A changing downtown

Downtown Yellow Springs began to look and feel different this summer after a number of changes to both its uses and its physical landscape.

In mid-June, Village Manager Johnnie Burns launched a pilot to close Short Street to vehicular traffic, converting the connector between Xenia Avenue and Walnut Street into a gathering space. The move eliminated 14 parking spaces on Short Street, with nine new spots replacing them along Walnut Street and Xenia Avenue. The Village populated Short Street with picnic tables, benches, bike parking, portable restrooms, a foldable tent and overhead lighting. Burns said the closure was a bid to keep visitors downtown longer, relieve sidewalk congestion and create a safer, more controlled space for events.

Over the summer, the block began to take on a new identity — a place to eat, linger and, at times, dance. It also became a flash point. Some residents and business owners said the closure created traffic backups and softer sales; others pointed to public safety benefits, particularly around Mills Lawn Elementary pickup and drop-off, as well as the benefits of a community gathering space.

By fall, Council was grappling with split feedback on Short Street. A Village survey drew 969 responses: 47% supported making the closure permanent, 42% opposed it and 11% were unsure. After a failed 2–2 motion to reopen the street, Council left Short Street closed into 2026 and directed staff to return with concrete design options and costs.

Across the intersection, Little Art Theatre used the new pedestrian space at Short Street as a space for celebration. In August, an estimated 400 people packed Short Street for the unveiling of the theater’s new marquee — a high-tech, Art Deco-inspired upgrade positioned as a first step toward the Little Art’s centennial in 2029.

Just next door to Short Street, change landed with more finality: YS Hardware closed, and the YS Toy Company announced it would shutter by year’s end. The YS Development Corporation moved to purchase the two historic buildings that housed those businesses for $630,000 — financed through a Community Foundation bridge loan — on the premise that local control of the buildings now could help prevent out-of-town interests from reshaping the heart of downtown later.

Housing and land use

Efforts to expand Yellow Springs’ housing stock were at the forefront of villagewide discourse and a great many public meetings in 2025.

The year began with a sustained push from Village leadership and some elected officials to render the school district’s Morgan soccer fields suitable to accommodate a 60-unit apartment complex that would provide affordable rentals for individuals who fall between 30% and 80% of the area median income.

After many months of discussion, that initiative — colloquially known in town as the “LIHTC project,” for the low-income housing tax credits necessary to build the apartments — ultimately stalled in late May when the Ohio Housing Finance Agency announced that the proposed housing project was not selected for federal funding.

All the while, the Village spent the year working with Columbus-based developer Windsor Companies to build more than 100 apartment units on sites affiliated with the Antioch College campus.

By year’s end, Village Council approved preliminary development plans for Windsor’s goal of razing Antioch’s former student union, and in its place, building two three-story apartment buildings with 48 rental units each. A block away, Windsor also seeks to purchase the Charles F. Kettering building from Antioch and redevelop it to accommodate 43 rental units for persons 55 and older.

Elsewhere in town, Village decision-makers sought to grow municipal limits in 2025: In May, Village Manager Johnnie Burns began working with area property owners Matthew and Julie Jones to annex their 84-acre property along East Enon Road. Neighbors to the Jones property petitioned both Council and Township Trustees to belay the annexation, citing concerns over potential development on the 84 acres. The Township Trustees ultimately voted not to sign the annexation agreement. Though the trustees’ vote did not take annexation of the property off the table the Joneses have not moved forward with further pursuit of an expedited annexation. 

A successful annexation occurred farther north up East Enon Road. In October, Council approved a 28-acre annexation of land, most recently owned by Jim Clem, which directly abuts the relatively new Spring Meadows subdivision.

In November, Planning Commission approved preliminary plans from Miamisburg-based developer DDC Management to expand Spring Meadows into the newly annexed 28 acres. There, DDC aims to build 190 dwelling units — 120 of which will be condos, and 70 of which will be detached single-family homes.

Some land around Yellow Springs will never see any development.

In July, local farmland conservation nonprofit Tecumseh Land Trust announced that the group secured an easement on 36 acres of land near the intersection of state routes 343 and 370, less than two miles east of village limits. Then, in December, TLT finalized its conservation easements on 185 acres of contiguous farmland along Dayton-Yellow Springs Road, west of the village.

Both those swaths of land will remain agricultural in perpetuity.

WYSO loses federal dollars

In August, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — a decades-old nonprofit that helps pay for PBS, NPR and 1,500 public radio and television stations across the country — announced it would take steps toward its closure after being defunded by Congress.

For Yellow Springs-based NPR affiliate station 91.3 WYSO, that meant the loss of $300,000 in  planned operating funds for the coming fiscal year and beyond — a little under 10% of the local station’s budget, which for 2026 is $3.4 million.

