Hot Air is proud to announce that Erika Johnsen will join us as our new full-time contributor.  Erika has guest-posted for us on numerous occasions, taking time away from her position at Townhall Magazine, and we liked her work so much that we repaid Townhall Magazine for their generosity by stealing Erika away.  (It’s how we roll, man.)  Erika starts today, and as I write this post I see  she’s already working on a story about Venezuela and gun control that looks fascinating.  She’ll work on both the front page and on headlines.  With the election season upon us, we’ll need three full-time writers to stay on top of all the interesting stories and memes.

Also, we have formally brought long-time contributor Jazz Shaw officially on board as our weekend editor.  I almost decided to use Jazz’s photo as a cover graphic for this post, but I finally made the tough decision to run with Erika’s headshot instead.  (That’s why they pay me & Allahpundit the big senior-editor bucks.)  Jazz will do what he’s been doing for the last few months by contributing several posts each weekend and ensure that we have a steady stream of content from me and our Green Room contributors.

Join us in welcoming both Erika and Jazz to their new positions!