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Star Tribune Editor and Senior Vice President Nancy Barnes was named Wednesday as editor and executive vice president of the Houston Chronicle.

Publisher Mike Klingensmith announced simultaneously today that the Star Tribune has begun a search for a replacement that will include internal and external candidates.

As Star Tribune editor the past six years, Barnes led the state's largest newsroom through a time of great change as the company changed ownership. This past year, the newspaper won a Pulitzer Prize for local reporting, one of two it was awarded in 2013.

"While we accept this resignation with great regret, we offer nothing but our very best wishes to Nancy as she embarks on the next phase of a very successful career," Klingensmith said. "Under her leadership, the Star Tribune has made tremendous gains in the quality and depth of the news and information we present and innovative ways we deliver that content to readers. She leaves behind a world-class news operation that is well-positioned to achieve even greater successes thanks to her efforts."

The Houston Chronicle is owned by Hearst Newspapers and is the largest newspaper in the country's fifth-largest market.