Below are links to the many in-depth series that the News has produced over the years. If you would like more information about a series or a particular article please feel free to call us at 937-767-7373, M–F, 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., or contact us through our contact page.
Facing Race
2020
This is a series on the impacts of racism in Yellow Springs and local anti-racist efforts and activities.
- A path to progress on race? – November 9, 2020
This is fourth in a series on the impacts of racism in Yellow Springs and local anti-racist efforts and approaches.
- Leading while Black in Yellow Springs – August 5, 2020
In this week’s article, the third in the News’ current series, “Facing Race,” we take a closer look at the interplay of race and representation in the village, based on interviews with six Black villagers in elected and other leadership roles locally.
- Youth take lead in challenging racism – July 9, 2020
For many local teens and young adults in their early 20s, the accumulating deaths feel personal. Young people of color see themselves and their families being treated differently, and they feel under threat within the national culture; while their young white allies see disparities in privilege and safety that negatively affect the lives of their Black peers.
- Racism in village often covert – July 3, 2020
Facing Race: This is first in a series on the impacts of racism in Yellow Springs and local anti-racist efforts and activities.
Growing Local
2018
This series examines area farmers who grow for the local food system.
- A look at Antioch Farm— ‘The fruits of our labor’ — Oct 10, 2019
The concept of sustainability has been central to Antioch’s mission since its rebirth in 2011. And the farm remains at the heart of the school’s curriculum and identity.
- Lending local farmers a hand — Jul 4, 2019
Over the last few weeks, the News interviewed farmers who raise livestock and grow produce for the local market. They spoke to the joys and challenges of farming, both brought into sharper detail with this season’s stormy weather. This week, the News covers what local organizations are doing to grow the local food movement.
- Heartbeat Learning Gardens — Eat local, heal local — Jun 27, 2019
While harvest day at Heartbeat Learning Gardens always has an air of celebration, last week’s was “bittersweet,” in the words of longtime volunteer MJ Gentile.
- A new farm is hit with tragedy — Jun 20, 2019
Last month, a whiteboard in the heated greenhouse at Oasis Aqua Farms in Beavercreek Township boasted a variety of fresh, organically grown greens and herbs available that day. Then came the tornado.
- Growing local—Coming home to their cows — Jun 13, 2019
Although agriculture is Ohio’s No. 1 industry, most of what is grown in the state is not consumed here.
The persistence of racism in Yellow Springs
2018
This series examines racism and bias in the community, and ways of recognizing and remedying it.
- Racism in village often covert — Jul 3, 2020
Facing Race: This is first in a series on the impacts of racism in Yellow Springs and local anti-racist efforts and activities.
- Diversity, inclusion efforts at the Village— Understanding implicit bias — Mar 21, 2019
Over the last six months, employees of the Village attended trainings to create a more inclusive and diverse work environment and improve cultural competency at the Village.
- Antioch College steps up diversity, inclusion — Jan 10, 2019
The reality of a relatively robust percentage of students from diverse backgrounds living together on a small campus can make for a uniquely challenging college experience, according to Antioch leaders. And those leaders, including faculty, staff and students, are aiming to help students address those challenges.
- Yellow Springs Schools seeks deeper diversity — Nov 28, 2018
Achieving greater racial diversity among employees of Yellow Springs Schools — teachers, administrators and staff — has been a longtime goal of the local district.
- Sidewalk slur evinces racism — Nov 22, 2018
Last month, a newly poured block of concrete was defaced with a racial slur at the corner of Wright Street and West South College Street.
Rolling Restaurants
July 13, 2017– [ongoing]
This series examines police policy, practice and relationship to the community.
- YSHS grad, Flyby BBQ visits village — Aug 17, 2017
“This is project-based learning in its true form,” 2015 Yellow Springs High School graduate David Butcher says of his food-truck business Flyby BBQ that will be in the village on Aug. 16.
- Bourbon chicken via Mexico — Aug 10, 2017
Crisbin Antonio, whose face and New Orleans Grill food truck are likely more familiar to villagers than is his name, has been in the same spot for nearly eight years, between the Post Office and Nipper’s Corner, selling bourbon chicken.
