There are new devs that now have commit access to the ltc repo.
Coblee is on-board with a few of us working on the code and rolling in updates - many of which are in test and we're aiming to start more regular release cycles of the client.
We're being careful to ensure we can provide a clean upgrade mechanism for users as we build new functionality and roll in important changes from the bitcoin source.


That's an unfair and invalid argument ck - Coblee did a Satoshi for a number of personal reasons - he's around and reachable by the current team - but he doesn't have time to commit with the everyday dev.  We do talk with him when it comes to major changes or for brainstorming - but we also have scope to bring about change.
Gavin stepped in and did a great job of moving bitcoin forward - building upon a solid foundation and helping to turn it into what bitcoin currently is today.  Give us a chance to see if we can do the same for litecoin.

We're also looking to deal with a number of hostile actions by some who believe that btc should be the only coin.
In the past few months the blockchain & many of the pools have been attacked by those who believe it should be taken down - sadly it appears that one of the contributors to the bitcoin code also have it out for litecoin - which tarnishes the image of not just bitcoin but all cryptocoins. 
We've weathered these attacks pretty well I think - we've learned a lot and now in a more solid position to take Litecoin to a new level.