■Robert Jeffway, 16, a Northampton High School junior, has completed his first solo airplane flight at LaFleur Airport. Although eligible to fly solo, he had to be driven to the airport as he was not old enough to obtain a driver’s license. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Jeffway of Elm Street.
■Federal and state funds of more than $204,000 to improve traffic control and capacity on the present Route 9 are in the works for Northampton with the completion of planning for the TOPICS program, Mayor Sean M. Dunphy said today. To expedite traffic flow and reduce parking congestion in the downtown area, all angle parking on Main Street would be converted to parallel parking as would angle parking on Elm Street to Prospect Street.
■Jane F. Garvey, 52, wife of Hampshire County Sheriff Robert Garvey, has been named acting administrator of the Federal Highway Administration. Garvey, of Amherst, has been leading the federal agency with its 3,300 personnel, 62 field offices and $20 billion annual budget since last week, according to the agency.
■The city Recreation Department has its team of managers in place, after a two-month transition following the retirement of Cathleen O. Buntin, who quit to have a baby. Ann-Marie Maslowski took over the assistant director’s job in January, replacing Buntin, who worked her last day Dec. 27. Laurie Normandeau has started work in Maslowski’s old position of creation supervisor.
■Little Red Schoolhouse, the preschool program on the Amherst College campus, will be able to remain in its building for an additional year. The college announced Wednesday that Amherst Day School, as it is formally known, will be able to continue as a half-day program through May 2013 due to a revised construction schedule for a new $200 million science center that will be built adjacent to the 75-year-old schoolhouse.
■Michael Hayes, principal of the Amherst Regional Middle School, will take a yearlong leave of absence starting in July so he can spend more time with his two young daughters while his wife returns to work as a teacher at the high school. Hayes, 37, has been principal for just under two years and has worked at the school for 14 years.