Sacramento, Calif.
Owner: Arnold and Karen York
Effective: Jan. 19, 2012

The 23-year-old paper stopped publishing a print edition; it continues to publish online. Publisher Arnold York released a statement online: “This step, an essential element of the reorganization of our company, was prompted by challenging economic times coupled with the need for new technologies to expand our company’s online, social media and electronic communication capabilities.”
Source: Sacramento Bee

Los Angeles
Owner: Tribune Co.
Effective: Jan. 13, 2012

Eight distribution and pressroom employees were laid off. Do you know more? Leave a comment or send me an email: newspaperlayoffs@gmail.com.
Source: Los Angeles Times Pressmens 20-Year Club

Sacramento, Calif.
Owner: The McClatchy Co.
Effective: July 23, 2012

Twelve employees were laid off, including two from the newsroom. Community Affairs Director Pam Dinsmore said “about half will be offered other jobs within the company,” but did not elaborate on what those jobs were.
Source: Sacramento Press via Paper Cuts tip; Sacramento Business Journal

Visalia, Calif.
Owner: Independent
Effective: January 2012

The 30-year-old weekly paper has closed. A note on the paper’s website blamed “decreasing advertising revenues, adversarial lawsuits directed at the paper by the Gannett Corp. … and an overall sour economy.” “The newspaper’s editorial and advertising staffs as well as the community-based owners of the Voice have been fighting for months to keep the paper alive and are still actively pursuing a solution that will allow the paper to survive,” said Editor and Publisher George Lurie. Lurie did not say how many employees the paper had. Do you know more? Leave a comment or send me an email: newspaperlayoffs@gmail.com. Emailed tips are anonymous.
Source: Valley Voice; Paper Cuts tip

Visalia, Calif.
Owner: Gannett Co. Inc.
Effective: May 4, 2012

Accounting and advertising layout jobs are being outsourced. Do you know more? Leave a comment or send me an email: newspaperlayoffs@gmail.com. Emailed tips are anonymous.
Source: Paper Cuts tip

Walnut Creek, Calif.
Owner: MediaNews Group
Effective: April 26, 2012

Copy editing has been consolidated; 10 to 12 copy editors were laid off. In a staff memo, Executive Editor Dave Butler called the change a cost-saving move that mimics a similar move at the Denver Post. “Our idea, like Denver’s, is to put more responsibility for copy editing on the editor doing the initial story read — especially on routine stories,” he wrote in the memo. “A second or third edit on most stories has become a luxury most newspapers no longer can afford.”

Do you know more? Leave a comment or send me an email: newspaperlayoffs@gmail.com. Emailed tips are anonymous.
Source: Poynter via Paper Cuts tip

Los Angeles
Owner: Tribune Co.
Effective: March 20, 2012

“As many as 20″ employees were laid off, LA Observed reported. The Wrap confirmed that 12 to 20 employees were laid off, but The Times would not confirm a specific number. LA Observed also reported that the layoffs “included is half of the newsroom’s African American copy editors.” Do you know more? Leave a comment or send me an email: newspaperlayoffs@gmail.com. Emailed tips are anonymous.
Source: LA Observed via Paper Cuts tips; The Wrap via Paper Cuts tip

Los Angeles
Owner: MediaNews Group
Effective: Oct. 20, 2011

The features editor and food editor were laid off. Do you know more? Leave a comment or send me an email: newspaperlayoffs@gmail.com. Emailed tips are anonymous.
Source: L.A. Observed

San Francisco
Owner: Black Press Ltd.
Effective: Dec. 13, 2011

At least seven newsroom employees were laid off, many of them copy editors. Black Press officials had said layoffs would be made after they bought the paper on Nov. 30. Do you know more? Leave a comment or send me an email: newspaperlayoffs@gmail.com. Emailed tips are anonymous.
Source: San Francisco Peninsula Press Club via Paper Cuts tip

Escondido, Calif.
Owner: Lee Enterprises
Effective: Nov. 18, 2011

Twenty-five newsroom and nine advertising and circulation employees were laid off. “We’re not losing money, but we’re not doing as well as we ought to,” Publisher Peter York said, blaming decreased advertising revenue for the layoffs.
Source: North County Times via Paper Cuts tip

Full disclosure: I work at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which also is owned by Lee Enterprises.