This just in from Universal Press Syndicate:

"FoxTrot to Cease Dailies
Kansas City, MO (12/05/2006) Bill Amend?s popular FoxTrot comic strip will go to a Sunday-only publication schedule as of Dec. 31, 2006, announced Universal Press Syndicate today. The last daily will be Saturday, Dec. 30. Reruns of dailies will be available for Web usage.

?After spending close to half of my life writing and drawing FoxTrot cartoons, I think it?s time I got out of the house and tried some new things,? said Amend. ?I love cartooning and I absolutely want to continue doing the strip, just not at the current all-consuming pace. I?ve been blessed over the years with a terrific syndicate, patient newspaper clients, and more support from readers than I probably deserve, and I want to assure them all that while I?ll be now a less-frequent participant on the comics pages, I?ll continue to treat my visits as the special privilege they are.?

Amend, who started the strip in April, 1988, and who has more than 1,000 client newspapers, is taking time to pursue other creative outlets. ?In addition to Sunday newspapers, we may see FoxTrot entertaining us in other kinds of media platforms,? says Lee Salem, president and editor of Universal Press Syndicate.

Amend has more than 30 published FoxTrot comic collections and has licensed his characters for calendars and wallpapers for cell phones. He was nominated in 2006 as a finalist for cartoonist of the year by the National Cartoonists Society?s Reuben Award.

Why post this news at TheForce.net? Well because for years Bill Amend has always figured out a way to incorporate little musings from the Star Wars universe into his daily strip ( www.foxtrot.com ) and for that we are truly grateful. We wish Bill the best of luck with all his new found spare time and we hope to see Star Wars play a role in some fashion in a future Sunday strip of FoxTrot.

Thanks to Scott C. for the heads up!