■The conversion of Smith College from an all-girls college to a co-educational institution is seen as desirable in a report made by Smith College professor Ely Chinoy. Chinoy says that on balance co-education is desirable and, if the necessary capital funding can be received, feasible.
■Off-duty policemen in Easthampton began picketing town hall this morning to dramatize police demands for a better wage settlement and the stalemating of negotiations.
■Chicopee, the first western Massachusetts city to enact a ban on smoking in restaurants, has repealed it – a move that would appear to have direct consequences on eateries in neighboring South Hadley, where smoking remains forbidden.
■After five years as music director, Patrick Smith is leaving the Holyoke Civic Symphony. The symphony announced that Smith is stepping down to direct more of his energy to his job as string teacher and director of orchestras in the Amherst schools.
■Before this summer is through, Cooley Dickinson Hospital will have a much greater presence in the town of Amherst, with the addition of an urgent care center at medical offices at 170 University Drive.
■State-mandated “odor sniffing” must continue around the Northampton landfill, despite a plea by the city to end the costly monitoring, the state Department of Environmental Protection says. Public works officials appealed to the DEP in January to end the odor detection work, citing escalating costs and questioning the value of the work.