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!

Deflation! Everyone's freaking out about it. Basically, deflation means you are getting poorer for a different reason than you were last month. Unless you don't have any debt or have liquid assets, an across-the-board decline in prices doesn't matter, because you can't afford anything and anyone who can will wisely wait for prices to go lower. Also there is no more money to borrow and if you have a European grandparent, this might be a good time to look into skipping town.

But here's how we'll be sitting pretty: Our paper is free! That's right, no liquidity trap for City Paper readers, because according to my reading of economics, unless we figure out a way to pay you to pick up copies, in a deflationary economy we can't lose money. In a month you might be able to fly to Sao Paulo for $4.95 plus a toy in its original packaging, but City Paper will be worth EXACTLY as much as it is now. And all those poor suckers standing around Washington Post boxes waiting for the price to go back down 15 cents, whaddya think they're gonna be reading? OH YEAH! Wait, put down that Examiner...

Photo by Flickr user fiveforefun

Either way, the end of last week was one massive game of musical chairs, as staffers boxed their personal and professional effects, unearthed a few oddities (Cherkis' first cover story! Amanda Ripley's alarm clock! A headless photo of David Carr!), and reminisced. A stirring scene.

Watch it below.

Trouble viewing? Try the YouTube version.

The "Free Burger Day" coupon in this week's issue has generated a long line of freeloaders today looking to cash in at Z-Burger, the Tenleytown joint that hopes to, one day, rival the Five Guys chain for sheer volume of restaurants. David Walker, City Paper's advertising sales director, tried to stop by and order himself a free ground-beef sammie. The line was so long, he went to McDonald's instead. (As far as pure beef flavor goes, I'd argue there's not much drop off there.)

It's not too late to take advantage of the offer. It goes til 10 p.m., when Z-Burger closes. But after you bums finish off your burger, you should thank Walker and account executive Andy Minarik, who are responsible for this freebie. When Z-Burger's owner was fishing around for ideas on how to advertise his budding chain, the pair suggested Free Burger Day. He agreed. He may be regretting it now. I don't know. I tried calling over there, but the dude on the line essentially hung up on me.