■The Northampton Lodge of Elks is making progress in its plans for the future, it was noted today by Exalted Ruler Robert Cloutier. In 1969 the lodge purchased 20 acres of land on Route 66 which will eventually be developed into an Elks Lodge. Yesterday a sign was erected on the property to identify the area.
■An anti-draft and anti-Vietnam War demonstration was held in front of the Hampshire County Draft Board on Northampton’s Main Street yesterday afternoon. The number of demonstrators involved during the four-hour picketing and alleged draft card burning swelled to about 150 at one point.
■Passenger rail service in western Massachusetts and Vermont will continue for at least one more year thanks to an agreement to keep a modified version of the old Montrealer route. On Friday, Amtrak and the state of Vermont nailed down an arrangement under which the state will pay up to $750,000 to keep passenger rail service for one more year, Gov. Howard Dean announced.
■Police estimate that 250,000 people turned out Sunday for Holyoke’s traditional St. PatrickÕs Parade. The parade, blessed with pleasant spring weather, attracted people of all ages.
■Cheryl Zoll, director of the Amherst Survival Center, said Wednesday that her organization has made an offer to buy the former Rooster’s Restaurant, the eatery at 138 Sunderland Road that closed in2007, and will determine in the next 90 days whether it would be a suitable site for the center.
■Amherst College women’s hockey players celebrated their second consecutive NCAA Division II championship win Saturday night in St. Pater, Minn. The Jeffs defeated Norwich University 7-2.