■The Gazette Girls’ Basketball team, celebrating their 20th anniversary, returned last week from a goodwill tour to the island of Bermuda. On the trip, “Gush” Valenta presented the mayor of St. George with the key to the City of Northampton, given by Mayor Sean M. Dunphy.
■On April 22, a Massachusetts resident will be the lucky winner of $50,000 in the new Massachusetts State Lottery. Northampton area residents will be able to purchase tickets in drugstores, supermarkets and other designated shops that have Lottery display signs in their windows.
■Police say four students will be charged in connection with two potentially deadly homemade bombs that were removed from a locker at the Regional Middle School Friday. The bombs were disabled by explosives experts. No one was injured.
■W. Michael Ryan, a judge with the Northampton District Court, will be the speaker for the annual breakfast sponsored by the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce and the St. Patrick’s Association. William O’Connor will resume his role as master of ceremonies, one he has held for about 15 years.
■A new office tenant is slated to set up shop in the former Cahillane Dodge car dealership on South Street that most recently served as temporary quarters for the Northampton Survival Center. The main section would be leased to an unnamed information technology company with about 30 employees, and the remaining space will be for retail use or for storage.
■Massachusetts high school students would be required to stay in school until age 18 under a bill approved Thursday by a legislative panel hoping to reduce the number of students who drop out of school. The compulsory school attendance age in Massachusetts is currently 16, with certain exceptions for children as young as 14.