Disappearing St. Augustine Record Neighborhood Columnists and Local Cartoonists

One of the cool features of the St. Augustine Record -- columns for neighborhoods -- have disappeared. Why?
The columnists were paid all of $20/month, and we learned about people and events in North City, Lincolnville, and other local communities.
The neighborhood columns have been replaced with fungible AP wire copy about people and places we don't care so much about and learn about from other media, both electronic and print.
There was no substitute for the neighborhood columnists, who wrote about local people, local events and local angles (and angels), sometimes with style and panache.
There was likewise no substitute for local political cartoonists like Ed Hall, fired six years ago for First Amendment protected activity. See below. Even Florida cartoonist Douglas McGregor no longer appears. Instead, political cartoons, if they appear at all, are nationally syndicated, mostly fungible, and many are hate-Obama.
The Record is becoming de-localized and homogenized, less local, more "McPaper" like a dull dweeby version of USA Today, without salsa and spice. That's a sham and a shame. How cruel is that?