By YS News StaffMarch 12, 2021
Last weekend, local artist Pierre Nagley pasted a drawing of Emmitt Till on top of a Kieth’s Alley mural he painted last year of George Floyd that had been vandalized with white paint earlier in the week.
What s New?
Last weekend, local artist Pierre Nagley pasted a drawing of Emmitt Till on top of a Kieth’s Alley mural he painted last year of George Floyd that had been vandalized with white paint earlier in the week. Nagley’s drawing is based on the iconic photograph of the 14-year-old Till, who was brutally murdered by two white men in Mississippi in 1955 for allegedly flirting with a white woman. The men were found not guilty of murder and the woman later recanted her testimony. Meanwhile, the trial of Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer who killed Floyd by kneeling on his neck for nearly nine minutes as he lost consciousness, got underway this week.
The George Floyd mural in downtown Yellow Springs was discovered to be defaced on Monday, March 1, around 11 a.m. White paint was apparently flung onto the mural, obscuring Floyd’s face as it appeared on the wall in Kieth’s Alley.
According to Yellow Springs Police Chief Brian Carlson, police are investigating the matter.
Local artist Pierre Nagley completed the mural in June 2020, one month after its subject, Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, died May 25, 2020, in Minneapolis, MN, after a police officer pressed his knee into his neck for nearly nine minutes.
The mural was completed as a part of the H.U.M.A.N. Mural Project.
Yellow Springs kicked off the beginning of 2020, as always, with the traditional ball drop overseen by Lance Rudegeair; MTFR personnel handed out hot cocoa, and at least one marriage proposal greeted the new year.
The Reach Out Free Clinic, which was held each Tuesday evening at Central Chapel AME Church, celebrated a year of operation in early January. The free, donation-based clinic, a satellite location of Reach Out Dayton, closed due to the pandemic in March; the Dayton location shuttered permanently later in the year.
Nan Harshaw, longtime chair of the MLK Day Planning Committee, was awarded the annual Peacemaker Award at the 2020 Martin Luther King Day celebration. The late Willa Dallas was also recognized for her civil rights efforts and her role in initiating the annual local event.
In January, the News reported on efforts to alleviate previous delays in drug orders and other difficulties at Benzer Pharmacy, formerly Town Drug. A regional manager for the national pharmacy chain pointed to issues with the company’s wholesaler related to new acquisitions of pharmacy locations in Ohio. The local pharmacy has since regained its footing, and in November, the downtown store a pharmacy location for about 90 years changed its name to Yellow Springs Pharmacy.
Clem & Thyme Nutrition and Wellness expanded its East Enon Road practice, the News reported in February. Founded by Leslie Edmunds, the practice offers nutrition therapy, dietary consulting, cooking classes and more.