To the tune of, well, you get it.

I’d say I’m as rooted in my new job as the hops vining up the side of my house, and the clips keep climbing likewise.

My official beats now are the city of Longview (where I get to do stuff like this); Lower Columbia College (graduation tomorrow); and Cowlitz PUD, our ever-scandalous public electric utility (here’s this month’s quagmire).

It’s fantastic getting to meet people I might otherwise never even see — like Dr. Fuesler —and be the mighty check on governments that, even at the local level, have plenty to hide.

And then there are the squirrel bridges:

It’s a strange place, Longview.

Of course I’m still working toward getting my byline on the cover of the Rolling Stone (see what I did there?) so I popped out a review of the ramblin’ Jonathan Warren and The Billy Goats for the Indy this week, alongside Bozeman, Mont.’s surprisingly solid Panther Car.

In other news, Americans are using the word “nil” with increasing frequency, though experts predict a drop-off by mid-July. Cheers.