New years are a time for holiday carousing, the sort that our fine city is just now — one hopes — fully shaking off the effects of. But the turn of the calendar is also a time to reflect and delve down into what's happened and what's going on right now, to connect the dots and realize how we got to where we are now. In keeping with that part of the season, at least, the Asheville Blade has recently focussed on two such major pieces, providing some context for the present. The year at the Blade — First, we turned our attention inward to give our readers a better idea of where we were coming from and where we'd been. While the year-in-review roundup can be a somewhat trite journalism trope unless in deft hands, several of our readers have pointed out that as a new news organization, the Blade's history and work still aren't known to many.  So here, Ashevillians, we provide a quick history of the Blade, from its beginnings emerging out of a union organizing drive at local paper Mountain Xpress, the first piece (a story on bad housing conditions in the county that the publisher killed to avoid portraying a landlord in a negative light) and how the Blade went from a one-time-only site for a particular story to a place for sharp news and views. Thanks. From there, we segue into the coverage we've provided since our beginning this summer, from investigative journalism on racism, labor and politics to interviews and well-honed opinion pieces from a variety of perspectives. The Blade's been fortunate to have a great crew come together on a number of fronts, and many of our readers (154 at last count) also support us with monthly subscriptions, allowing us to keep the lights on, pay writers and plan for the future. A lot's happened and if you haven't read the Asheville Blade before or wonder what we're about, this is an excellent place to start.  Different roads: the future of Asheville's public housing — The Blade's beginning also came at a time of major upheaval for Asheville's public housing, home to about 3,100 of the city's residents. This overhaul, known as Rental Assistance Demonstration or RAD, is an attempt to deal with shrinking federal budgets and bring long-overdue repairs and improvements to Asheville's aging public housing.  But the move has also resulted in considerably controversy, including from residents who assert a lack of transparency or consideration of their needs. The change also took place at a time of rising evictions and a forthcoming redevelopment of Asheville's oldest project. Many of these stories have appeared in Carolina Public Press (a great organization worthy of your support) and in the Blade, we tied them together into a primer for locals to understand more about this important and complex issue. As we go into 2015, we'll continue to look for the story behind the story, to provide more context, history and perspective. This is an amazing city, and it deserves better. We all do.