■Northampton Police Chief James J. Whalen said today he knows of no “specific instances of deliberate harassment of individuals on the streets.” He was answering charges made by several young people who met with Mayor Sean Dunphy and other city officials last Thursday evening.
■The Cooley Dickinson Hospital has installed a new $1,800 American Optical Campbell Slit Lamp in the emergency rooms. Usage of the lamp is demonstrated by Dr. Russell Gervais and his daughter Stephanie, an X-ray technician at Cooley Dickinson.
■A shuffling around of key offices at the Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School over vacation week made reopening on Monday more chaotic than usual. Most administrators and business, guidance and special services staff began the week in different places.
■Not always the most popular man in Northampton, the tax collector nonetheless received a few kind words last night, before being reappointed to another term. Even as veteran tax collector Richard F. Newman secured his 17th term, he and others questions why the appointment is only for one year.
■Craig Della Penna is taking his love of bicycling to a whole new level, opening a real estate business focused as much on houses as on bikes and trails. Della Penna said he will be the first to open a franchise of Pedal to Property, which deals in cycle-accessible homes. The Boulder, Colo-based business got its start in 2006.
■Cooley Dickinson Hospital recently announced that Annie Heath, a certified nurse midwife, has joined the staff of its Center for Midwifery Care. Heath, who is fluent in Spanish, has practiced as a midwife in the Valley and in Latin America for more than 15 years.