■The Rev. Eugene F. Ozimek, pastor of Holy Family Parish in Pittsfield, is one of three area priests who are celebrating the 25th anniversary of their ordination next month. Father Ozimek came to Northampton immediately after ordination and served at St. John Cantius Church.
■Mary Ryan, a student at St. Michael’s High School in Northampton, was crowned the city’s Colleen by Northampton Mayor Sean Dunphy. She will ride on the float in the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Holyoke on March 22.
■In honor of National Women’s History Month, tribute was paid to the leaders of the area’s two women’s colleges yesterday at Mount Holyoke College. Nearly 300 people paid tribute to Elizabeth Topham Kennan, president of Mount Holyoke for 17 years, and Mary Maples Dunn, who has led Smith for the past decade. Both women will retire at the end of this academic year.
■Construction crews will finally break ground this spring in the empty 77-acre grassy swatch known as Hadley University Park. Two private developers plan to spend $4.8 million to build a 50,000-square-foot office, research and development facility for technology-oriented businesses.
Alberto Rodriguez, whose eight months as superintendent of the Amherst schools started and ended in controversy, is now gone because of negative feedback given to the School Committee by senior administrators. Rodriguez is the fifth superintendent to lead the Amherst schools in barely more than a year.
■Thornes Marketplace is now bankrolling one of its struggling shops as it continues to search for a new owner. After being shut for a week, Cedar Chest re-opened at noon Saturday with the same staff, said Thornes owner Douglas Kohl.