While the turbulent economic climate has affected all regions of the country, some municipalities are faring better than others. So far, Yellow Springs seems to be one of the relatively fortunate towns, as most of the largest employers in Yellow Springs report overall stability, even as they face the coming year with caution.

Last week Antioch University leaders hired a new president for Antioch University McGregor. Dr. Michael Fishbein, currently provost at Daniel Webster College in Nashua, N.H., was selected as the school’s new president, succeeding Barbara Gellman-Danley, who left the position last summer.

The professional effort to dry out Main Building following a flood last month is almost finished, according to Antioch University Chief Financial Officer Tom Faecke in an interview last week. While university leaders had hoped that the effort would take only two weeks, it is ending up taking three, Faecke said.

At their third and last budget workshop last Saturday, Feb. 28, Village Council members approved motions requesting that Village staff include in the 2009 budget $100,000 for green space and $50,000 to upgrade Village-owned facilities for energy conservation.

At their Feb. 17 meeting, members of Village Council approved two firms as finalists for the job of leading the village in a visioning effort. The finalists are ACP Visioning and Planning of Columbus and a collaboration of the New Mexico-based Regenesis Group and Kinzelman Kline Gossman in Columbus.

Remediation work began last Thursday, Feb. 12, in Main Building on the Antioch College campus, following extensive damage caused by water that flooded through the building on Saturday, Feb. 7.

The repair of roads and sidewalks, the purchase of security and police equipment and the funding of a visioning process were the most expensive 2009 Village general fund capital projects proposed by Manager Mark Cundiff at a recent budget planning workshop.

A longtime resident of Indianapolis, artist Sarah Strong was looking for a different sort of place to raise her children. Specifically, she wanted a safe town with a strong sense of community and an appreciation for the arts. After searching for two years, Strong believes she found a home in Yellow Springs.

Yellow Springs community and Antioch College alumni concern over the shutdown of campus buildings reached fever pitch over the weekend, after a burst pipe flooded Main Building on the Antioch College campus beginning late Saturday afternoon and continuing into the night.

In recent weeks many villagers have stopped in to tell Epic Book Shop owner Gail Lichtenfels how sorry they are that her Dayton Street shop is closing. They appreciate the quiet, peaceful space she created with her meditative music, comfortable sofas and local art, people say.

The newly renovated space of Nonstop Liberal Arts Institute is significant on many levels, according to several Nonstop leaders. First, it provides a physical space that grounds the Nonstop community and gives it a home.