Around the Miami Valley

The Central State University Board of Trustees on Thursday appointed Dr. Cynthia Jackson Hammond as the eighth president of the university. 

The Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce is making a major move in re-branding retail efforts in the city. The Chamber met with business owners in the Upper Valley Mall and Bechtle Avenue strip mall areas and decided to rename the entire shopping destination, the 41 Crossing.

Chamber president Mike McDorman says renaming the area 41 Crossing will allow the retail stores and restaurants to become a shopping destination that will rival the Greene in Beavercreek and Outlet Mall in Jeffersonville.

YELLOW SPRINGS - Emergency crews were called to the scene of a fully-involved barn fire around 9:45 a.m. Thursday morning.

Miami Township Fire and Rescue, Hustead Fire, and Greene County Sheriffs responded to the blaze on Yellow Springs Fairfield Road, near the intersection of Snypp Road, just outside of Yellow Springs. The blaze was in a barn owned by Ralph Acton.

Acton says he had placed a smoke bomb inside the barn to combat a problem with raccoons. He noticed smoke coming out of the barn and attempted to put out the blaze with a fire extinguisher.