by Janice Christensen

“Oh, my life… is changing every day in every possible way.”
~ The Cranberries

So, no… nothing stays the same forever. And it’s time to make some changes here at the Currents Inc.

Probably the biggest change is going to be my role with the Riverwest Currents. With this issue, I plan to turn more of my energies toward support for the advertising staff in an attempt to put the company on a more stable financial basis.

Nik Kovac has graciously offered to help during this transition by contributing some of the investigative reporting he has done for us in the past – before he ran off to the wilds of Brooklyn and Queens – and by acting as a mentor and guide for many of our other writers.

We were thrilled to learn he was planning to come back to Riverwest, and are looking forward to the excitement and change he will bring to our neighborhood – and to our paper.

My other big project over the next few months will be production of the East Side Directory – a resource that’s been badly needed in our community for some time.

There are other projects I’d like to see Currents, Inc. undertake as well. We have been reaching out to other area publications, most recently Sherman Park Today, to offer layout and production help. I would like to continue to encourage other local neighborhood publications around the city.

Special projects are another growth area for us. Currents, Inc. offered technical support to the recent Vision Paper produced by the Milwaukee River Work Group. I would like to see us creating more such papers aimed at influencing policy and educating people in the city about ways they can participate in governmental decision-making.

And I will probably be convinced to turn in the occasional article as well.

Another change that’s coming is one that saddens me greatly. We have decided that we need to discontinue publication of UnderCurrents. This was a paper that was especially dear to me. I loved its attitude and quirkiness and especially its cartoons. I will really miss all the characters I’ve come to know and love from the pages of UnderCurrents. I will also miss working with Coth and Tea. But what a year it was. And what talent we had working with us. Thanks folks – it was sweet!

So my friends, just remember: The only thing you can ever be absolutely sure of is change.

See you in the funny pages….

Riverwest Currents online edition – June, 2007