- Only fresh and local for taco truck — Jul 13, 2017
Locals may have noticed a new addition to the growing population of food trucks in the village. Miguel’s Tacos, located behind Asanda Imports in King’s yard, has quickly become a popular destination for authentic Mexican tacos.
People and Police
January 26 – April 20, 2017 | 7 stories
This series examines police policy, practice and relationship to the community.
- New police reforms aired — Jul 2, 2020
Body cameras worn by every Ohio police officer. Psychological evaluations of those who hope to become an officer. More training in implicit bias and de-escalation. Requiring officers to report on another officer’s misconduct. Those are a few proposed law enforcement reforms Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced at a press briefing last week in response to national outrage after high-profile killings of Black people by police in recent weeks.
- Police reform at the YSPD— What’s done, what’s next? — Jun 24, 2020
Amid national calls for policing reform following the most recent wave of killings of Black people by police officers, villagers are once again raising their voices for change in the Yellow Springs Police Department.
- Village Council— New YSPD imagined at forum — Jun 6, 2019
At a forum on policing on Tuesday, May 21, about 50 villagers helped identify the factors that contributed to a positive experience with a police officer, and envisioned a future Yellow Springs Police Department.
- Communities rethink how to police — Apr 27, 2017
Three examples of communities rethinking policing may provide an opportunity for villagers to consider and discuss different options for how “people and police” can engage with each other.
- An often fraught relationship is under scrutiny — Apr 13, 2017
The relationship between local police and the village’s African-American community is one that has become increasingly fraught, especially as turnover in the local department has accelerated in recent years.
- Citizens seek strong voice in policing — Mar 23, 2017
Yellow Springs residents gathered at a Village Council meeting, with many lined up to address the room with grievances about Village policy. Prompted by the incidents of New Year’s Eve, the focus is the overhaul, or at least significant reworking, of the Yellow Springs Police Department.
- How are our local police officers trained? — Mar 9, 2017
Beginning in April, villagers may see an Antioch College student or a local resident taking a walk around town beside a Yellow Springs police officer. But look closely. The man or woman in blue is the one being escorted.
- Who’s who at the Yellow Springs PD — Feb 23, 2017
This installment in the “People and Police” series presents a more personal look at the officers who serve in the Yellow Springs Police Department.
- What sort of policing do we want? — Feb 9, 2017
What do Yellow Springers mean when they say they want community policing?
- A closer look at taser use — Jan 26, 2017
What role do tasers play in local policing? What role should they play? Is the device, typically classified as a “less-lethal weapon,” misused by Yellow Springs police? How did tasers figure into the clash with villagers at the New Year’s Eve Ball Drop?
Elder Stories
November 24, 2016– [ongoing]
This series profiles Yellow Springs residents in their 80s and above. The News seeks to share older villagers’ stories and perspectives, honoring those who have lived long among us.
- Elder Stories: Painter Jack Merrill — Feb 14, 2020
Merrill is known by some in the village as a quiet and tenacious artist who painted exuberantly, if privately, through nearly five decades of living and working in Yellow Springs.
- Jane Baker: a life of books — Nov 9, 2017
Jane Baker was born in The Hague, Netherlands, in 1934 to an English mother and Dutch father. As Baker tells it, her parents meeting was quite romantic: her mother, from Wembley, in northwest London, met her father on a transatlantic voyage in the early 1930s.
- Always coming home to the village — Sep 14, 2017
Betty and Jim Felder, both in their 80s, have been recounting their time in Yellow Springs, how they met and when they came here, by each telling their stories which circle back, intertwine and pick up where the other left off.
- Fifty years in the same house — Aug 3, 2017
Fifty years ago this summer, Carl and Sue Johnson moved into a handsome brick home on Dayton Street with their school-aged sons, John and Jim.
- Harold Wright— A bridger of words, and worlds — Jul 27, 2017
It’s been a dozen years since Harold Wright’s last trip to Japan, the longest time he’s been away from the country he fell in love with as a young man. But this fall, he and his wife, Jonatha, will be flying to Tokyo as the honored guests of Emperor Meiji.
