■Francis W. Hogan, of 32 Myrtle St., longtime civic and political leader in this city, died this morning at Cooley Dickinson Hospital. For more than 20 years he was a member of the Northampton City Council and was alderman during the two-house system.
■Smith College professor emeritus of art Oliver Larkin, 74, died at the college’s infirmary early this morning after a long illness. He was a member of the art department at the college from 1924 to 1964, when he retired. In 1950, his book “Art and Life in America” won the Pulitzer Prize in American history.
■Complaints of clutter on Main Street sidewalks have moved officials to go after one of the most frequent offenders: sandwich-board signs. The Board of Public Works joined the push this week to create an ordinance that would ban such signs from downtown’s busiest intersection.
■A former city resident now living in Bermuda has offered a $25,000 gift to Forbes Library. The donation from William O. Bailey, who now lives and works in Bermuda, pushes the capital campaign over $400,000 in gifts and pledges.
■City councilors voted unanimously Wednesday to approve the first changes to the city charter since Easthampton became a city in 1996. The most prominent change calls for a restructuring of the assessors department and its governing board.
■Tevis Kimball, the curator of special collections at the Jones Library for nearly a decade, will serve as acting director of the library system for the next few months. Library trustees named Kimball as acting director in time to begin her duties Saturday, in an attempt to allow for a smooth transition following the retirement of longtime director Bonnie Isman.