■Controversy continues to swirl around the University of Massachusetts “concrete waffle.” If you ask an administrator, the new Campus Center is an architectural triumph. If you talk to a student, he or she will probably have less complimentary remarks. “It looks like a tomb — a concrete burial vault,” said one student.
■A thief or thieves apparently broke into Dupelle’s store near the Huntington green early Wednesday morning and made away with a 500-pound safe containing about $150 and important papers. Police reported that a rear door was taken from its hinges and a safe apparently taken out to what they think was a waiting truck.
■Community Health Plan, one of only two area health maintenance organizations that offers midwife service, plans to end the practice by mid-April because of lower-than-expected growth in the client base, and apparently because of financial difficulties within CHP as a whole.
■In an effort to protect the public from the deteriorating Calvin Theatre, the City Council last night approved spending $10,000 to remove fire escapes, repair a crumbling wall and possibly remove the marquee, which has repeatedly been hit by trucks passing on King Street over the years.
■Three new screens, including one that will offer what is described as a more intense moviegoing experience, are coming to the Cinemark Theaters at the Hampshire Mall. Cinemark XD (extreme digital) features a floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall screen with wider seats and better sound quality in the auditorium.
■Fifteen horses escaped injury Wednesday morning when the roof of an indoor riding arena and horse barn collapsed under heavy snow at the Carrie Farm in Southampton. The roof of a large barn on Hibbard Lane in Hadley also succumbed to a heavy load of snow and crashed to the ground.