■A busload of county and municipal officials headed for Boston this morning from the courthouse and they carried with them a number of petitions, containing hundreds of names of county residents opposing a proposal to all but eliminate Hampshire County in its present form. The bill would lump Hampshire County into Franklin County, except for southern Hampshire towns which would go into Hampden County.
■Philip M. Carney, a native of Lynn and 1967 graduate of the University of Massachusetts, has assumed responsibilities of commercial manager of the Northampton office of the New England Telephone Co. He replaces Charles McGrave who is transferring as commercial manager to Worcester.
■State Sen. Jane M. Swift, R-North Adams, will officially enter the 1st Congressional District race on Monday, becoming the second Republican to challenge U.S. Rep. John W. Olver, D-Amherst. Gregory L. Morgan of Leominister, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who is head of security at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, was the first GOP candidate to enter the race.
■Praised as a model for community-based efforts to improve the safety of senior citizens, the Amherst SALT Council is developing plans to set up an automatic calling system designed to check on the well-being of older residents and transmit information of public interest.
■The 50 largest cities and towns in Massachusetts face a “staggering” $20 billion unfunded liability for retiree health benefits that will wreak havoc on local government and place crushing burdens on property taxpayers in the future, a new report warns.
■A deal to preserve 87 acres in the Mineral Hill Conservation Area on the Westhampton-Northampton border hinges on whether the city can raise the final $11,000 in community donations over the next three weeks. The property is considered a “linchpin” needed to connect tracts of conservation land in the Mineral Hills into one contiguous piece.