diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 33ae2e4c..fcb363c4 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 #### notes on release changes, ongoing development, and future planned work
 
-## (current master)
+## NOTE: this file is deprecated, see the [TagBot](https://github.com/marketplace/actions/julia-tagbot) auto-generated changelogs instead
 
 ## 0.28.3
 - support generalized array interface
diff --git a/Project.toml b/Project.toml
index d77a7b47..45d7fba5 100644
--- a/Project.toml
+++ b/Project.toml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 name = "Plots"
 uuid = "91a5bcdd-55d7-5caf-9e0b-520d859cae80"
 author = ["Tom Breloff (@tbreloff)"]
-version = "1.24.4"
+version = "1.25.0"
 
 [deps]
 Base64 = "2a0f44e3-6c83-55bd-87e4-b1978d98bd5f"