As the CPB also brokered music licensing agreements for WYSO and other public radio stations, the nonprofit’s dismantling makes for an uncertain musical future for the local station.

What is certain, however, is that WYSO will, in the weeks ahead, relocate its headquarters from the Antioch College campus to the Union Schoolhouse on Dayton Street. With construction nearly finished, the renovated 19th-century building will provide WYSO improved spaces for broadcasting, reporting, performance and hosting community events.

Wamsley swims channel

This summer, Yellow Springs resident Amy Wamsley achieved a long-time goal with an historic solo swim across the English Channel. After completing an eight-hour swim in San Francisco Bay in May, Wamsley traveled to Europe aiming to become only the second Ohio woman to swim the Channel since the 1970s. She told the News in 2024 that she’d set her goal in childhood, aiming to complete the swim by the time she turned 50.

Wamsley’s attempt came with challenges: Weather repeatedly delayed her start during a narrow May 30–June 10 window, extending lodging costs and complicating logistics for her volunteer support team. When she finally entered the water just before her 50th birthday, Wamsley battled hours of nausea, missed tides and exhaustion, at times nearing removal from the swim.

Nevertheless, on June 13 — her 50th birthday — Wamsley reached the shore in Sangatte, France after 16 hours and 56 minutes.

Back home, villagers kept track of Wamsley’s progress online, and with the news of her successful crossing, sent out a wave of cheers and congratulations that reached Wamsley once she made it back to England. Those same villagers welcomed Wamsley home the next week, lining Xenia Avenue as she returned from the airport.

Schools break ground

In February, YS Schools marked the start of the district’s long-planned facilities overhaul with groundbreakings at the Mills Lawn and Yellow Springs Middle and High School campuses. The groundbreaking celebrations featured student performances and remarks from Village and District leaders and student speakers. The projects followed voter approval of a 2023 bond issue and income tax levy funding a $55 million upgrade after two earlier levy failures.

Plans reconfigured Mills Lawn as a pre-K through fourth-grade school with major renovations and security improvements; following the groundbreaking, YS Schools issued a communitywide survey seeking input on the upcoming preschool program. At the East Enon Road campus, grades 5–12 will be consolidated through a mixture of demolition, renovation and new construction to include secure entrances, expanded performing arts spaces, new middle and high school wings, an updated common area and a larger shared gym, alongside parking and traffic-flow improvements.

The facilities project remains underway and is expected to be completed in 2026; in December, the schools launched a capital campaign to help fund aspects of the facilities project not covered by state or local levy funding.

Porchfest returns

After a yearlong hiatus, Yellow Springs Porchfest returned in September under new stewardship — a reset for the beloved, volunteer-driven music festival. The event found a permanent home with the Yellow Springs Arts Council, supported by a grant from the YS Community Foundation, which funded the festival’s first paid part-time coordinator, local resident David Seitz.

Brittany Baum, who founded YS Porchfest with Rachel Price, told the News early in 2024 that the festival would take a hiatus due to a need for more and sustained volunteer aid, as well as support from a local nonprofit arm. The YS Arts Council took up the mantle, and on Sept. 20, this year, Porchfest again transformed porches and patios into stages for free neighborhood concerts, featuring 69 acts across 39 locations.

Organizers said the festival’s new structure aims to stave off volunteer burnout and help ensure the festival’s long-term sustainability, while preserving its focus on local music, walkability and community connection.

  —Lauren “Chuck” Shows & Reilly Dixon

One of the world’s longest-running citizen science efforts will take place locally Saturday, Jan. 3, 8 a.m.–2 p.m.

In addition to Glen Helen, the local 15-mile count circle includes John Bryan State Park, Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve and other Greene County parks.

Participation is free; join the effort by sending an email to nboutis@glenhelen.org.

Even in a small town, where people tend to know and be known by their neighbors, it’s not unusual for folks to feel alone around the holidays. With that in mind, one Yellow Springs villager is trying to meet that feeling head-on, offering a simple gift: half an hour of conversation.

In this week’s classifieds, readers may notice a small ad from villager Joanne Lakomski. It reads: “Giving thanks to the YS Community — Offering free ‘30-minute conversations/dialogues’ to interested villagers, through December. I am a coach and HR professional, and I am available to fellow villagers looking for a sounding board or wanting to celebrate something or just looking for a good conversation. (Not a therapist — sorry.)”

Lakomski has lived in the village off and on, beginning with her time as an Antioch College student in the 1980s; she departed in the late ’90s and returned in 2015, after which she served for several years as chief human resources officer at her alma mater. She now offers coaching and consulting services.

Her path has also run through the sciences; in speaking with the News this week, she said the biology degree she earned at Antioch helped her not only in her later work as a chemical department manager at YSI — “I could grow fungi on purpose, and that was important for the job,” she said — but with what would become many years of work in human resources.

