■George Dickinson Adler, city treasurer for 22 years, announced today that he would retire on July 31. In addition to his years as treasurer, Adler served as a member of the Common Council, an alderman, president of the Board of Aldermen and acting mayor of Northampton after the death of Mayor Edmond J. Lampron.
■Patrick Goggins, provisional director of recreation for Northampton for the past two and one-half years, is now eligible for appointment as permanent director of recreation. Goggins passed the civil service examination with flying colors with a score of 95.16.
■Bloomingals, a women’s clothing store on Main Street for the last 20 years, is closing its doors. Owners Margie Resnic and Margo Cooley said that the trend toward more casual, dress-down clothes and competition from local malls are the two most significant reasons.
■Suspension from Northampton High School may soon no longer mean a student is out the door, on his or her own. In collaboration with the school and a variety of agencies associated with the citywide network Kids Involved, the Hampshire Regional YMCA plans to open an “alternative to suspension” program four hours a day.
■One of the largest movie screens in the region, with improved sound quality and a wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling picture, opens Friday when Cinemark Theatres unveils a screen promoters say rivals IMAX theaters. Cinemark XD (extreme digital) debuts in Hadley with the screening of “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.”
■The first holiday toy swap in Northampton this weekend at Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School was so successful it will become an annual event, an organizer said Sunday. Well over 200 people came to the school’s cafeteria Saturday to give and get free toys at the exchange sponsored by the ReUse Committee of the Department of Public Works.