Welcome to the new-look RockRiverCurrent.com

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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Welcome to the new-look RockRiverCurrent.com.

This week we gave our news website its first major refresh since it launched more than four years ago.

The new site, much like the previous one, prominently displays the day’s top stories and latest news, as well as sections dedicated to things to do, positive news stories, podcasts and videos.

You will now also find a section (along the right rail on desktop and toward the bottom underneath upcoming events on mobile) identifying our most-read stories.

The look has changed slightly, but the mission of the Current remains the same. The Rock River Current’s goal is to be your source for Rockford-area news that explains, informs and celebrates the people and business that make up our community. We center our work around local entrepreneurs, artists, economic development and the vibrant activities that make our community a fun place to live.

What we don’t do is focus on the daily crime, car crashes and fires that often dominate local media coverage. As we’ve said in the past, those things are an important part of news coverage, but when the Rock River Current was founded the goal was to bring more stories to light, rather than serve as another source for the type of stories already being covered.

With the site’s new look, we thought it a fitting time to remind you what the Rock River Current sets out to do and the type of news you’ll find here.

We also want to encourage you to download our mobile app to stay on top of the latest stories and subscribe to our free weekly newsletter, which has also been given a fresh new look.

The Rock River Current is a small news operation, and it has evolved since its founding in fall 2020. I was brought on to lead the publication in September 2021, and we’ve since established ourselves as a go-to source for local business and economic news, coverage of the arts community, and other storytelling about the people and places that make up our community.

Some people think of  us as the news source to turn to when they’re wondering what’s being built at whatever intersection they happened to have recently driven by. Or maybe they want to know what’s getting ready to fill a previously vacant storefront. We’re happy to be the source for answering those questions, too. The Current is often the first and sometimes only place to get those stories.

We also occasionally tackle deeper reporting that seeks to explain the systems that shape what happens in our community.

We’ll continue to evolve as our young brand grows.

We hope you’ll keep coming back to our site to find stories that are enjoyable to read.

Kevin Haas is the managing editor of the Rock River Current, a news publication owned by Mid-West Family Broadcasting. He can be reached at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas