■Retired Smith College Professor Oliver Larkin will give five free puppet shows for local children over the next few weeks. Larkin makes his own puppets. His characters are taken from history, literature and mythology. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1950 for his book “Art and Life in America.”
■About 35 members of the Northampton Police Relief Association have banded together to produce the 52nd annual concert and ball tonight at the new Northampton National Guard Armory. The general chairman of the event is Daniel L. Labato.
■A measure that would allow unmarried straight and gay people to register as couples with the city was referred by councilors Thursday to the Ordinance Committee. Councilor Maureen Tobin said residents will have a chance to comment on the “domestic partnership” proposal during the Ordinance Committee’s April 25 meeting.
■A miniature golf course, a turn-of-the-century carousel and a water playground could become a part of Look Park if the state comes through with a $500,000 grant. Hoping to see $1 million in additions and improvements made at Look Park, the City Council on Thursday agreed to back efforts by trustees of the park to apply for the funds.
■Hampshire County’s only mosque is seeking to move to a residential road that forms the border between Amherst and Pelham, but those who live on the street argue that potential traffic means it is not a good location for a house of worship. More than 50 people crowded into the Town Hall Wednesday to raise concerns about the impacts that would be caused if the Hampshire Mosque buys the vacant property and buildings at 264 Harkness Road.
■The Jewish Community of Amherst’s new rabbi is also a writer, a scholar of Yiddish and Irish literature, a vegetable gardener and a musician. Benjamin Weiner plans to start Aug. 1. He hopes to create a “vibrant and exciting” environment at the JCA, which has declined from 330 households a few years ago to about 290 now.