Hey! Remember when I used to blog about my latest appearances in media and tell the stories behind the stories and point you to go click links and read stuff?

Yeah, it’s been a while.

It’s also been a while since my last cover story for Vegas Seven, that weekly news rag to which I’ve lately contributed little more than semi-regular album reviews and occasional blurbs. So, of course, not only do I come out of nowhere with my first cover since spring 2013, but I also wrote the lead feature in the A&E section, too, just to make sure nobody forgot my name.

“The Once and Future Downtown” sprung from my digging through the digital archives of UNLV Library’s Special Collections several months ago. I was looking for vintage images of East Sahara Avenue for a future DTLV.com column, and instead I somehow stumbled upon this very intriguing City of Las Vegas planning document. After perusing its contents, I wasted no time emailing my editors at Seven, who wasted only a little time approving my pitch to write about it, and upping it to a cover story, to boot.

My other story in this week’s issue, “Building Blocks,” reviews the current exhibit of AIA Nevada Design Award winners showing at UNLV’s Barrick Museum, “Reflecting + Projecting: 20 Years of Design Excellence.” I talked to some of the School of Architecture faculty involved in the exhibition’s creation, and if you have any interest in architecture, technology or art, you should probably check out the show before it comes down at the end of February. It’s pretty cool.

While you’re in the Wendoh Media network of websites, you may as well also check out my latest Urb Appeal column for DTLV.com, where I chat with “Downtown” Steve Franklin and “Uncle” Jack LeVine about the downtown real estate outlook for 2015. To be honest, though, it’s kinda boring. I’ll try harder next time.