■Students out of school for the summer, along with migrant workers, are now working in the area’s tobacco fields. Working in tobacco is almost a tradition among students, who find a ready labor market for idle summer hands.
■Construction on the Union Plaza Medical Center in Easthampton is near completion and the new facility is to open today, report Drs. Berton and Myra Shayevitz who conceived the idea of the center to meet the need of the Easthampton-Southampton-Westhampton area.
■With only a week to the start of the 6th Annual Northampton Lesbian Festival, its producers say it will be their last. WOW Productions Inc. will disappear, the organizers Aliza Ansell and Diane Morgan going their separate ways. “This is going to be the last hurrah,” Ansell said, of next weekend’s fest.
■Officials will make an announcement soon about the opening of the newly renovated Coca-Cola plant, which is scheduled to begin production this summer and employ up to 150 workers. Coca-Cola USA is investing $41 million in the construction and renovation of the former Mid-Atlantic Canners Association Inc. plant.
After a year on the job for interim Police Chief Denise Wickland, Williamsburg selectmen decided she is the right person for the permanent post. Wickland will become full-time chief as soon as she and selectmen work out a contract.
■Tapping funds from the Community Preservation Act, Hatfield is taking steps to protect 36.5 acres of watershed land on Chestnut Mountain Road, an area containing streams that feed a small reservoir, providing 70 percent of the town’s drinking water.