Yellow Springs can be a supportive town for black youth to grow up in, according to a group of 10 current Yellow Springs High School students and recent graduates in recent interviews. But the village is not immune to the issues that tend to divide the community by color and burden some African-American families disproportionately. Instances of discrimination are very subtle, and can be unintentional, but they do occur here, the youth said, and they pose obstacles both of perception and in actual practice that young people of color are challenged to overcome.

At its Feb. 16 meeting, Village Council took a first step toward using Village greenbelt funds to conserve two pieces of farmland considered critical by Tecumseh Land Trust, or TLT. One of the properties is the first piece of the Jacoby greenbelt to be officially preserved as farmland.

The Yellow Springs visioning process is entering its final phase, according to organizers at a special meeting Monday, Feb. 22, between Village Council, the Miami Township Trustees, and leaders of the process that began almost a year ago.

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Jason Winskie, a former Yellow Springs resident, died at his home in Columbus on Feb. 13. He was 36.

Ellie Ridinger died Tuesday, Feb. 16. She was 93.

Two YSHS swimmers qualified at the district meet at Miami University last Friday and Saturday to advance to the Div. II state meet, to be held this weekend in Canton. Taylor Ford, Erika Chick and Elizabeth Malone represented Yellow Springs and brought home two wins for the school.

When the sky turns a steely grey and snow starts sheeting down, many residents run for their hearths and accept that they’re at the mercy of the white burial. But Village crew members head straight at the snow, outfitting themselves with plows and backhoes to wrangle up some order, at least in the streets. The eight members of the Village street and electric crews have done quite a bit of wrangling this month since the winter’s two biggest snowstorms dropped nearly 20 inches of snow on the village.