A 2013 scene from one of CHS’s biggest news stories… ever. Thanks, Macklemore.

Ten years ago today, CHS published for the first time. The post still makes me cringe. January 12, 2016 marks our 10-year anniversary, of sorts. Back then, we clung much closer to the “community” part of community news. Some of you were there. You might — sometimes — miss those days. In the decade since, CHS has grown into something else. At first, it was my own curiosity and the questions from regular readers that drove the site. There were days without posts. There were no ads. But the questions got more complicated and the time spent answering them, more involved. Within two years, CHS was a puny little news operation, paying people to report and take pictures. Within three years, our taxes started getting complicated. Four and five years in, this had become serious stuff. But not too serious. We still try to find time for a goof. We’ll still push an unvarnished “community post” onto the homepage. The whole point has been to do this in a different way. So far, so good.

Below, I’ve taken the easy way out from trying to explain the past decade by listing our biggest news days in the past 10 years:

1. 4/1/2014 — 16,683 readers — E Madison property home to Piecora’s sold to developer in $10.29 million deal
2. 8/6/2015 — 16,762 readers — Police investigating after man shot in gunfight outside club at Pine/Melrose
3. 1/23/2015 — 19,608 readers — Anheuser-Busch acquires Elysian Brewing Company — including E Pike brewery
4. 10/27/2015 — 20,636 readers — Garbage truck gone rogue closes streets around E Olive Way
5. 6/22/2015 — 21,031 readers — Mayor Murray set to unveil ‘Rainbow Crosswalks on Capitol Hill’
6. 1/1/2014 — 22,692 readers — New Year’s fire incident at Neighbours investigated
7. 7/5/2013 — 24,036 readers — Standoff with armed suspect locks down Bellevue/Denny area
8. 11/22/2015 — 27,198 readers — Five injured in shooting at Broadway and Pike
9. 7/24/2013 — 27,198 readers — Reddit, street closure fuel rumors of Macklemore Broadway Dick’s video shoot
10. 6/16/2015 — 27,356 readers — Broadway says goodbye to Charlie’s — UPDATE: Confirmed :(

You’ll note that six of our ten biggest readership days were in the past year — the CHS audience continues to grow. Here are a few more stories from over the years where we had more visitors than average. They range from…

• to the weird! 4/9/2009 — Cookie Monster on Capitol Hill: ‘Why lie? ME NEED A COOKIE!!!’
• to bad news: 11/4/2010 — Capitol Hill credit card fraud wave tied to Broadway Grill
• to hopeful! 11/17/2009 — 2013: ‘Expedited’ streetcar schedule approved
• to tragic: 11/22/2010 — Man killed with axe near 15th and Union 

If you are new to CHS, the list above illustrates only a small part of what we’ve been up to. More important has been the day in, day out dedication from every person who put time and effort into being part of the site. The three, four, maybe five or six stories we bring you every day — 18,245 so far. The 2 AM sirens. The unbelievable scenes that play out in this fantastic neighborhood. The awful, amazing, relentless change. The people, places, and things that somehow manage to stay the same.

Thanks to the contributors. Thanks, advertisers. Thanks, subscribers. Thanks, family for accepting this weird way to make a buck in our lives. Thanks for reading. Thanks for being part of CHS.