■Mrs. Anna Murphy, of 43 Straw Ave., is celebrating her 103rd birthday today. Mrs. Murphy is in good health, retains a good memory and doesn’t wear glasses as they are “too much bother.” She was born in Northampton on April 15, 1867.
■Eric Stahlberg, operations manager of Pro Brush in Florence, announced today the promotion of John J. Weisz to plant manager of the Dinnerware and Melamine Division. Weisz assumed his new duties on April 6.
■Legislation that was quietly passed by the House would ban nicotine in all tobacco products sold in Massachusetts by 2002. The proposal, which still faces a long road through the Legislature before it can become law, was added to the state budget on a voice vote without debate Thursday night.
■Hodges and Hall Masonry Supply Co. in Northampton has gone out of business, two days after hosting its grand opening last Saturday, according to one of its owner’s landlords. The sudden closing confirmed its owner’s own predictions that his financial troubles were jeopardizing the business.
■Cooley Dickinson Hospital is one of the most expensive hospitals in the state, according to a new report from the attorney general’s office, which found that Massachusetts insurers paid the Northampton institution nearly twice as much money as other hospitals to provide a standard set of medical services.
■Seventeen small-business owners from Northampton, ranging from a sheet metal purveyor to a forklift mechanic, joined thousands of Tea Partiers Wednesday on Boston Common to hear Sarah Palin speak and support the Tea Party movement. The group, organized by self-described political newcomer John Rhoades of Northampton, took a two-hour bus ride Wednesday morning to demonstrate for smaller government and less taxes.