A Crosscut update, as we launch The Crosscut Blog

Today we introduce a new feature, The Crosscut Blog. It's a group blog, written by numerous Crosscut contributors and ranging across political, business, and lifestyle news. Items will be shorter than our normal features, more conversational in tone, and posted more quickly to get into the daily debate of big stories. Hope you like it.

Hope you also send us tips and comments to make the blog more lively and diverse. You can comment at the end of each item, or you can send us letters (letters@crosscut.com) or address comments to the writers (e-mail links are at the end of each bylined item). When you find a good bit of journalism about our region and want us to look at it for inclusion in our links and commentary, send that along as well, e-mailing us at suggest@crosscut.com.

Crosscut is now almost seven months old, so here's a short update. We've just added Lucy Mohl in the new position of associate publisher, as we broaden our coverage in entertainment, lifestyle, and business. Lucy comes to us with lots of experience with online publishing in this market. She started Film.com (later sold), worked at KING-TV as a movie and arts editor, and most recently was a senior online producer at The Seattle Times. She's also our chief foodie.

We continue to add writers to our stable, now numbering about 35. Among the recent arrivals are: Pete Jackson, writing about public affairs and viewing life from Everett; Lisa Albers, a recent transplant from Tacoma and a fine feature writer; Phyllis Fletcher, a KUOW-FM reporter writing theater reviews for us; C.R. Douglas, who monitors Seattle politics at the Seattle Channel; and Stephen Marc Beaudoin, covering the lively arts in Portland.

Also, we have commenced a new partnership with KCTS-TV (9), the region's leading PBS channel. Each Friday at 7:30 pm, their week-in-review show, KCTS-9 Connects, hosted by Enrique Cerna, will feature a Crosscut writer talking about a story he or she worked on that week, and we'll soon be supplying the KCTS Web site with daily Crosscut headlines.

Want to help? Crosscut is a very interactive enterprise, so we really do want you to join us in this venture. Easiest first step is to subscribe to the daily free briefing e-mail that gives you headlines in the morning for the lead Crosscut stories of the day. Next, make sure you are registered so you can contribute comments about our stories. (You only need register once, and you can do this by clicking on "Post a New Comment" at the end of any article. The prompts will take you through the registration drill.)

And tell your friends about Crosscut by sending them a story link you know they will like, or invite them to get the newsletter. If you send a simple invitation to join and discover Crosscut to 10 or more friends by e-mail, and copy Yazmin Mehdi (yazmin.mehdi@crosscut.com), our marketing director, we'll reward each 10th person to do so with a $10 gift certificate to Elliott Bay Books. (Here's the fine print: We choose winners chronologically; up to 10 folks can win; only current newsletter subscribers are eligible; and the offer runs to Nov. 5, 2007.)

Thanks, finally, to the thousands of you who took time to read about and fill out our online survey. We were very encouraged by the many positive comments we received, as well as excellent suggestions and criticisms. Main suggestion? More original content. The Crosscut Blog is a first, quick response to your recommendation. As always, let us know what you think.