Lauren Shows was born to a preacher and a preacher's wife, and spent the majority of her earliest childhood years rollin' 'round the bible belt, to end up in Panama City, Florida. After graduating from Florida State University in Tallahassee, she spent the next several months in existential crisis, making lattes for snowbirds and spring-breakers, before moving to Kentucky to get an MFA in writing from Spalding University. A chance meeting at Spalding landed her in Yellow Springs. She was graciously hired by the News, though her only previous dealing with newspaper publication was in third grade, when she wrote a story about a bunch of skeletons rising from the dead on Halloween, which was printed in the Owenton News-Herald. Lauren enjoys cheese, giant squid, and Michael J. Fox.

• Miami Township Trustees swear in new fiscal officer, talk MTFR grants

  By Lauren ShowsApril 18, 2026

  

  At its Monday, April 6, meeting, the Miami Township Board of Trustees covered a wide swath of business that began with officially welcoming on-board a new Township official.

• Antioch to honor Coretta Scott King’s legacy

  By Lauren ShowsApril 17, 2026

  

  Antioch College’s Coretta Scott King Center for Cultural and Intellectual Freedom will host a banquet and fundraiser later this month in Springfield, aiming to both honor Coretta Scott King’s legacy and strengthen support for the center’s work.

• 2026 Porchfest organizers seek musicians, porches

  By Lauren ShowsApril 16, 2026

  

  The annual festival is set for Saturday, Sept. 19, once again transforming porches, patios, backyards and other neighborhood spaces into stages for a day of free, live performances across the village.

• ‘Mad River’ film spotlights Miami Valley

  By Lauren ShowsApril 13, 2026

  

  “Mad River,” written and directed by area artist Jarrod Robbins, was shot in part in Yellow Springs and will make its debut in several Miami Valley theaters this month.

• Senior Center to purchase former lumberyard

  By Lauren ShowsApril 10, 2026

  

  The Yellow Springs Senior Center announced this week that it has signed a contract to purchase the former lumberyard property at 108 Cliff St. The Senior Center had previously announced in January that it was considering the Cliff Street site as a location for its future new facility.

• Theater Oobleck stages post-web dystopia at the Herndon

  By Lauren Shows

  

  The Herndon Gallery at Antioch College will host Chicago-based theater collective Theater Oobleck for three performances of “Song About Himself,” a dystopian, language-driven play by ensemble cofounder Mickle Maher, Friday–Sunday, April 10–12.

• Bentino’s Pizza now YS Pizza Company

  By Lauren ShowsApril 8, 2026

  

  After nearly 20 years under a familiar name, Bentino’s Pizza in Yellow Springs is preparing to reintroduce itself. The Xenia Avenue pizza parlor will soon become YS Pizza Company, owner Carl Lea told the News last month.

• Miami Township— Trustees broach cemeteries, fiscal transition

  By Lauren ShowsApril 3, 2026

  

  Budget questions — particularly around cemetery spending, future capital needs and how Township funds should be used across departments — have been at the center of recent Miami Township Trustees discussions, first at their March 2 regular meeting and again at a March 9 work session focused on cemetery appropriations.

• ‘Iden: A Story of Love’— Documentary tells story of transition, family

  By Lauren Shows

  

  “Iden: A Story of Love” is a feature-length documentary that follows local resident Iden Crockett through the early years of her burgeoning identity as a transgender woman and explores how that process reshaped not only Crockett’s life, but also the lives of those closest to her.

• Dr. Mark Lomax II returns to Yellow Springs with “Unity Suite”

  By Lauren Shows

  

  The nine-movement “Unity Suite,” organized in three sets of three pieces, draws on Lomax’s experiences in the Black church and his long-standing belief that music can bring people into deeper communion with one another.