Turns out, managing my own personal breaking news has been extremely difficult. But I do have a story to tell you. Waiting to share as I planned it all out has driven me insane.

I’m excited — and a little sad — to announce that I am taking a break from CHS. There are no time restraints on the decision. This is the right time for me to bring the logistics together to begin the break. There will be a right time to start again.

My plan is to take time off from the site and the business, take care of some things in life that I have been meaning to get to, and keep many appointments that I have put on hold for the past decade.

What does that mean? A list!

CHS and our band of amazing contributors will finish out the week just as we always have. I’ll try to keep things as professional as usual. Everybody is getting paid. Every advertiser is getting their money’s worth or a refund. This is a sabbatical not a shuttering.

After Sunday, a “gone fishing” message will go up and the site will go into a kind of stasis. Expect some things like the Calendar and Community Posts to poke along. I might even get around to adding a few automagical news features to keep the site busy while I am gone.

Our many, many freelancers and contributors might be looking for work and new projects. Drop them a line.

Thanks especially to Alex Garland who has been along for so much of the ride and Kaylee Osowski for bringing new enthusiasm to the effort.

Our many advertisers are the best kinds of neighborhood organizations and businesses. Give the ads a lookover and make sure to thank them with your patronage.

Our 200 or so subscribers have given me hope — and money — to help make CHS continue to work even as the media market shifts and changes. Thanks much for being part of CHS. If you decide now is the time to end your patronage, I understand. If you want to help with ongoing costs around hosting the site and the tech side of things, thanks. It will definitely make this easier to return to after my 2017 walkabout.

Some 1.7 million “users” have visited the site in the past year. I look forward to the eventual challenge of winning them back.

While the news is new to you, I have not made this decision lightly. I am lucky to have the opportunity to be so tortured with choice. I am lucky to be able to walk away. And I am — I hope — lucky to have the opportunity to come back to it when the time is right.

Thanks for reading,

Justin

UPDATE: I was afraid of this! Thanks for all the messages and goodwill. Thanks for understanding. Now go hire a freelancer in my honor. Meanwhile, thanks for the coverage: