A large group of former Antioch Company employees has filed a lawsuit against company leaders, charging that in recent years those leaders placed their own financial interests before the welfare of the company as a whole, leading to actions that forced the company into bankruptcy and the loss of more than $20 million in employees’ retirement funds.

While Friends Care Community employees work hard all year long, they put in extra effort over the holidays, according to longtime restoration aide Kent Little, who has worked in the local nursing home for 23 years.

“Employees try hard to make it a good Christmas for residents,” he said this week. “They take pride in what they do.”

At their Dec. 21 meeting, members of Village Council unanimously gave preliminary approval to a new ordinance on procedures for calling public meetings.

“I feel strongly that we want to be as transparent as possible,” said Council President Judith Hempfling. “With this in place, I’m comfortable that we’ve done everything that we can do.”

At the Dec. 7 Village Council meeting, Village Manager Mark Cundiff recommended that the Village increase water rates next year in order to address water department capital needs. The last water rate increase was in 2001, and expenses have gone up since then, while some major utility users have been lost, according to Cundiff. Consequently, the water utility fund is operating at a deficit.

In an interview this week, Cundiff said that, while Stutzman remained current with rent payments, he had not responded to a request from Council many months ago for a plan regarding how he planned to keep current with rent over the winter months. Stutzman’s lease is being terminated due to his not responding to Council’s request for a plan, Cundiff said.

Yellow Springs is the best hometown because we embrace the spirit of community. We are a town where neighbors help one another in good times and bad, and where one person’s voice can truly make a tangible difference.

Yellow Springs is the best hometown because you can be yourself, no matter where you are in the village.

Yellow Springs is the best hometown because we embrace the spirit of community. We are a town where neighbors help one another in good times and bad, and where one person’s voice can truly make a tangible difference.

At the Nov. 16 Village Council meeting, Village Manager Mark Cundiff announced that the Village has hired Sarah Wildman as its new economic sustainability coordinator.

“She has a great deal of experience in economic development in a small community as well as a background in the arts,” Cundiff said in an interview on Tuesday. “She’ll bring a lot of energy to the job.”

Schools across the country have been reeling from state funding cuts sparked by the recession, and things are no different in Ohio. And in Yellow Springs, where school income tax receipts are forecasted to drop 30 percent this year, school leaders are grappling with ways to address the shortfall.

Growing up in the farming community of Arcanum, Ohio, almost five decades ago, Doris Arnett Whitaker was surrounded by strong, church-going women who passed on to her their highest aspirations for a young girl: if she worked hard, she could grow up to be a nurse, a teacher, or a minister’s wife.

Whitaker took that advice seriously, although she’s given it a significant twist. She’s not the minister’s wife. She’s the minister.