At their Feb. 1 meeting, Village Council members were asked to use a large portion of the Village greenbelt fund to preserve a strategic piece of local farmland.

Steve Bognar and Julia Reichert, the village’s most famous filmmakers, will become even more famous next month when they attend the Oscar awards ceremony in Los Angeles as directors of one of the five films nominated in the Best Documentary Short category.

When Robert Harris graduated from college with a degree in physics and math, he sought an engineering job in his hometown of Philadelphia. But the year was 1952, and companies weren’t hiring blacks for professional positions.

For most businesses, 2009 was a year to cut jobs, not to add them. However, the story was more upbeat for YSI Incorporated in Yellow Springs.

“The company did well last year,” CEO Rick Omlor said in an interview last week. “We had a number of things go the right way. We are pleased.”

At its Jan. 19 meeting, Village Council gave initial approval to a water rate increase that will take place over five years, beginning in April 2010, by unanimously passing the first reading of a new ordinance. Council will vote on the final reading for the rate hike at its Feb. 1 meeting.

What is the best strategy for economic development in Yellow Springs? What role, if any, should the nonprofit group Community Resources play in advising the Village on development? What stands in the way of Community Resources and Village Council working together?

In autumn of 2008 a group of former Antioch College faculty, staff and students launched Nonstop Antioch, a radical educational experiment aimed at preserving the traditions and values of the college even after the campus was closed. The effort, supported by the college alumni board, offered classes and workshops to both traditional and non-traditional students in village churches, homes and cafés.

A narrow victory for new Yellow Springs Board of Education leaders at the board’s Jan. 14 organizational meeting reflects a deep division among board members about how best to address the significant challenges facing the board.

Since being diagnosed with an aggressive breast cancer nine months ago, Shelley Colbert has endured chemotherapy, major surgery and radiation treatment. Along with the resulting pain, fatigue and anxiety of those treatments, Colbert has grappled with another challenge as well — accepting help from the community where she grew up, raised her children, and cared for the children of others.

At their Jan. 4 meeting, Village Council members continued an extended discussion on how the Village should best address economic development by considering a proposal for an economic sustainability commission from Council President Judith Hempfling, and discussed concerns about a new ordinance establishing procedures to notify citizens about public meetings.