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.

• Yellow Springs Porchfest returns — now with more porches

  By Lauren ShowsSeptember 17, 2026

  

  The free, villagewide music festival returns Saturday, Sept. 19, with 79 acts scheduled to perform on 50 porches, patios, yards and other outdoor spaces.

• Cult Movie Campout takes horror outdoors

  By Lauren ShowsSeptember 11, 2026

  

  The inaugural Cult Movie Campout, featuring four horror flicks that involve “camp” in every sense of the word, will debut Saturday, Sept. 12, at Butter Flower Farm. The night will feature live music, vendors and screenings of cult films “Sleepaway Camp,” “Cannibal Campout,” “Camp Blood Christmas” and “Don’t F–k In the Woods.”

• New novel a paean to Quakers, Yellow Springs

  By Lauren ShowsSeptember 10, 2026

  

  “Peace Corner” — which follows Chiddister’s debut novel, “One More Day,” published in 2021 — explores the lives of four central characters who move through Yellow Springs carrying different ideas about what it means to be useful, be active and belong.

• Trustees handle financial, MTFR, cemetery business

  By Lauren ShowsSeptember 4, 2026

  

  At its regular meeting Monday, Aug. 17, the Miami Township Board of Trustees moved through a relatively light agenda, approving a new part-time EMT and the sale of two aging Miami Township Fire-Rescue vehicles.

• Revenue loss projected in YS Schools budget forecast

  By Lauren Shows

  

  Yellow Springs Schools expects to lose about $2.4 million in local revenue over the next five years due to several recently enacted property tax laws, according to an updated five-year financial forecast presented to the school board Wednesday, Aug. 12.

• Foundry Theater at Antioch College readies fourth season

  By Lauren Shows

  

  The Foundry Theater at Antioch College is preparing to kick off its fourth season of programming next month, with a lineup that — as has been the theater’s bread and butter the last three years — spans a range of cultural traditions and artistic forms.

• Have a seat at the ‘Longest Table’ in Yellow Springs

  By Lauren ShowsSeptember 3, 2026

  

  The free gathering asks participants to bring food — “something for themselves and something to share,” organizers told the News last week — along with their own plates and utensils, and sit down to eat with neighbors.

• ‘Finding the fun’ in the water again

  By Lauren ShowsSeptember 2, 2026

  

  Amy Wamsley will hit the open water again this month for a two-mile swim in the Chicago River to benefit A Long Swim, a nonprofit that raises funds for ALS research. In sharing the news of her upcoming swim with the News, Wamsley also reflected on the year since her monumental swim across the English Channel, and the unexpected challenges that came after.

• Villager to run NYC Marathon to benefit local enrichment nonprofit

  By Lauren ShowsAugust 29, 2026

  

  Villager Chris Westhoff is running in the New York Marathon for Team Komera, raising money for a nonprofit enriching the lives of girls and young women in Rwanda, whose managing director, Ashley Lackovich, also lives in the village.

• Clifton Music and Arts Festival returns this weekend

  By Lauren ShowsAugust 27, 2026

  

  The Clifton Gorge Music & Arts Festival returns Friday and Saturday, Aug. 28–29, bringing more than 50 artisan vendors, about a dozen food vendors and a full slate of live music and dance demonstrations to the village.