The LL blog will be a lot like the LL column and e-mail: you'll find news and commentary on D.C. government and politics (and, every now and then, Maryland and Virginia) and the people behind the scenes. We'll also be debuting some new recurring features on the LL blog and here on City Desk soon. While City Paper's political news will move over to the Loose Lips blog, you can still expect to find good stories about life in the District here on City Desk—and of course, plenty of illuminating photos by Darrow Montgomery and other photographers.

Feel free to leave us your thoughts on the changes, either in the comments on the blog or by e-mailing me at mmadden(AT)washingtoncitypaper.com. Enjoy!

Actually, this LL is already at the Wilson Building—joining us Tuesday will be Alan Suderman, who covers District government for the Examiner. He previously covered Montgomery County, where he dug up dirt on a tuition assistance program and possible conflicts of interest in a biotech tax credit. Suderman's also written about the Montana legislature for the Associated Press and about Sarah Palin for the Juneau Empire (back before she quit the Alaska government).

No doubt, he'll introduce himself here shortly after he starts. But those of you in city politics, consider yourself warned: This weekend is your last chance to do anything stupid without LL on the job. (And in fact, he'll be at the Palisades parade on Sunday—so look for him there.)

Have you heard the one about the fake 140-year-old hot dog?

How Batman kicked Superman's ass? ("Holy ass-kicking, Batman!")

How pot dealers prefer FedEx to UPS ("I mean, if you absolutely, positively have to get stoned overnight, I guess it's the way to go," says the Post's Petula Dvorak) but the USPS over both?

Actually, the story behind that last item is worth a closer look.

According to Politico, Melanie Sloan, a former federal prosecutor who works for the Center for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (responsibility? ethics?), was cooking dinner and watching her 11-month-old on Monday night when a FedEx guy showed up at the door with a package. It looked weird. It had only her Capitol Hill address on it, not her name, and it came from a mailing center in Anaheim, Calif.

She and her husband weren't expecting anything, but what the heck, who doesn't love an unexpected package? They set about opening it. It took 10 minutes, which was probably the first clue it wasn't a handmade knit hat for the baby.

Sloan and her husband cut through layers of insulation normally used in ceilings – which led them to believe there was an explosive inside. But the next level was a “huge oval wrapped in a zillion layers of plastic wrap.” It was then they smelled coffee, which is often used to cover the scent of drugs. And as a former Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Columbia, Sloan knew what was inside.

When she called the police, 12 showed up at her door. And they shot a series of photos of the huge block of pot. “They’re used to seeing dime bags,” Sloan joked.

One more thing: It has been reported to me by a top secret source that the print-edition City Papers were missing from their normal spot in the Rosslyn Metro station yesterday. Did you see them, Jim Brady?

As it turns out, God may well be behind it: The paper, from here on out, will print the words "In God we trust" on its front page.

Here, in part, via Romenesko, is the introductory message from Clifton Robinson, chairman of Robinson Media Co.:

This is the first edition of the Trib under the ownership of the Clifton Robinson family. The new experience of newspaper ownership is exhilarating, exciting and entered into with certain trepidation, remembering quotes of “Stick with what you know” and “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.”

... The newspaper business is currently undergoing what can best be described as the perfect storm: The failing U.S. economic conditions coupled with the digital age have caused advertising revenues and subscriptions to decrease.

Change is the byword of our modern society, and such is the case of the Trib. It's time for a change, and hopefully our values and opinions will be well received by our advertisers and readers. It will come about slowly but surely with the first change being printed on this paper's front page, where it will remain during the tenure of our ownership: In God we trust.

Clearly, that's the answer to all of journalism's woes: Get God to back your enterprise.

But more importantly: What declaration might City Paper put on its front cover? In whom – in what – do we trust?

Please allow me to make this, my inaugural City Desk blog post, an introduction of sorts.

I come to you via reporting stints both near and far. Looking back, I’d have to say the highlight of my first journalism job, in 1995, was the time I asked a Prince George’s County public information officer out of gruff-cop central casting for an update on the condition of a homicide victim ("She's still dead!" he laughed, and then said it again for good measure, causing me to turn a shade of purple I have tried very hard to avoid since.).

At The Hill, writing a feature for a special retail section, I once cornered Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) to find out where he shopped for bargains – seriously, I asked him that – and I was scolded and scorned, right there in the House of Representatives’ Speaker's Lobby (I am afraid of Barney Frank to this day).

At the Baltimore Sun, I wrote about public education, public health, the D.C. area sniper – remember that? – the U.S. Potato Board and, one time, myths about George Washington's false teeth. As the Sun’s Moscow bureau chief, yes, I got to go inside the Kremlin, but the best thing I did was leave one of my now-deceased cat Alphabet’s hairs inside Lenin’s tomb.

