Star Tribune management has its quota of "up to two" buyout-willing reporters: H.J. Cummins says she's filed the necessary paperwork. Cummins is the second business-section reporter to do so: Mike Meyers filed earlier Monday.

Again, management doesn't have to approve a buyout request; Cummins says her offer may not be accepted if other, more senior Strib reporters file. She expects to know Tuesday.

Why is she ready to jump? "My reason is more family," she notes, noting she feels "pulled" toward children and new grandchildren on the East Coast. In 2006, she wrote the book "My Mother's Daughter," about Rosemarie Cummins, who survived Hitler's Germany and helped her husband (the author's dad) successfully battle alcoholism.

Cummins holds the distinction of being the paper's last labor reporter; the Strib hasn't had a dedicated workplace correspondent since she was moved to the consumer and energy beats. The 12-year Strib vet came to Minneapolis after a stint at Newsday, where she was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning spot news team that covered a fatal subway crash.