ERIK, WE HARDLY KNEW YE. Just when you thought Michael Lacey had finally hired an editor-in-chief for his depleted Village Voice...the new guy turned tail and decided to stay at his old job! Here's the Voice coverage of Erik Wemple's decision to stick with Washington City Paper. (Thanks, Gawker, for the lead.)

Wemple's written statement included this: "the paper's ownership and I have failed to come to terms in our many discussions about moving forward, particularly with respect to newsroom management."

And here's part of the Voice press release: "Erik's concerns are not unreasonable," said Michael Lacey, executive editor of Village Voice Media. "The Voice is an enormous and complex horse race. We asked Erik to mount several ponies mid-stride, and he was alarmed to find us still in several of those saddles."

(Recalling Wendi C. Thomas's change of mind regarding Baltimore's Sun, I wonder if this could be the start of a journo mini-trend.)

In other Voice-related news, Nick Sylvester's byline has risen from the ashes over at the Boston Phoenix.

Previous coverage here.

Photo: David Marc Fischer