■A total of 500,000 persons in Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden counties will be affected by WGBY-Channel 57, educational television to be based in Amherst. It is scheduled to be functioning completely by fall of 1971.
■A 15-percent salary increase was voted for the Northampton police chief by the City Council last night and a transfer of $257.40 was approved for financing the pay hike for the balance of the year. The salary scale will increase Police Chief James J. Whalen’s pay from the present $219 per week to $252 per week, effective Monday.
■Organizers of the city’s first film fest, which spanned three days at venues across Northampton, called the event a success yesterday — and said they plan to make it an annual event. The Northampton Film Festival featured 22 films in fiction, comedy, documentary and animation categories.
■Calling teacher certification an obstacle to hiring the most talented teachers, Gov. William F. Weld wants to end the requirement as part of his plan to shrink state government. “Our present certification policy guarantees only that our future teachers will have been among the worst students themselves,” Weld’s one-page proposal on the issue states.
■It’s two months before David Sullivan becomes the next Northwestern district attorney, but already two people are vying to inherit his current job as Hampshire County’s register of probate. Northampton residents Bill Rosen and Wendy Berg have both expressed interest in taking over as register, Sullivan said.
■A growing sport that travels on two wheels — and occasionally on two feet — brings 1,200 competitors to Look Park this weekend for two days of racing. In cyclo-cross, riders maneuver along relatively small, 3-kilometer routes and over obstacles, forcing them to at times get off their bikes and run.