- Arnold Adoff: A shared life and love of literature — May 4, 2017
Author and poet Arnold Adoff suggests that a more apt descriptor for the Yellow Springs News’ elders series might be “survivors series.”
- Joan Horn: life as a doer, teacher and friend — Mar 23, 2017
Joan Horn, 83, has lived in Yellow Springs for over 60 years, first coming to the village as a student at Antioch College in the early 1950s. Her contributions to the community are legion.
- Jim Agna: Showing up and taking a stand — Feb 16, 2017
Jim Agna is a low-key and modest guy, so he probably won’t tell you that at many points in his career as a physcian, he’s been at the forefront of social change.
- Phyllis Lawson Jackson: Deep roots, and a historian’s eye — Dec 22, 2016
You’d be hard pressed to find someone with deeper Yellow Springs roots than Phylllis Lawson Jackson, the fifth generation of the Lawson family to live in the village.
- Paul Graham: a soft-spoken force for equality — Dec 15, 2016
A soft-spoken and gentle man, Paul Graham doesn’t seem like a troublemaker. Yet in Yellow Springs a half century ago, Graham made considerable trouble for those who stood in the path of equal rights for all.
Why YS?
December 24, 2015 – November 15, 2016 | 10 stories
This series looks at why people choose to live in Yellow Springs.
- Happy to be home again — Nov 17, 2016
When people ask Zo Van Eaton Meister if she grew up in Yellow Springs, she usually replies, “Sort of.” The story of her connection to the village is complicated.
- They’re villagers, thanks to Google — Oct 27, 2016
A simple Google search brought Dorothy Dean and Jarod Rogers to Yellow Springs. “I literally Googled, ‘What is the most liberal town in Ohio?’” Dean recalled, laughing, in a recent interview.
- Village a great place to raise children — Oct 13, 2016
In the late 1960s when Robert and Olga Harris moved to the village, racial segregation and prejudice was a reality in most cities and towns. But in Yellow Springs, they found a place where their children were free to be who they wanted to be without the burden of racial prejudice.
- ‘Nomads’ decide to settle down in Village — Aug 18, 2016
An artist and an academic move to Yellow Springs. They find people, jobs, a community they enjoy. They have a child. In a few years, they buy a house. They make plans for their little boy’s future. In short, they settle down.
- Choosing a college and a town — Aug 11, 2016
When Lori Collins-Hall and Chris Burgher first visited Yellow Springs two years ago, they were checking out the village as a place to live.
- Living, learning in the real world — Jul 28, 2016
Meet Alexandra Scott: event planner, poet, activist, coffeehouse lover, future entrepreneur, villager.
- From ‘the last frontier’ to Ohio — Jun 16, 2016
Before moving to Yellow Springs, Eric and Kelley Oberg had never owned a home with a doorbell.
- At 83, she’s no longer invisible — Jun 9, 2016
For her 60th birthday, Joan Champie jumped out of a plane. “I grinned all the way down,” she said of her first tandem parachute jump.
- Making a good life in Yellow Springs — May 5, 2016
Walk by a certain Cliff Street porch on a spring or summer evening, and Cory and Amanda Howard will likely be out in the cooling air.
- Artist family makes it work in Yellow Springs — Mar 24, 2016
Anna Burke, her husband, Ryan Stinson, and their daughter, Presley, are a young family whose appreciation for Yellow Springs has evolved over their four years in the village.
Justice for John Crawford
June 30 – September 8, 2016 | 7 stories
This series focuses on the 2014 police shooting of John Crawford III and its aftermath.
- Family of John Crawford III pursues wrongful death charges — Dec 8, 2022
On Wednesday, Nov. 23, a three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals revived a wrongful death claim against Walmart by the family of John Crawford III.
- MLK Day 2021 peacemaker award — Moyenda, a warrior peacemaker — Feb 3, 2021
At the virtual MLK Day event held on Monday, Jan. 18, via Zoom, Bomani Moyenda, a longtime local activist, was finally given the Peacemaker Award by the Yellow Springs Martin Luther King Day Planning Committee.
- A call for justice — Aug 10, 2017
About 150 people gathered outside the Beavercreek Walmart last Saturday, Aug. 5, to mark the third anniversary of the death of John Crawford III, who was shot by Beavercreek police inside the store in 2014.