“It works out, because humans are biological creatures,” she said with a laugh.

She pointed to Malte von Matthiessen as a mentor during her time at YSI, saying she believed his “way of looking at work and organizations was probably different than most CEOs, more humanistic,” and helped her develop a truly human-centered view of human resources, organizations and the people inside them.

“It’s about helping the organization and the people make it work,” she said.

Lakomski said she recently spent time in the Cleveland area with her 93-year-old mother, and that visit planted the seed for this week’s classified ad. Her mother, she said, doesn’t have many people to talk with day to day. Conversation, in that setting, she said, can feel less like small talk and more like care.

“It’s a gift I can give her,” Lakomski said. “And I recognize coaching is a gift I give, and so why don’t I just give the gift of hearing people and listening to people? I don’t have a ton of money, and so it felt like something I could do that would be acceptable in Yellow Springs.”

Lakomski’s classified ad makes it clear that she’s “not a therapist,” and Lakomski said she is careful about that line. Her professional life in HR and coaching has meant years of being a sounding board for people at work, but not in a clinical sense. She talked about different “kinds” of listening: “There’s hearing here, hearing here, hearing here” she said, gesturing toward her ears, her head, her heart, “hearing in your gut and giving people a chance to express and figure it out. And many of us are verbal processors — the more we talk, the more we kind of get it going.”

Part of what she’s offering, then, is space and time, where the point is not to fix anything for the other person, but to let them talk long enough “to hear themselves.” Having studied some of the neuroscience behind coaching, she said, truly engaging with other folks — and new folks — is a good way to “develop new neural pathways.”

“You know how often we have an engagement with someone where we say, ‘Hi, how are you? I’m fine,’” she said. “It’s thoughtless — it’s a script — but when you go in a different direction, then you’re out of your rut. … One of the frames for it is, am I ‘it-ing’ you, or am I ‘thou-ing’ you? In one, you’re a tool, and in the other, you are human.”

Citing the time she spent in the Peace Corps in South Africa before returning to the village a decade ago, she pointed to a common South African Zulu greeting, “sawubona” — very loosely translated as “hello,” but more closely translated as “I see you.” A traditional response to the greeting is “sikhona” — “I am here.”

“I’m heartily aware that we often walk around not really feeling seen,” she said.

The half-hour conversations Lakomski is offering aren’t tightly defined, she said. Someone might want to talk through something that’s on their mind, share good news or simply sit with another person.

“I don’t know how it will go, and they might not either,” Lakomski said. “But if you have your ball and you’re bouncing it against the wall, I can be the wall.”

And she added that though she has years of professional experience in listening, the gift she’s offering this year is something any of us can give, if we so choose.

“You don’t need to have titles or anything to be human,” she said.

See Lakomski’s ad in the “Classifieds” section of the last two weeks’ issues of the News under the “Free Offers” heading.

At their regular meeting Monday, Dec. 15, the Miami Township Trustees approved an amended budget plan for Miami Township Fire-Rescue.

Trustee Marilan Moir and Fire Chief James Cannell emphasized that approving the amended budget plan does not automatically approve every purchase or program within it, but allows MTFR to begin pursuing its planned items, with trustees voting on those items individually as they are priced out in the coming year.

The first item Cannell brought forward for the 2026 budget was the creation of a 40-hour career community paramedic position, which the trustees unanimously approved; they later approved the hiring of Steffinie Brewer to fill the position, effective Dec. 27.

Cannell described community paramedicine as a “medical prevention-type initiative” focused on helping residents on a nonemergency basis by providing in-home preventive care and connecting them to other health and social services. He said the program is part of a broad healthcare effort to reduce hospital readmissions, and as such, community paramedicine also often includes post-doctor follow-up visits and aid with managing chronic conditions.

Similar programs exist or are beginning in nearby municipalities; Cannell noted that Xenia recently began its own community paramedicine program, and in nearby Montgomery County, the Dayton Fire Department has partnered with Premier Health to offer community paramedicine. The program’s website notes that community paramedics help connect residents with “primary care physicians, prenatal care or senior care services,” in addition to helping manage medications, identifying basic household needs in conjunction with a social worker and performing safety checks within the home.

Cannell added that MTFR’s burgeoning program could open doors to partnerships and outside funding. One local partnership will be with the YS Police Department’s community outreach specialists, who provide social services and access to food, transportation and mental health resources. He noted that the community paramedic position and the community outreach specialist positions provide complementary services to the community.

“I think it’s going to be a great partnership,” Cannell said.

Moir noted that beyond prevention-focused outreach, creating the position could also help address staffing needs on the emergency side. A community paramedic, she said, could still be available for emergency calls when needed.

