The Times' Sacramento blogger Robert Salladay, who took the buyout, signed off this afternoon. Political Muscle will continue in some guise, he writes. From his farewell post:

The Political Muscle blog has been fantastic real estate for the Sacramento bureau. It has allowed us to spotlight the floating opera of California politics in playful, occasionally serious and sometimes outrageous ways. And we poked fun at the king in public. What could be more important than all that? Stay tuned for a new Political Muscle blog after a brief hiatus.

There are still quite a few quality blogs that specialize in state politics, far more (and often better) than the relative few that watch our local pols. In addition to the Daily News' The Sausage Factory, which goes both ways, Rough and Tumble is read by just about everyone in the Capitol, The Roundup is a big morning stop for pros, the San Francisco Chronicle has its politics blog, William Bradley does New West Notes fulltime, Republicans have The Flash Report (among others) and Democrats have the California Majority Report (among others.) Not a comprehensive roundup.