- Still seeking justice for Crawford — Sep 8, 2016
In this final article of the series, “Justice for John Crawford,” the News will address the current status, two years after Crawford’s death, of remaining legal efforts around the case, the effect of the shooting on local activists, and reflections from Crawford’s father.
- Ohio leaders scrutinize policing — Sep 1, 2016
Sixth article in this series: In 2014, two high-profile police shooting deaths in Ohio occurred within three months of each other, sparking public outcry and calls for policing reform.
- Guns and grand juries up for reform — Aug 25, 2016
Fifth article in this series: In Ohio, the public outcry following the police shootings of John Crawford III and Tamir Rice, as well as the growing national dialogue on policing and criminal justice, has led to a variety of recommendations for structural reform in the criminal justice system.
- Racial factors in Crawford’s shooting — Aug 11, 2016
Fourth article in this series: Beginning in the early 2000s, Joshua Correll, a social psychology researcher now at the University of Colorado, began a series of studies examining the effect of race on shoot/don’t shoot decisions.
- Through the lens of race: the 911 call — Aug 4, 2016
Third article in this series: From Beavercreek to Baton Rouge, high-profile police shootings of unarmed African-American men reveal dramatic disparities in how white and black citizens are perceived and treated by police.
- Trip to Walmart ends in tragedy — Jul 21, 2016
Second article in this series: A detailed look at the events around the Crawford shooting.
- Revisiting Crawford, two years on — Jun 30, 2016
First article in this series: The shooting of John Crawford and other young African-American men by police raised urgent questions about use of force, police relations with African-American communities and the role of race and racism in the justice system.
Police Matters
March 12 – May 28, 2015 | 7 stories
This series focuses on the community and its police, locally and in similar-sized towns.
- New police reforms aired — Jul 2, 2020
Body cameras worn by every Ohio police officer. Psychological evaluations of those who hope to become an officer. More training in implicit bias and de-escalation. Requiring officers to report on another officer’s misconduct. Those are a few proposed law enforcement reforms Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced at a press briefing last week in response to national outrage after high-profile killings of Black people by police in recent weeks.
- Police reform at the YSPD— What’s done, what’s next? — Jun 24, 2020
Amid national calls for policing reform following the most recent wave of killings of Black people by police officers, villagers are once again raising their voices for change in the Yellow Springs Police Department.
- Citizens review police actions — Nov 28, 2019
An ad hoc citizen committee is reviewing a disciplinary matter involving two officers of the Yellow Springs Police Department.
- Yellow Springs Police survey results—A desire for community engagement — May 28, 2015
Three-quarters of respondents in a survey on police and the Village said they would like the police to engage with the community more often, including by patrolling more on bicycle and foot instead of in their cruisers and visiting schools to speak with students.
- News survey— Village police elicit mixed responses — May 21, 2015
Some villagers fear for their own safety because they believe the Yellow Springs Police Department unfairly targets them. Others believe the police force is so professional and respectful that any critique of the force is unjustified.
- Yellow Springs police flush by comparison — May 14, 2015
Policing is unique to each community, and each police department is designed around its own community’s population, budget, crime trends, minimum manning levels and sometimes a detailed work-load analysis. But comparing Yellow Springs police to police in comparable towns highlights some similarities and some differences between departments.
- Some note change in policing style — Apr 30, 2015
Late one evening last month, a local couple was celebrating their anniversary with friends at the Gulch.
- Mostly warnings on YSPD late shift — Apr 9, 2015
During a ride-along with this reporter last Friday evening, Village police displayed an eagerness to explain their process and offer the perspective of an on-duty officer.
- Balancing a low crime rate with high policing costs — Mar 26, 2015
While last year there were 28 murders in the City of Dayton and more than 1,200 violent crimes there, violence in Yellow Springs has barely been an issue, with an average of about three violent incidents each year for the last seven.
- Need for drug task force in village eyed — Mar 19, 2015
Ten years after first signing on with A.C.E. drug task force, Yellow Springs remains an active partner. However, the involvement of local police in the drug task force has become a topic of controversy.
