One of my favorite science fiction writers, Philip Jose Farmer, died on Feb. 25. He was never as famous are other vintage SF writers such as Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein or Arthur C. Clarke, but he had a devoted following.

I’ve been switching beats, from covering the county commissioners to covering business. There’s been an important change in how county commissioners are covered by the news media, and I thought I’d share it with you.

OK, it sure isn’t this one. But my colleague Jason Werling has been nominated in the Associated Press awards for “Best Blogger” for newspapers our size.

Everyone is still trying to digest the economic stimulus bill Congress just passed and the Obama Administration’s proposal on the housing crisis. Here are a few followups: