The Detroit Free Press Editorial Board has begun blogging with its readers. Comments are invited and appear for each of the four first posts on the new blog, whose topics are: Detroit trash fee, Single Business Tax, Domestic partner benefits, and Ask the mayor.

Dated April 11, 2006, this is the venerable newspaper’s announcement of its new virtual conversation with readers:

The Free Press Editorial Board has launched its own weblog, where you can join in discussions with editorial writers about the hot topics of the day. You can find us at www.freep.com; scroll down the right side of the page and you’ll see the link under the list of your favorite columnists.

We hope this will be a lively forum where we can air out hot topics, particularly those pertaining to Michigan — and what better time than an election year? We also hope to stay on top of daily developments in the news to let you know where we stand or what issues we are reviewing — and give you a place to let us know what you think. From time to time, you’ll get a preview of editorials to be published and an opportunity to help shape our view.

Mostly, we just want to keep a conversation going. Whether in print or online, an editorial page ought to be a public forum for the civil exchange of ideas and opinions that help a community move forward.

You can help by sharing your views at www.freep.com.