■A crystal clear day and cooling breeze set the pace Sunday for 850 marchers to walk 20.5 miles for hotline which netted about $16,000 — close to five times the original $3,000 goal. Reactions to the successful outcome of the walk ranged from “overwhelmed” to “positively amazing.” The enthusiasm as the blistered and muscle-aching walkers was equally commendable.
■A request for a show-cause hearing has been filed with Northampton Police Chief James J. Whalen by District Attorney John M. Callahan, concerning a potential criminal complaint against the Northampton superintendent of schools and the high school principal, for use in the high school of a book termed “obscene” by Northampton police. The book in question is “Manchild in the Promised Land” by Claude Brown.
■When it opens a new Hatfield store in the former Grossman’s this fall, Rugg Lumber Co. will close its Hawley Street outlet, ending 14 years of doing business in Northampton. The Northampton building will be put on the market for sale in the fall.
■Even as the Northampton Board of Health cracks down on residents who throw away trash without paying, there are indications that the system of using bag stickers is difficult to monitor, vulnerable to fraud, and is costing the city money. There is enough concern, in fact, that city officials are considering other options for residential waste collection, including hiring a private firm to run the landfill and transfer station.
“Chaotic” is how one police report described the brawl on Pleasant Street early Saturday morning, when the alleged discovery of a loaded gun touched off a scrum between bar patrons and police that sent two officers to the hospital and resulted in three arrests. The crowd was so unruly that the six members of the Northampton force received backup from state troopers and officers from Easthampton.
■Two students from Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School won gold medals in the SkillsUSA competition last month. Senior Troy Howes, 18, of Cummington topped the competition in the Precision Machine Technology category, and sophomore Kyle Silva, 16, of Easthampton won in the Collision Repair. Junior Zomalia Mulero, 17, of Hadley, claimed a bronze medal in cosmetology.