For the last year and a half, I have been reporting not on your Washington, but the other Washington. You know, the federal Washington, the Big Important Washington, the Washington which, if I were a bolder person, I would confess right here and now to hating at least half the time, probably more. But I enthusiastically embrace the switch – this is the Washington where real life goes on, after all – and what better time to come aboard? A journalist friend said the other day of this city's fine Ward 8 councilman, Marion Barry, whose most recent exploits have been cataloged by City Paper better than anywhere: "Barry is the news gift that never stops giving."

Look for the latest on City Desk and in tomorrow's print edition.

Off to do some journalism now...

Today I leave the best job I ever had, and that counts a brief stint at Trader Joe's where I tried to get health care after knocking over several cases of Two Buck Chuck with my ass. As asst. managing editor at Washington City Paper for the past two and half years, my job has been mostly plumbing, behind the walls, keeping things running without a nasty backup. But one cannot be merely a plumber and still be employed at an award-winning alternative weekly decimated by its ownership in the digital age. One has to blog.

I know all of you loyal City Desk readers have been following my posts with great vigor. And, so, as my parting gift to you, I give you the highlights of my tenure here (critters, baking, dudes living in their basements, Michael Phelps, D.C. brunch culture [FYI: It still sucks], and did I mention Michael Phelps?), as well as a super sappy goodbye.

First, I want to thank all of the commenters who agree with me regarding Sarah Palin and her inferiority to owls. Because do you know what? Owls are awesome and Sarah Palin is not. I stand by my original post. If you like that one—and so many of you did—I would encourage you to please check out my ongoing reportage on critters, including the saga of Lucy the Ninja Dog, ways coyote piss can rid this city of rats, and the adorable cuteness of this bedbug-sniffing beagle.

There were also a number of you who could not hold back the love when it came to my take on brunch. For the record: I am not leaving D.C. because of my hatred of its brunch culture. But it never entered the plus column. And, although I continue to believe what I wrote, I recently discovered that the city I am moving to has a "jazz brunch." So it seems this paticular sort of suck is not limited to the D.C. metropolitan area. I plan to take down brunch culture in greater Missoula, Mont., in the next incarnation of my career, so stay tuned.

And, unlike this guy, I do plan to have a career that takes me very far away from both my parents' basement and Brazillian "game." Thanks, Roosh V, for the memories.

But if my life as a brunch-taker-downer falls flat, I can always fall back on my many successes as a baker. I just don't know if the Marcello Goldberger Brown Sugar Chocolate Chunk Cookie will have a wider audience.

I do know that I have had the opportunity at City Paper to work with amazing, talented, tough people who make me laugh and challenge me as a journalist and who made me love my job. Among them are the above gentlemen, pictured hanging out in my old cube: Joe Eaton, Jason Cherkis, and Darrow Montgomery. I especially want to thank my bosses, Andrew Beaujon and Erik Wemple. I have never worked for finer people. I now join a cast of alumni who've left reluctantly, realizing it probably doesn't get any better than this.

Looking back on my work here, it's possible that blogging may not have been the strong suit for an old gal who started in newsrooms that didn't have Internet, but I didn't come here to become a great blogger.

I came here to be a part of something great. And I was. Thank you, colleagues and readers, for all of it.

washington, DC craigslist > northern virginia > for sale / wanted > collectibles

Marion Barry City Paper (Incredible Headline!) – $20 (Falls Church)

Love him or hate him, can you believe the incredible headline of the Washington City Paper? Surely one of the most outrageous pages of newsprint to come out the Washington D.C area.
May become a collectors item, they went fast from downtown newsracks, I was lucky enough to get three. Serious buyers only!

• Location: Falls Church
• it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

PostingID: 1265399825

Outside City Paper offices, 3:41 p.m.

The goal is to create more focused sections. You can search for restaurants under eats, movies under movies, music under music, and theater under theater.

It's an open secret that our website is in dire need of design improvements. Ever notice how this page actually has two search boxes? The one directly beneath the top navigation goes to a full site search powered by Google, while the search box under the City Desk header searches only City Desk posts. That's because we use two different content management systems (WordPress MU for blogs and an in-house system for our print-centric content) which haven't been integrated. We don't consider this an ideal solution, and we're working on a more sensible search page.

We're always open to suggestions and criticisms of how the site looks and works. Feel free to comment here or contact me directly at wamitchell@washingtoncitypaper.com.

With the Washington Post now soliciting sources via Craigslist, we'd hate to be late to the party.

With this in mind, and in the spirit of UGC, I'm putting out a call for factoids/tirades/anecdotes relating to public urination in and around the District.

Ever been arrested? Ever spotted for a friend? Ever ratted someone out? Ever squirmed your way, bladder full of empathy, through a performance of Urinetown?

If any of the above applies to you, please email me. You'll be richly rewarded, most likely in the form of a karmic exemption from kidney stones.

Looks like we are going the AIG route after all! I have it on the highest possible authority that invites will be going out later today for a Dec. 17 company bash, to be held at some local drinkery.

Loose Lips: Get Fenty to RSVP! Tradition!

Everybody else still on the payroll: Get out your earplugs, lampshades and buckets. Tradition!