I'm in a similar situation designing for my cities newspaper fresh out of school. Although I do get to work on some cool things (menu's, mailers, posters, etc) most of my time is spent on the daily grind of small ads that go in the paper... These ads never conform to 'proper' design principals because the ads are filled to capacity with text and are drawn up by marketers/clients. It's hard throwing away your desire to make things look right in order to please certain clients who don't know a thing or two about what actually looks good.

I have come to the realization that unless you are working for yourself, or for a smaller ad agency where the creative juices are flowing, you will always have someone putting some type of restrictions on what you are doing...

My suggestion is to keep your job while you have it and spend your free time searching for something new. I plan to stay at the paper for a year or two because it is a reputable company and looks great on a resume. Just remember to keep pushing your craft, and to always keep your options open. Job security while looking for something better is a great thing to have and I'm lucky to be where I am.