McKinney and YSHS Principal Jack Hatert, who spoke to the News last week, said using the Yondr pouches has been “really smooth” for the district thus far, and, in his estimation, worth the investment.

The biennial FotoFocus program — which highlights the work of photographic artists across dozens of venues in and around Dayton, Cincinnati, Columbus and Northern Kentucky, all united by a common theme — returns this year.

“Throughout her decades as Nursery teacher, Ann Guthrie has maintained her scientist’s curiosity, remaining interested, she said, in the personalities and temperaments of each of the students she has shepherded as they grew within the Nursery program before moving on to Kindergarten.”

The annual Black Farming Conference returns this year on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 27 and 28 — this time in a new location.

The event will mark the first Yellow Springs performance of former Dayton-based dance and music company Rhythm in Shoes, a long-loved performance group not just in the Miami Valley, but all over the country, where they toured for 23 years.

Local resident and writer Cyndi Pauwels — known to readers by her nom de plume, C.L. Pauwels — has a new book ready to grace shelves: “Fatal Errors,” Pauwels’ fourth novel, published in August by Crossroad Press.

Amy Wamsley is slated to swim across the English Channel next spring — a goal she’s held since childhood. At the same time, she’s currently working to build her newly established nonprofit, Amy’s Swimventure.

Last week, local affordable housing nonprofit YS Home, Inc. broke ground on the first phase of The Cascades, a 32-unit development focused on rental housing for seniors.

The first annual Bulldog Golf Scramble is slated for Saturday, Oct. 5 at 2 p.m. at Locust Hills Golf Course in Springfield. The event is a fundraiser for the McKinney Middle School and YS High School baseball program.

Local musicians and educators Cammy Dell Grote, Caryn Diamond, Barbara Leeds and Nancy Lineburgh will perform as an eight-hands ensemble Sunday, Sept. 15, as part of the Dayton Music Club’s season-opening September Musicale.