I am overjoyed to report that local venture capitalist and philanthropist Mark Ein has reached an agreement to purchase Washington City Paper from SouthComm, Inc. The news hit us in the middle of our annual holiday potluck. We here at City Paper are planning to celebrate heartily now because we are so excited to get back to work under more secure circumstances.

This marks a new phase in the history of City Paper. For the first time in 35 years, the paper will have a local owner. Ein also owns the Washington Kastles World TeamTennis (WTT) franchise and is founder and CEO of Venturehouse Group, LLC.

City Paper remains committed to rigorous local journalism. Just today we published an article on questionable tax breaks for two Dupont Circle development projects, and three days ago we published a follow-up to a 2010 City Paper article about the culture of sexual harassment and misconduct at the Marijuana Policy Project. You can expect to continue seeing these kinds of enterprise articles, along with comprehensive coverage of D.C.’s diverse arts scene and daily reports on food and the city’s growing restaurant industry.

City Paper has been publicly for sale since October 13. In the weeks that followed, editorial staffers talked about what they would want for the paper under the best-case scenario. Our vision was to become D.C.’s hometown newspaper, gradually expanding coverage to include more on education, sports, health, crime, and the other topics that comprise news in a city. We feel that this new ownership scenario affords us that chance.

In that spirit, please send story pitches to editor@washingtoncitypaper.com.