Friends,

Seattle will remain a two newspaper town. And I am working for a very, very happy newsroom.

I was at a journalist training workshop at the Tacoma News Tribune when an editor walked in with a breaking news  update: “The Seattle Times and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer have reached a settlement that will allow both newspapers to continue publishing for the foreseeable future.”

The delightful shock rocked my core. The enormity of what that meant exactly — for my job, for my co-workers, for my future — started to flood through my brain.

“I get to keep my job. I get to stay in Seattle! Oh thank God. Thank God.”

About 75 reporters filled the room from various regional papers. Including, to my surprise, Shawna Gamache, a reporter whom I attended grad school with.

But only three reporters were from the Seattle Times — they were gloomier — and I was the only one from the P-I. My colleague, Daniel, arrived later. He told everyone, “I knew Andrea was in the room because she tackled me from behind with a hug.”

The reporters around me said, “Congratulations.”  My phone was filled with text messages, including from my mentor, Rob Wells, who was ecstatic.

Taking this job, moving across the country, was a risk. But one that I gladly took given that I get to work for a stellar newspaper and live in Seattle — a gorgeous, clean and livable city.

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