Jim Kirk, who became the troubleshooting Mr. Fix-It editor at Tribune Publishing, has returned to his roots as the publisher and executive editor of Crain’s Chicago Business.

Most recently at Tribune, he was the interim executive editor of the Los Angeles Times in the days following the stormy tenure of Lewis D’Vorkin and before the selection of Norman Pearlstine for the top editorial job by the new owner, Patrick Soon Shiong.

Kirk was the editor and then publisher of the Chicago Sun-Times, from 2012 to 2017, before it was sold for $1 to a group of Chicago businessmen.

Shortly after the sale, he joined Tribune Publishing (at the time known as Tronc). He stopped by the troubled New York Daily News for a cup of coffee in January of this year before being dispatched back to L.A.