■Walter Salvo, of 104 South St., one of Northampton’s most well-known civic and business leaders, died last night at Cooley Dickinson Hospital. A 1932 graduate of Columbia University, he was a veteran of World War II. After the war, he returned to Northampton and became a realtor and real estate appraiser and engaged in many community activities.
■The Nor-wot-tuck District Boy Scouts, comprising all of Hampshire County, will hold the annual Klondike Derby at Chesterfield Scout Reservation on Saturday. This winter event is a combination fun and skill activity wherein Scout Patrols of six to eight boys haul Alaska-type sleds from station to station.
■Springfield officials voted 5-0 today to name Capt. Paula Meara the city’s first female police chief, making her the most powerful local policewoman in New England. The department has been missing a permanent chief since Ernest Stelzer died in October 1994.
■A bright yellow house on North Maple Street in Florence will soon be a beacon of encouragement for homeless people. ServiceNet Inc., a Northampton-based mental health center, held a ribbon-cutting yesterday at The Florence Inn, an affordable housing facility that the agency will operate.
■The combination of record-setting snow totals last month and two major snowstorms that swept through the Valley earlier this week has resulted in many area roadways and sidewalks becoming impassable to motorists, pedestrians and emergency responders. Northampton’s DPW has reportedly measured 57 inches of snow so far this winter.
■With plenty of snow dropped on the Pioneer Valley in recent weeks, WinterFest 2011 will offer a paradise for people who want to spend an entire day outside. The fourth annual event is sponsored by the Leisure Service and Supplemental Education, the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce and the Friends of Amherst Recreation.