■Bicycle safety is a serious subject for city youngsters and is being taught by John Powers of the Northampton VFW. Bicycle Safety Day was sponsored by the city Recreation Department at local playgrounds, with about 200 bikes subject to inspection.
■The Cooley Dickinson Hospital will be following a countrywide trend by having a physician on duty 24 hours per day, seven days a week in the emergency room. Hospitals across the country are reaching the point where the emergency room is in dire need of full-time coverage by a physician on duty in the room.
■Through the mail, in advertisements and by word of mouth, Northampton is letting it be known that it needs land for a new fire station. The city needs the land in order to replace the 123-year-old Masonic Street Fire Station that was first condemned in 1927.
■The 13th annual Teddy Bear Rally, sponsored by the Amherst Rotary Club, is expected to draw between 15,000 and 20,000 children and adults to the Town Common today. Bear enthusiasts from around the country parade their stuffed pets, buy and sell a wide range of teddy bears and paraphernalia, and enter their bears in a host of contests, with proceeds going to local charities.
■It hasn’t been long since doors swung shut for the last time at Catholic churches throughout the Valley. But it’s been long enough to grab the attention of cash-strapped cities and towns. Several area communities are discussing whether to strip the tax-exempt status for recently closed churches.
■The new Sam’s Outdoor Outfitters on Route 9 in Hadley is planning to open next week. Sam’s is a local institution in Brattleboro, Vt., opening there in 1932 as an Army-Navy surplus store, and it is in its third generation as a family business.