Adam,
I recieved an email response today from Sigma Corporation of America telling me that "the new 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG Macro for Pentax is projected to be available this early summer. Unfortunately we do not have an exact date at this moment." That seems to be at odds with what your source told you. Hopefully within this year, Pentax and Sigma will get the DA 50-135 f2.8 and the 70-200 2.8 out to consumers to satisfy the growing pent-up demand.
The lack of availability of f2.8 telephoto zooms in a pentax mount is frustrating. The fact that Pentax doesn't/hasn't continued manufaturing one like C/N is a real mistake and probably keeps more professionals from trying Pentax, IMHO. I was speaking with a professional photographer (his income comes from his photography) the other day and showing him the K10D. He really liked the camera and the SR (he uses Nikon); he then asked me about Pentax's "glass." I sang the praises of the limited lenses and shorter zooms, but he was put off by the lack of a current 2.8 lens in the 70-200 range. Imagine if Pentax still produced the FA*80-200 2.8...it could be priced similar to the non-VR Nikon 70-200 2.8 for about 900$. My guess is they would sell a large number.
The lack of VR would be a non-issue with the SR.