Eye on the Economy
March 20 – May 29, 2014 | 12 stories
This series examines the economic landscape of Yellow Springs.
- Villagers rate ED strategies — May 29, 2014
As an adjunct English professor at Clark State Community College, Cyndi Pauwels is among the one-third of Yellow Springs residents who work in the field of education and four-fifths of working villagers who commute.
- How locals see our economy — May 22, 2014
Local jobs don’t pay enough for people to afford to live here.
That’s how many villagers summed up the problem with the Yellow Springs economy in a recent online survey.
A total of 299 residents of Yellow Springs and Miami Township participated in the 20-question survey, which ran from April 25–May 11. - Small towns use creativity to grow — May 15, 2014
The story of Ponca City, Okla., recently named one of the top 10 best small towns for business in the U.S. , is a case study for how to rebuild a flagging small town economy.
- Sidewalks packed in tourist town — May 8, 2014
Any local resident downtown on a beautiful spring weekend such as we’ve experienced in recent weeks can attest that the sidewalks, shops and restaurants are filled with people who hail from other zip codes. What their presence means to the life of the village is a topic of ongoing discussions.
- Economic development since 2000— Ideas abound, actions lag behind — Apr 24, 2014
Around 1998 local attorney Craig Matthews was representing a Dayton company that worked with that city to boost the economy in depressed neighborhoods. Around the same time, he found, in an old box in his office above Star Bank, a copy of Arthur Morgan’s book, Industries for Small Communities, with Morgan’s philosophy that vibrant small towns need diverse, vibrant businesses.
- In 80s, incubator boosted businesses in Yellow Springs — Apr 17, 2014
One of Village government’s first attempts at revving up the economy involved hiring villagers Vicki Morgan and Phyllis Schmidt in 1986 as Yellow Springs Associates, in an attempt to improve the image of Yellow Springs to surrounding communities.
- At time, home is where the work is — Apr 10, 2014
Like many of today’s college graduates, Emma Woodruff left Antioch College under a mountain of debt and with few job prospects. So she fell into a growing local industry catering to tourists and residents — accommodation and food service — working stints as a Sunrise Café server and in the kitchen of the Emporium Café.
- Fewer local jobs, more commuting — Apr 3, 2014
Heidi Hoover could be considered one of the lucky few. Her dream of living and working in Yellow Springs came true seven years ago when, after returning to her hometown to start a family, she was hired as a second-grade teacher at Mills Lawn Elementary School after substitute teaching there.
- CHARTS: More jobs trends in YS —
Fewer local jobs has meant more commuting for residents, but residents are also increasingly working out of their homes and starting their own businesses. Read about more local job trends.
- CHART: Job changes in YS — Apr 2, 2014
What are the predominant local jobs in Yellow Springs and where do Yellow Springers work? A new article explores the trend that fewer local jobs means more commuting for residents.
Liquid Assets
March 8 – May 31, 2012 | 12 stories
This series examines the many aspects of water use, distribution and pollution in the village.
- Plan dropped; wellhead likely safe — May 31, 2012
Sometime in 1988, a host of volatile organic chemicals were found deep in the aquifer that feeds the Village’s municipal drinking water wells. Around the same time, the federal government mandated safeguarding the quality of the groundwater.
- Villagers weigh in on their water — May 24, 2012
Ask villagers about their experience with Yellow Springs water and the stories will flow.
- A tale of two waters — May 17, 2012
Soon, Council will choose between upgrading its aging water plant or purchasing water from Springfield. It seems timely, then, to compare various aspects of Yellow Springs and Springfield water.
- YS News Water Survey Results —
See the results from a recent Yellow Springs News online survey of 205 municipal water customers.
- Tackling hard water, hard choices — May 10, 2012
Of all the critical decisions made by municipal governments, perhaps no decisions are more important than those concerning water.
- Small towns, bigger water bills — May 3, 2012
The price we pay for the water that flows from our taps is determined by a variety of factors, including a bit of guesswork
- Oil and water— Drilling stirs new concerns — Apr 19, 2012
In the late 1800s northwestern Ohio was at the center of an oil boom, and Ohio became the world’s largest oil producer. Soon drilling moved to eastern and central Ohio, which is today at the center of another fossil fuel boom
- Water pollution we all create— Catching up with runaway runoff — Apr 12, 2012
There is a gully in the Glen at the northeast edge of the village, not far from the Glen Helen Building. When it rains, water comes rushing into the Glen, carrying with it the runoff from the village, its street oils, its lawn chemicals, and its trash.
