Welcome, P-I readers

Thank you for reading The Seattle Times.

We know that many of your families had decades-long loyalty to the P-I, and that you've lost a familiar friend. We'll work hard to earn that same level of trust and loyalty each and every day forward, beginning with Wednesday's edition.

We believe you will find lots to like in our newspaper, joining the hundreds of thousands of your neighbors who read us every day.

The Times is a locally owned paper dedicated to community service. We're known nationally for our investigative reporting, compelling writing, excellent design and outstanding photography. Year after year, our Sports and Business sections are recognized as among the best in America.

But, as with any new relationship, we know this will take some time.

You may already know us better than you realize. Independent market research tells us that most of you love your Sunday paper, which many of you call your "Sunday P-I." Although both the Times and P-I nameplates have appeared on its front page since 1983, nearly all of its content has been produced by our staff. You'll find that same quality in the weekday Times.

To make your transition easier, we are bringing some features over from the P-I.

Comics | We're adding some of your favorites: Dilbert, Zits, Blondie, 9 Chickweed Lane, Pearls Before Swine and Red & Rover.

Lifestyle features | Ciscoe Morris' gardening column, Lynne Rossetto Kasper's "Splendid Table" food column and Linda Black's Horoscope.

Puzzles | We're adding the Hocus Focus Puzzle, and we already had the world's best crossword puzzle, from The New York Times.

Unfortunately, economic conditions will not allow us to hire any P-I journalists at this time. As you may know, we — like nearly every newspaper in America — have been forced to reduce the size of our own staff in recent months because of a severe downturn in advertising revenue.

I take no joy in the closure of any newspaper, even one with which my paper has been in fierce competition for more than a century. In fact, for most of those years, the Times-P-I rivalry fueled extraordinary journalism in this region.

But in this decade, and especially in the current financial crisis, it became obvious that Seattle isn't large enough to support two dailies, and that the community would be better served by one healthy newspaper than by two struggling ones.

For The Times to be healthy — indeed, to survive — we need you. In reading and subscribing, you'll be helping to keep quality, independent journalism alive in the Northwest.

And you can be sure that even without another daily newspaper in town, we'll be working harder than ever. In today's digital-media landscape, we know we have to be at the top of our game — in both print and online — to serve you well.

So thanks for giving us this opportunity. We look forward to building our new friendship.