How are our small-town shops, stores and services weathering this economic moment? To what extent have rising costs fallen on the consumer — villager and visitor alike? And what, ultimately, can be done to mitigate the worst effects?

Woda Cooper Companies aims to develop a three-story, low-income housing complex in Yellow Springs comprised of 71 one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Monthly rents, excluding utilities, would range from $345 to $1,150.

Most grants will be up to $16,500 for projects starting in February, including accessibility upgrades, health and safety repairs and weatherization.

An upcoming four-day summit hosted by Antioch College’s Coretta Scott King Center  for Cultural and Intellectual Freedom aims to inspire students, artists, researchers, activists, organizers, educators and scholars not only to envision, but also to help create — as author Toni Morrison once told a group of collegiate graduates — “the world as it ought to be.”

The News spoke this week with Antioch College President Jane Fernandes, who said of the designation: “It’s information that we have some financial work to do — that our financials are not just flowing, and now we have to make them work.”

Emerge offers addiction recovery services, housing and job training. It was founded by three area business owners who work in the skilled trades, and who themselves are in long-term recovery.