Beginning next week, the Sun Journal will double the amount of space available for local arts coverage and restore local news to the Back Page of the newspaper.

Today’s paper contains the last Encore supplement. Beginning Tuesday, Encore will become two full-color pages in the daily newspaper, five days a week, replacing the Arts Etc. and Entertainment pages.

While we are sure the Encore insert will be missed by some, we also found over the years that it was literally “missed” by others; sometimes readers didn’t notice it among the inserts in the Friday paper.

Encore’s once-a-week publication also left us unable to publish some community arts announcements that came in after Encore’s early deadline. For instance, if a notice reached us Thursday about a concert Saturday, we were unable to publicize it in Encore.

Now, since we will be publishing arts information Tuesday through Saturday, there will be more flexibility to publicize those events before they happen. What’s more, the extended calendar of events will appear on Thursdays, instead of Fridays, allowing people more time to plan their weekend activities.

The back page is considered a high-readership position in any newspaper and, for many years, the Back Page of the Sun Journal contained community news. Over the past decade, it has gone through a variety of format changes. Yet, from time to time, readers let us know that they still missed the “local” feel of that page.

Beginning next week, the emphasis on the back two pages – as it is throughout the Sun Journal – will be back on local news. What’s more, the traditional Encore information will be supplemented, when space remains, with general movie, art, music and book reviews and features.

With the addition of color press units last year, both of the new Encore pages now have full color capabilities.

In 2007, the Sun Journal also will unveil an interactive activity community calendar on its Web site, giving us another way to promote the local arts scene and further connect our arts community with its audience.

So, please look for more Encore news more days of the week, beginning Tuesday on the back page of your newspaper.