From a Dayton Street storefront, local resident Gyamfi Gyamerah hopes to do more than sell West African art — he wants to make cultural connections.

Earlier this month, the Little Art Theatre premiered “Monica,” a film starring Trace Lysette, who grew up in Yellow Springs and the wider Miami Valley. Lysette spoke briefly with the News via phone after the film’s local debut.

The event marked the second Friday during which volunteers from the local Pleasant Grove Missionary Church set up on the porch of the library to hand out sandwiches, chips, fruit and water to kids at no cost.

The inaugural Mad River Theater Works summer theater residency for youth will debut a public performance on Friday, June 23, beginning at 7 p.m. at the Foundry Theater.

At its most recent regular meeting Thursday, June 8, the Yellow Springs Board of Education unanimously approved a resolution of necessity to place a combined bond issue and income tax levy for upgrading local school facilities before voters on Nov. 7.

Andile Nomabhunga, of Matatiele, in the Eastern Cape Province, and Dunisani Ntsanwisi, of Giyani, in Limpopo Province, spent the week working with the News as part of a three-week fact-finding project investigating ways to boost the sustainability of South Africa’s community media.

The regular meeting of the Board of Education on Monday, May 22, ended in applause from community members who were present: After more than a year of work and discussion, the board voted unanimously to select a plan for facilities upgrades to place on the ballot this fall.

“It can be difficult to maintain the distance required for reporting when the things you cover affect you just as deeply as they might affect your readers — your neighbors, really.”

The News spoke with all three educators — Paul Comstock, Iyabo Eguaroje and Dave Smith, all of whom are retiring this year — in April about how they came to the district, their years of work here and what they intend to do next.

By meeting’s end, school board members had pared the potential facilities plans to four — two fewer than at the board’s regular meeting the previous week.