Ye olde cooks have good news and bad news for you, the faithful ETS! diner.

The good news is that we want to welcome a new editor! Mike Roberge has newly taken over the reins as editor of the Activist Calendar, replacing Bruce Greeley, who did a fine job over the past few years. We thank Bruce for his help, and also give a big shout-out to Mike for taking on one of our paper's most important (and underappreciated) functions. And if you want to have an event listed in our calendar, let us know (or add us to your mailing list) at editorial@eatthestate.org.

The bad news is that we're broke--again--just in time for that annual event known as an ETS! fund drive. Now, we try to keep this exercise as fun and light-hearted as possible, but there are a couple of things that are special about this, our first Obama-era fund drive. First is that we're headed into the teeth of the worst economic situation in our lives, and that's hurting nonprofits of all kinds. Second is that our printer is no longer able to roll with what, over the years, has been our rather erratic cash flow. Credit is tight all over, and so they'll now cut us off if we're more than 30 days behind on our printing bills--which has happened pretty routinely over the years. We need to establish something of a cash reserve at precisely the time when nobody has any cash.

So here's the deal. If you can pitch in to financially help with any amount, any amount at all, we're most grateful. Our goal for this drive is to raise $5,000, which, with the usual money that comes in during the course of the year, should be enough to see us through 2009. (More would be even better, of course...) That $5,000 can be an outright donation (wouldn't redirecting money to us rather than the IRS just make you feel good all over?), subscriptions or renewals, or our ever-possible, fabulous, stylish ETS! t-shirts. (We'll also have more, and more imaginative, ETS! bling soon--details coming shortly!) Whatever the route, your donation and the support of our community really do help keep ETS! alive and kicking. Thank you!

Of course, whether you have any disposable income (or any other kind of income...) or not, there are other ways you can help our all-volunteer outfit--like Mike Roberge has done. We're always looking for writers. (We could, in fact, probably use another co-editor; Vanessa Pepoy, who's done a great job since 2007, is currently taking a leave of absence.) We're really hurting for distributors, especially on Capitol Hill, downtown, and in the south end (Rainier Valley, Beacon Hill, and Georgetown). And we need a new coordinator for distribution as well. If you would like to help with any of these tasks (or if, quite sensibly, you'd like to talk first with someone about what they entail), e-mail us at info@eattthestate.org or call 206-719-6947.

We'll have cuter, snappier fund appeals in coming issues.... In the meantime, any donation or anything else you can do to help out Seattle's finest independent media source is very, very appreciated.