To our readers:

As the Star Tribune continues to assess the best ways to develop our news organization, we've decided to move forward without a full-time editorial cartoonist on staff. We're grateful to Mike Thompson for his work as a staff cartoonist and look forward to opportunities to publish his work on a freelance basis in the future.

Mike had this message to share with our readers: "I appreciated the chance to work daily with the Star Tribune team, but the organization's needs are changing and so is my role. I look forward to opportunities to publish illustrated pieces here in the future, which is the kind of reported work that I get the most satisfaction from as a journalist."