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''The Current Newspapers'' consisted of four print and online weekly community newspapers in Washington, D.C., with editions targeted to affluent communities in Georgetown,
Dupont Circle Dupont Circle (or DuPont Circle) is a traffic circle, park, neighborhood and historic district in Northwest Washington, D.C. The Dupont Circle neighborhood is bounded approximately by 16th Street NW to the east, 22nd Street NW t ...
,
Foggy Bottom Foggy Bottom is one of the oldest late 18th- and 19th-century neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., located west of the White House and downtown Washington, in the Northwest quadrant. It is bounded roughly by 17th Street NW to the east, Rock Cre ...
, and Northwest DC. The publications group provided readers with the latest news from the District of Columbia government, local government including
Advisory Neighborhood Commission Advisory Neighborhood Commissions are bodies of local government in District of Columbia, in the United States. The ANC system was created in 1974 through a District referendum (73 percent voted "yes") in the District of Columbia Home Rule Act. ...
s (ANC), citizens organizations, and other community news, sports, events, and entertainment for areas served since 1967. The company previously owned a newspaper on
Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...
– '' Voice of the Hill'' – but ceased publication on May 5, 2010, citing declines in advertising revenue. This announcement came around 9 months after the death of the paper's co-founder, Bruce Robey, who was found dead due to an apparent
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
in September, 2009. The company ceased all publications on May 10, 2019.


History


''Northwest Current''

The first issue of the ''Northwest Current'' was released on October 20, 1977, succeeding the ''Potomac Current'', which ran biweekly from 1968–1977.


''Georgetown Current''

The ''Georgetown Current'' began publication in 1991, and covers news concerning the communities of
Burleith Burleith is a neighborhood in Washington, D.C., United States. It is bordered by 35th Street NW to the east, Reservoir Road NW and the historic Georgetown district to the south, Whitehaven Park to the north, and Glover Archbold Park to the west ...
, Foxhall, Georgetown,
Glover Park Glover Park is a neighborhood in northwest Washington, D.C., about a half mile north of Georgetown and just west of the United States Naval Observatory and Number One Observatory Circle (the Vice President's mansion). Every morning and evening, ...
, and the lower Palisades.


Financial issues and closure

On September 8, 2017, one of ''The Current'' former printers,
Gannett Company Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.DC Superior Court for $180,000 worth of unpaid printing bills. In early January 2018, ''The Current'' filed for bankruptcy, having owed its creditors more than $1.25 million, with the free newspaper not having the money to pay its workers, distributors, or printers. ''The Current'' filed a petition for Chapter 11 protection on January 3 through the
U.S. Bankruptcy Court United States bankruptcy courts are courts created under Article I of the United States Constitution. The current system of bankruptcy courts was created by the United States Congress in 1978, effective April 1, 1984. United States bankruptcy c ...
for the District of Columbia, in which it reported less than $50,000 in assets and over $1.2 million in liabilities. Many of these liabilities come from former printers such as the previously mentioned Gannett Company, to which it owed over $180,000, Bartash Printing Inc for $105,000, APG of Chesapeake for $60,000, and former writers and photographers who are owed around $26,000. On May 10, 2019, The Current Newspapers' editorial director, Kate Michael, emailed employees that ''The Current'' would stop publishing immediately. The email said, "I'm sorry for the abrupt shock of this message. It is a difficult one for me send. I wish I had more specific information to share with you, but I was just told this afternoon that due to a Bankruptcy filing change from the former Publisher, The Current will cease editorial operations. I am not sure if we will be able to resume in the future under any circumstances, but will be in touch with you should that be possible."


Coverage


Sections


ANC News

"ANC" stands for
Advisory Neighborhood Commission Advisory Neighborhood Commissions are bodies of local government in District of Columbia, in the United States. The ANC system was created in 1974 through a District referendum (73 percent voted "yes") in the District of Columbia Home Rule Act. ...
s, and each version of ''The Current'' covered its own neighborhood's news in this section.


District Digest

This section covered D.C. news that would be relevant to readers of all four versions of ''The Current'', providing more broad, city-wide news in contrast to the community news provided by the ANC News section.


School Dispatch

In this section, students at local (usually
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...
) schools submitted their own articles that were featured in the paper. (Many of these schools are part of
AISGW The Association of Independent Schools of Greater Washington (AISGW) is an association of 75 independent schools located in the District of Columbia and metropolitan Washington, D.C. areas in Virginia and Maryland. More than 30,000 students attend ...
)


Marketplace

''The Current'' almost always covered local real estate, with special reports on unique and lavish houses on the market appearing weekly. Additionally, the local newspaper reviewed cars and discussed up and coming shops and restaurants gaining a buzz in the community.


Sports

Most, but not all, issues of ''The Current'' covered local sports, including news on recently traded players, local athletes signing to professional or collegiate teams, the scores of local high school sports games, and other local-infused sports news.


Events

Each issue of ''The Current'' typically ended with a list of events occurring throughout the city in the coming week, providing readers with possible activities to participate in around town.


Miscellaneous

In addition to the aforementioned sections, ''The Current'' published
Letters to the Editor A letter to the editor (LTE) is a letter sent to a publication about an issue of concern to the reader. Usually, such letters are intended for publication. In many publications, letters to the editor may be sent either through conventional mai ...
, Police Reports, Staff Editorials, and a section called "Pet of the Week", which covered rescue animals that are up for adoption.


Notable stories

One of ''The Current'' most notable stories was its coverage of World War I-era chemicals buried in Spring Valley: a neighborhood bordering
American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was chart ...
in Northwest DC. Unbeknownst to the affluent neighborhood's residents, the area was used as a testing ground for munitions and lethal chemicals in 1918, and the chemical residue seemed to be the causes of the unexplainable illnesses residents were suffering some 80 years later. While the chemicals appeared to be the obvious cause of the illness to the residents, the multiple surveys conducted on the neighborhood found inconclusive results. It was amidst this debate in 2004 that ''Northwest Current'' staff writer Charles Bermpohl conducted his 345-house survey of the neighborhood, where he 160 cases of potentially lethal, chronic, and rare diseases. The survey came as part of a special edition of ''The Current'' published November 10, 2004, and was completely devoted to Spring Valley's risk from World War I poisons. One section from this issue was titled, "A Bush autoimmune link to area?" and discussed how former President
George H.W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
and his wife Barbara both suffered from Grave's Disease and lived a few blocks from Spring Valley, where they could have been exposed to the toxic soil. This story went on to win a
National Newspaper Association The National Newspaper Association (NNA) is a Pensacola, FL based non-profit newspaper trade association founded in 1885. The organization has over 2,300 members, making it the largest newspaper trade association in the United States. The organi ...
award for environmental reporting, making it one of ''The Current'' most notable stories.


Awards


See also

*
Camp Leach Camp Leach, formerly known as the American University Experimental Station and Camp American University, was a World War I era United States Army camp built by the Corps of Engineers on American University property in Washington, D.C. It was ...
* Spring Valley (Washington, D.C.) *
Superior Court of the District of Columbia The Superior Court of the District of Columbia, commonly referred to as DC Superior Court, is the trial court for the District of Columbia, in the United States. It hears cases involving criminal and civil law, as well as family court, landlo ...
* Community Newspapers


References


External links


The Current Newspapers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Current Newspapers 1967 establishments in Washington, D.C. Defunct newspapers published in Washington, D.C. Publications disestablished in 2019 Newspapers established in 1967 2019 disestablishments in Washington, D.C.