Yes, dear readers, our time together has come to an end. I apologize in the long delay in posts, but our paper went though a very difficult round of layoffs on Feb. 29. Sadly, we are not alone in losing swaths of good journalists; nearly every major newspaper is cutting staff as the industry flounders for a solution to stay viable in the Internet era and our company took a particularly drastic step. I had a backup plan in the works and voluntarily took a buyout, ending my court coverage just as I was kind of getting the hang of it.

This leaves several trials uncovered, and for that, I'm very sorry. I'd have liked to have stayed on the beat for quite some time and hope that we'll be able to pick up coverage as good court issues come along. It's been a pleasure playing your host here-- this blog was one of my favorite parts of my job in recent months. I hope it was as entertaining for you as it was for me. And whether you read it here or anywhere else, keep watching those courts-- there's a lot of important news that goes on there from which we can all learn.

So thanks again for your time and your feedback. I've enjoyed our time together and will see y'all round the blogosphere.

-Brent Hopkins
afropic@gmail.com