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.

• YS Schools reach facilities milestone

  By Lauren ShowsNovember 3, 2026

  

  During the school board’s regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 14, Superintendent Megan Winston announced that the school district has reached one of the final milestones in its facilities project.

• Township trustees extend data center moratorium

  By Lauren ShowsOctober 29, 2026

  

  The Miami Township Trustees extended a moratorium on data center development, allowing two more years for the Township’s Zoning Commission to consider how the Township will shape its response to growing interest in Southwest Ohio as a destination for data centers.

• Table service

  By Lauren ShowsOctober 26, 2026

  

  Last Saturday, the damp weather was not enough to ruin the appetites of the 200 hungry neighbors who gathered on East South College for the village’s inaugural Longest Table potluck.

• Citizens Against Mining challenges Senate Bill 181

  By Lauren Shows

  

  CAM’s experiences over the last nine years have shaped the group’s concerns about Ohio Substitute Senate Bill 181, which would establish a permitting system for underground limestone and dolomite mining and change surface mining requirements.

• Ghost tour walks with village history

  By Lauren ShowsOctober 22, 2026

  

  The “Echoes From the Past” tour,  now in its second year, builds on those memories and on local history. Created by local resident Carrie Staugler, the ghost tour runs Friday and Saturday evenings through Halloween.

• ‘Are We American?’— Original musical by Yellow Springs resident to debut

  By Lauren ShowsOctober 21, 2026

  

  “Are We American? The Tipperary Coal Miners Musical,” premieres Oct. 22–25 at Antioch College’s Foundry Theater.

• Magaw makes second bid for Ohio House seat

  By Lauren ShowsOctober 16, 2026

  

  A local resident and former executive director of Tecumseh Land Trust, Magaw is running as the Democratic candidate for Ohio House District 71 against Republican incumbent Levi Dean, who won the seat in 2024, running against Magaw.

• $1,000 for every senior— Gifted Savings kicks off second year in schools

  By Lauren ShowsOctober 15, 2026

  

  There were balloons and cheers at Yellow Springs High School’s Gifted Savings kickoff Tuesday morning, Sept. 29, when seniors celebrated the start of a program that gives each of them $1,000 — and a school year to learn what to do with it.

• Janet Miller settles in as new First Presbyterian pastor

  By Lauren ShowsOctober 11, 2026

  

  “The first year, all you’re doing is learning — learning about the congregation, learning how they work, and even then, I want everyone to be part of it,” she said. “I’m not a general; I’m not a downward director sort of person.”

• John Crawford III— An enduring grief

  By Lauren ShowsOctober 8, 2026

  

  About a dozen local residents gathered on the steps of the WYSO building in early September to remember John Crawford III, who was shot and killed by Beavercreek Police in August 2014.