I thought the Strib canned Lileks. They must have been forced to bring him back when they realized he is one of the few reasons half of their potential readership would ever pick up their paper.
When you're awash in red ink, it's probably a good idea to heed at least a few of your remaining readers' requests.
I think they did can him. The must have decided to hire him back when they found that his blog had more visitors than their newspaper.
They moved him to the Star-Tribune web site about a year or so ago, where he runs it. http://www.buzz.mn/ This was after his “Backfence” column was terminated and he was assigned as a general reporter, due to a reduction in force at the Star-Tribune. That didn’t last long, which lead to the Buzz.mn position. He is now back to writing a column or two a week for the Star-Tribune in addition to the buzz.mn work.
And, of course, there’s his blog at http://www.lileks.com/
Jack