■A hometown girl, Patricia Ann Hogan, was chosen over eight area contestants last night as Miss Northampton for 1972. The audience was obviously delighted with the choice when the judges selected the perky Northampton High School senior to represent Hampshire County at the Miss Massachusetts Pageant and to be the recipient of a $250 scholarship.
■Miss America 1972, Laurie Lee Schaefer, turned heads and drew long applause when she appeared at a luncheon held yesterday at the Hotel Northampton. Miss Schaefer, dressed simply in a tailored blazer and plaid skirt, was visiting the city in conjunction with the Miss Northampton Contest.
■A student sit-in in the controller’s office at the University of Massachusetts continued into this morning, as protesters vowed to press their demands that the administration increase racial diversity on campus. On Monday about 150 protesters marched into Goodell Hall to demand increased minority enrollment on campus, improvements in financial aid, and more minority faculty and administrators.
■Citing a desire to travel, the area’s top District Court judge said he will step down from his post early. Judge Alvertus J. Morse, the presiding justice in Northampton District Court, will step down on June 6 — three years before he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70.
■The 104th Fighter Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard marked the first overseas deployment of the unit’s F-15 fighter jets with a ceremony Saturday at Barnes Air National Guard Base. Base officials did not say how many guardsmen were to be deployed or where. They did say they would be stationed under U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia.
■Just in time for people to get in shape for beach season, a gym is slated to open on Union Street in Easthampton in the end of May. The new Snap Fitness franchise will offer customers 24-hour access to cardio and strength training equipment, said David Acker, who is opening the gym with his business partner, Matt Roland of Southampton.