Ladies and gentlemen, the latest print edition of the Norwood News is out now. This particular issue of the paper marks a couple of important milestones for our little (but mighty) community news organization. For one, this is the Norwood News’ 25th anniversary. In October of 1988, we produced our first issue, a four-pager, that included exactly one news story — about an intrusive sewer project that called for the destruction of dozens of trees on Mosholu Parkway — and a directory of organizations, programs, services and events. The paper has grown to cover more neighborhoods and now includes a website, Facebook page and Twitter feed. We also run a youth journalism program for high school students. In the coming months, we’ll be celebrating our birth and how far we’ve come. At the same time, we’ll start building toward our next quarter century of serving the Bronx.

Secondly, this represents the last edition produced under the full-time leadership of Editor-in-Chief Alex Kratz (that’s me!). We explore both of these milestones in this issue of the paper, as well as the usual allotment of important local news stories, features and information. Pick up your print copy today or download the digital edition now!

(Editor’s note: Today is my last day as a full-time staff member, but I’ll be sticking around on a part-time basis to transition the new editor, who will hopefully be coming on shortly. In the meantime, please be patient with us. You may have noticed a drop in website and social media activity from us lately. It’s because of the transition period. But we’ll be back and fully operational across all platforms soon. I’ll post my farewell editorial later today and offer a few more final thoughts next week. At this time, I just want to say it’s been an honor and privilege to serve as editor of this iconic Bronx institution. This hasn’t been just a job for me these past seven and a half years, it’s been my life. Many thanks to everyone for reading. Really, it’s all of you that make up the Norwood News and motivated me every day to do my best.]