

Rodine will cover business with special attention to the law, technology and the economy. She'll also help me edit Business Insider. You can reach her at krodine@idahostatesman.com or 377-6447.

dstaats@idahostatesman.com. Twitter: @IDS_DavidStaats