- Toxic sites are under control — Apr 5, 2012
Over the past two decades, Vernay, along with Morris Bean & Company, YSI, Inc. and the Village Water Reclamation plant, have all been point sources of pollution to local ground and surface water. But through their efforts and work with the U.S. and Ohio Environmental Protection Agencies, all four point sources of area water pollution have made strides to control and mitigate the damage they caused to the local watershed.
- Real watershed moments for area — Mar 22, 2012
Where Yellow Springs begins and ends is defined by clear political boundaries. But the village also exists within an ecosystem that has boundaries of its own. An important one is its watershed, an area of land that drains into a common waterway.
African Americans in Yellow Springs
February 4 – March 25, 2010 | 6 stories
This series examines the history of African Americans in the village.
- Encyclopedia highlights Black lives — Mar 12, 2020
A “labor of love” — as well as a labor of memory, representation and community — hit a significant milestone in February with the completion and release of the first physical edition of “Blacks in Yellow Springs: A Community Encyclopedia.”
- Assessing the value of diversity — Mar 25, 2010
For Jewell Graham, the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s were exhilarating times to live in the village. Having come to Yellow Springs as a young African-American woman with her new husband, Paul, who after graduating from Antioch had been offered a job at Vernay Laboratories, Graham was impressed with the quality of relationships between blacks and whites. Many businesses were integrated in a way unusual for the time, and a passion for the civil rights movement further brought people together. There was considerable socializing between blacks and whites in her world, as well as a sense of shared purpose.
- Do housing costs affect diversity? — Mar 18, 2010
If local diversity can be measured by the number of African Americans who live within the geographical boundaries of Yellow Springs, the village has experienced three decades of decreasing diversity, and is likely wrapping up a fourth. Since 1970, the village has lost about 500 African-American residents, mirroring a larger regional trend.
- Diversity decline linked to fewer jobs — Mar 4, 2010
If Yellow Springs has lost a significant number of jobs in the past 15 years, it follows that villagers have lost employment opportunities, which has a visible effect on an already minority African-American population. There are fewer African Americans employed in the village now than there were 30 years ago, and though there have never been a lot of African Americans who own and operate businesses in town, the current number appears to be lower than ever.
- Village youth say race is still an issue — Feb 25, 2010
Yellow Springs can be a supportive town for black youth to grow up in, according to a group of 10 current Yellow Springs High School students and recent graduates in recent interviews. But the village is not immune to the issues that tend to divide the community by color and burden some African-American families disproportionately. Instances of discrimination are very subtle, and can be unintentional, but they do occur here, the youth said, and they pose obstacles both of perception and in actual practice that young people of color are challenged to overcome.
- Achievement gap complex, but true — Feb 18, 2010
When Joyce McCurdy accepted a teaching position in the Yellow Springs School District, there was a black chief of police, a black member of Council, and a black member of school board. The principal of the high school was black, and three of McCurdy’s colleagues were also black — and actively involved in the social issues of the day. The year was 1965.
- Diversity gap creates social divide — Feb 11, 2010
When Isabel Newman graduated from Bryan High School in 1943, Antioch Bookplate President Ernest Morgan hired her to work for the company. Soon after, he sent her to a six-week course at the Mergenthaler linotype school in New York, and upon her return, she worked for the company for over 40 years, retiring as a manager. At that company, whose president actively promoted racial integration, she recalled that typically a fourth of the employees were minorities. The support for a racially diverse staff appeared to be the same at Vernay Laboratories, where two of Newman’s sisters worked, Yellow Springs Instruments and Antioch College, the place that bred all three companies and their socially minded leaders.
- A history of racial diversity — Feb 4, 2010
When Robert Harris graduated from college with a degree in physics and math, he sought an engineering job in his hometown of Philadelphia. But the year was 1952, and companies weren’t hiring blacks for professional positions.
More series to be added…
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