Last Day is April 30 for Twenty-Year Vet.

After twenty years at the Seattle Weekly, Publisher Mike Crystal is seeking a new beat — and it probably won’t be in newspapers.

Crystal announced earlier this week that he will be leaving the paper on April 30.

“I’m interviewing with a number of firms and may decide to take some time off. I probably will [continue] to work in the Northwest,” Crystal says, citing the hot economy and Internet business opportunities as two exciting reasons to stay in the area.

Crystal was named Publisher of the Weekly two and a half years ago when founding Publisher/Editor David Brewster stepped down after the paper was purchased by Stern Publishing. Crystal says his decision to resign had nothing to do with the January announcement that the Weekly had been sold once again — this time to a management team led by Stern President David Schneiderman.

“I was here for twenty years; I am very much a part of the Northwest. But I am watching the business opportunities, and I just thought it would be a good time for me to [leave the paper]. I didn’t want the opportunity to slip by.”

Crystal says that he is happy to be leaving when the Weekly is in such good shape: “The paper is doing excellent. It’s doing well; it’s well-positioned in the market. It’s great to be able to leave at a successful time. But I’m going to miss it terribly.”