Introducing Brewer, Cannell told trustees that she is involved in regional medical oversight as a a paramedic, serving on the Miami Valley Medical Board that approves emergency medical protocols. Cannell added that, in addition to Brewer’s credentials, her temperament made her, in his view, a strong candidate for the position.

“Part of the challenge of [filling a position] like this is finding a person that’s very compassionate and caring and really wants to make a difference,” he said.

Cannell noted that MTFR had been discussing the idea of adding a community paramedic position to its roster, based mostly on concerns about repeat calls within the department’s broader, ongoing focus on responding to overlapping calls.

When Brewer came in to interview for a paramedic position, Cannell said, her background of experience in community paramedicine helped move the concept into fruition.

“I thought, ‘We’ve got to jump on this opportunity,’ because there are a lot of communities out there seeking to start community paramedic programs,” Cannell said.

As part of the broader budget work underway, Cannell also requested action related to capital planning for to-be-purchased MTFR equipment and future ambulance payments. The trustees approved a separate set of resolutions tied to establishing a capital fund, which they discussed later in the meeting as they continued end-of-year financial housekeeping.

At the meeting’s end, Moir and Mucher gave their thanks to Trustee Don Hollister for his eight years of service as a trustee; Monday’s meeting marked Hollister’s last regular meeting as a trustee. Hollister was elected to his first four-year term as a trustee in 2017; he did not seek a third term of service in this year’s election.

“Thank you for your continued service,” Mucher said, adding that Hollister will still have one special meeting to attend before the end of the year.

“So don’t go away,” Mucher said, with a laugh.

“I’ll be around,” Hollister said, shaking hands with his fellow trustees.

Contact: chuck@ysnews.com

The final school board meeting of the year, held Thursday, Dec. 11, began festively with a performance from the YS High School choir, who sang “White Christmas,” “Chain of Fools” and “Bright Morning Star” under the direction of Lorrie Sparrow-Knapp.

It was a fitting send-off for longtime Mills Lawn music teacher JoFrannye Reichert, whose retirement this month after 21 years with the school district was marked during the meeting. A Yellow Springs graduate, Reichert served the district as a substitute teacher and paraprofessional before being hired as the full-time music teacher for Mills Lawn in 2007.

Assistant Superintendent Megan Winston said during the meeting that Reichert had spent “years making sure the students of Mills Lawn didn’t just learn notes and sounds or just memorize lines for a play.”

“Her students have explored cultures, history, stories from around the world,” Winston said. “One of my favorites is her ability to use a cross-curricular approach to help students see that music can connect to everything.”

Reichert’s time in the district has included years of bringing Mills Lawn students, and their performances, out of the classroom and into the community with “flash mob” choir performances, such as 2014’s “Cuban Shuffle” in front of the Little Art to raise money for the theater. She has also organized, directed, choreographed and sometimes adapted scripts for the well-loved tri-annual all-school musicals, including 2012’s “The Albert Brown Show,” 2015’s “Seussical: The Musical” and 2018’s “Lion King KIDS.”

The latter production was partially reprised in late October this year, when Reichert directed the Mills Lawn choir in a unique abridged performance of the work in a crosswalk near the school, combining the musical numbers with a “flash mob” sensibility. Winston noted that Reichert’s flash mobs have been a personal favorite of hers, as they “surprise us in special ways — and sometimes even surprise the drivers at intersections.”

“While we will miss having her at Mills Lawn each day, we know that her impact will continue for years,” Winston said.

Accepting a plaque from the district, Reichert, citing her maiden name, noted that her retirement will mark the end of “62 years of Robinsons as students, staff or faculty” in the district.

“Though I’m starting a new chapter, I’ve loved every moment I’ve been a music teacher, and every other role I’ve had in Yellow Springs schools,” Reichert said. “I’m very proud and very humbled that you let me play music with your babies every day; I loved it.”

Board passes last resolution

The evening also marked the last meeting for outgoing school board members Dorothée Bouquet, Judith Hempfling and Amy Magnus, whose four-year terms end this year. The school board members were thanked by Winston, Superintendent Terri Holden and Treasurer Jacob McGrath for their years of service.

The board’s final act in its current configuration was to pass a “Resolution Denouncing Harmful Immigration Policies and Affirming Support for All Students.”

The resolution, modeled on a similar one recently passed by Toledo Public School District, cites the decision in the 1982 Supreme Court case Plyler v Doe, which the resolution notes “guarantees that every child has the right to an education, regardless of immigration status.”

The resolution states that the board “condemns immigration policies that harm our students and families”; that all district sites will “remain supportive and secure environments for students and their families to seek help, assistance and information if faced with fear and anxiety about immigration enforcement efforts”; that “student privacy will be protected”; that the district will “help to identify community resources that are available to support families”; and that “staff will be trained to safeguard the rights of all students and appropriately handle enforcement activities.”

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