Union-Tribune Arts and Books Demise, and Some Reasons for Hope

It's been a week since we heard that the San Diego Union-Tribune was firing its Arts and Books editor, Robert Pincus. Maybe "letting go" is what they call it. The new editor, Jeff Light, had a lot to say about the whole story, and here is his letter about the layoffs.
See how the Huffington Post weighed in on the story here.
I'm actually as concerned about the layoffs of Border beats as I am about the Arts cuts, though I will certainly miss Bob Pincus in all his many capacities. How is zero border coverage here in San Diego a good plan for the future?
Meanwhile, some of us here are still trying to help San Diego become a world-class literary and writing center--even a partial list is long: San Diego Writers, Ink; San Diego City Works Press; Read Local San Diego; the Southern California Writers Conference and the La Jolla Writers Conference; the San Diego Writers and Editors Guild; the Publishers and Writers of San Diego; the San Diego Book Awards Association; City College and Grossmont College (and SDSU, UCSD, & USD); dozens of hard-working, passionate independent bookstore owners and managers, and, of course, Sunbelt Publications and some other small presses.
The latest entry onto the local literary stage is Thorn Sully's A Word With You Press, which has a website worth visiting--there's lots of cool stuff to read and some fun contests for writers, too.
I guess I just wanted to say that there is a tremendous amount of wonderful work being done here by San Diego's literary community, not to mention great potential and promise...In spite of appearances to the contrary.
Hasta pronto!