Celebrate! It's Our 3rd Patch Anniversary

By Saul Daniels

Today is the third anniversary of Northridge-Chatsworth Patch.

What started out as one of the first of AOL’s hyper-local Los Angeles news start-ups on Sept. 27, 2010, was soon joined by more than 900 sites in towns and neighborhoods across the nation.  

We launched with an investigation of cancer-causing Radon radiation in our houses. And as we expanded our territory from Chatsworth into Northridge, we brought you extensive coverage of the incursion of group homes into residential neighborhoods. Then, in cooperation with Neon Tommy at USC, there was the exposé of the Nuclear Cowboys who poisoned the environment at the Santa Susana Field Lab in the Simi Hills.

We covered community events, such as the annual Pioneer Day, the Holiday Parade, the Metrolink Holiday Toy Express and the pasta dinner fundraiser for the LAPD Devonshire Station, among others.

Our loyal readers phoned and emailed news tips. Some even provided on-the-scene photos. Others began blogging and submitting news articles and concert reviews.

We covered crime news too.  There was swastika vandalism, the four slain outside a boarding house, the body found in a freezer, and the couple discovered in a dumpster.

But, along the way there were upbeat stories, too. The late Pepper Davis explained why there was “no crying in baseball.” And a real WWII Rosie the Riveter told tales of the Homefront.

There was news of Superman, Roy Rogers, Lucille Ball and the Lone Ranger.

Since we launched there have been challenges, too. As readership increased month over month, we rolled out a new website look. I was promoted from Local Editor of Northridge-Chatsworth Patch to Field Editor, providing stories for all the Patch sites across the Valley. A new Local Editor was assigned here.  Soon, following another reorganization, I was managing the Encino-Tarzana and Woodland Hills Patch sites.

You may have heard that AOL and Patch Media, in an effort to control costs, decided to cut back on the number of sites they are operating. While awaiting word on which sites across the country will continue, I have been serving on the transition team. And on October 15, I will be departing Patch.

It has been my privilege to serve you, and a challenge to participate in this start-up adventure.

Watch for me on the Internet. I’ll be back.

-- Saul Daniels, Field Editor, Patch.com