■Richard M. Howland, 32, one of the founders of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War and a University of Massachusetts attorney, received the Amherst Jaycees’ Distinguished Service Award as Outstanding Young Man of the Year at the annual Bosses Night banquet Thursday.
■Two youths participating in the University of Massachusetts delinquent rehabilitation program were taken to Cooley Dickinson Hospital last night suffering from apparent dosages of toxic drugs or alcohol. The teenagers were known to be drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana before they were stricken.
■The equivalent of 6.6 full-time jobs was eliminated from Cooley Dickinson Hospital last week amid ongoing efforts to reduce costs and redesign services. Nutrition services and the hospital pharmacy department were the two departments affected in the latest round of cuts, according to a memo sent Friday to medical staff and all employees.
■Bill Nagle’s Honor Court, for decades a men’s-only program for recovering substance abusers, takes a first step tomorrow toward creating a distinct program for women. A new nine-member advisory board charged with overseeing development of a new program for women will gather Wednesday to begin work on shaping a service many say is badly needed in the region.
■By this time next year, students at the Amherst Montessori School should be in an expanded and renovated building that will allow all classes to be held under one roof. The $2.6 million project, which will nearly quadruple the amount of space, was approved by the Planning Board this week.
■A portion of Center Street will undergo a revitalization this spring and could one day house a new restaurant and retail operation not far from Serio’s Market. Plans call for extensive renovations to the former Circa Restaurant, at 57 Center St., and a vacant house next door, as well as construction of a new structure that would connect the two buildings.