Regardless of what I decide to do with the Alternative, I want our readers to know what a fucking blast the past two-and-a-half years have been.

It's been a true pleasure to facilitate what we've accomplished with this radical little rag. As I. F. Stone said a lifetime before I quoted him saying it, it ought to be illegal to have had this much fun.

But the hard truth is that the future is uncertain. This is the last print edition of the Alternative you will hold in your hands for a while. We're skipping the Aug. 15 edition. And we'll be using the time off to chart the future.

There are two options: shut the print version down or come back bigger and better. I'm prepared for the former but hopeful for the latter.

Either way, the Alternative will continue. The medium and the techniques could change. The mission won't.

An integral component of that mission from Day 1 has been to supplant Bloomington's lapdog press with the watchdog a community like this one deserves.

Our philosophy is that when the media does its job and forces public officials to do the public's business in public, the public benefits and democracy flourishes. We know all too tragically what happens when the media doesn't do its job.

And on that front, the statistical and anecdotal evidence is indisputable that we've made progress.

Statistically, readership figures on the last issue, in mid-summer, when the town is Dead, with a capital D, were as high as they were at any time in the spring. Almost 90 percent of the papers that we put out are taken each two-week period.

And each of those are read many times over. As one of my students once told me: "Your paper is laying around my house all the time, and you know how girls are, we'll read anything."

Since we launched our new, redesigned Web site the first of May, the key measures of Visits and Pages have more than doubled. One of our stories has been read 10,000 times. And we've not really even completed the upgrade. Hell, I'm still learning how to use the thing.

Browse our site by author, and you'll see that we've given journalistic voice to between 75 and 80 writers and thinkers, from students to involved citizens to seasoned pros. We've likewise given average citizens a voice in critical issues of community concern - like their downtown and their library.

The public said no taxpayer money to build a parking garage for millionaires, and put on the brakes with changes at the MCPL.

In part, because their actions are being scrutinized by an adversarial media, community leaders listened. Mayor Mark Kruzan said no corporate welfare for medical marketers who fly private, luxury jets. And the library board has called a time out.

Coincidence? Think about it.

So why the month of pondering? Simply put, the financial side of this operation hasn't kept pace with the editorial. It's time for it to grow or go.

Avid readers have asked me what individuals can do to help.

First, they need to remember that the Alternative isn't free, even if they don't have to pay for the news and views we present them. The printing and the stories and columns and videos and cartoons cost money, which is paid for with advertising revenue.

Second, the key to our ability to continue the Alternative print edition is to attract more advertising dollars. So, readers can support and thank the advertisers who already support us and urge the businesses they patronize to advertise with us as well.

Third, if they know anyone who might be helpful in this quest, in any way, send them our way.

As Lori, Melissa and Alison demonstrate again in this issue, we've featured some top-notch arts writers in "the Beat."

But the Alternative will never follow the Rolling Stone model and evolve into an arts rag with strong editorial content. The community already has three reputable publications devoted entirely to the arts and a couple others for whom the arts are part of their broader media missions.

That's not where the need is. But there is so much more that we could and should be doing with arts and culture.

If we do turn the money thing around, upgrading "the Beat" will be near the top of our agenda. More pages, more features, more personality. More arts.

So that's the scoop, the bottom line, so to speak. We're taking the month off. We're going to be walking and talking a lot. And we may or may not be back.

I hope we are because, as I said, it's been an amazing journey these past 54 months. And I know the potential.

If we're not back for the fall, we'll still do what we do on the Web - www.BloomingtonAlternative.com.

As I said before. The mission continues. Visit us often.

Steven Higgs can be reached at editor@BloomingtonAlternative.com.