Happy Domesday Everyone

It's the Dome blog's first birthday today.

As a regular feature of the N&O, Under the Dome debuted Sept. 3, 1934, making it the newspaper's longest continually running feature.

But Dome "went electric" — in the words of Dylan-loving former editor Melanie Sill — on April 16, 2007, with a post about Attorney General Roy Cooper's interview with "60 Minutes."

Since then, we've posted nearly 4,000 times.

Some have been newsy. We've broken stories about scholarships given through the N.C. Legislative Black Caucus Foundation to five legislators' relatives; a real estate deal involving lobbyist Don Beason; and Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue's change of birthdate.

Others have simply been fun. We've helped coin the word "chilipunk;" unmasked a secret admirer of Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry; inadvertently gotten Richard Moore in trouble with the Eagles; and traced the origins of the "catfish amendment."

We've done podcasts with U.S. Sens. Richard Burr and Elizabeth Dole, U.S. Reps. Bob Etheridge and David Price, and gubernatorial candidate Bob Orr, among others.

We've written in-depth profiles of Jim Black, Andy Griffith, Thomas Wright and every statewide candidate, and answered frequently asked questions about primary runoffs, the Queen City Curse, and expelled legislators.

And we've posted public records: Drafts of a biography on Mike Easley, a letter from Progress Energy about its purchase of 1,520 copies of Richard Moore's book, and IRS forms from Bill Graham's 527 group.

Most importantly, we've built a community of users — readers is not the right word anymore — who send us tips, point out our mistakes and share their insights on state politics.

Thanks for reading! We look forward to another year together.