What's up with the Times' OC printing plant?

Some of the press workers at the Los Angeles Times think the paper will shutter its Orange County printing plant in the coming months. A report on Ed Padgett's blog has fueled the speculation, which seems to be based largely on insider rumor. I'll update if I see anything concrete one way or the other.

Strange rumblings on Spring Street

From LA Observed: Rumbles are strong in the Los Angeles Times newsroom about a new, unexpected wave of layoffs, possibly before the second quarter ends June 30. The rumors are that this one will go deeper than the last round, but they are only rumors at this point.

I've heard similar rumblings about possible layoffs at LANG. The expectation there is that second quarter reports will show deeper revenue losses and lead MediaNews to apply a double-helping of the only curative it knows: staff cuts.

However, I can't discern if these are simply pessimistic predictions from embattled insiders or something more concrete. And MediaNews has decided to take its financial reports private. Meanwhile, a number of reporters and editors have left LANG papers in recent weeks and that could make layoffs - assuming any layoffs are planned - unnecessary.