■The Hampshire County Sanitarium, built in 1913 to house tubercular patients and converted to a chronic disease hospital a half-century later, was demolished on Monday. The new Hampshire County Hospital to house 120 patients was completed earlier this fall on the same site.
■Gov. Sargent signed into law last night the 1972 capital outlay budget which includes $1 million for the purchase and renovation of the Northampton School for Girls by the Department of Mental Health. The NSG property was offered for sale after the school merged with Williston Academy in Easthampton in June.
■After a change, the city is now poised to buy only 2 acres of land and pay $200,000 for them in order to build a new fire station, according to Mayor Mary L. Ford. Ford said the city and Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. yesterday consummated a deal the two parties have been negotiating for months.
■On a campaign blitz of the East Coast, President Bill Clinton made a last-minute stop in Springfield today in a bid to boost Sen. John Kerry in his tight race. The two Democrats emerged side-by-side late Sunday on the majestic stone stairway of City Hall, waving to an estimated crowd of 25,000.
■Anne Teschner of Northampton was at the White House Wednesday to receive an award from Michelle Obama for helping low-income teenage mothers learn to express themselves. Teschner is executive director of The Care Center, which provides classes for teenage mothers in Holyoke and helps them earn their high school equivalency diplomas and go on to college.
■Listeners who tuned in to WRNX 100.9-FM this week found out that their beloved alternative rock station has gone country. After a 21-year run, WRNX went dark earlier this week, playing programming by WKPX from Springfield, commonly known as KIX country, which broadcasts at 97.9.