■Girl Scouts were on hand yesterday as Mayor Sean Dunphy proclaimed March 12-18 Girl Scout Week in Northampton. In his proclamation, the mayor cited Girl Scouts for the efforts to “build better relationships among persons of all ages, religions, races, and nationalities, and for their efforts to improve the quality of our environment.”
■Abortion proponents in the state must organize if they hope to change the anti-abortion laws, state Rep. Jonathan B. Healy of the First Franklin District said last night. Speaking to Smith College alumnae, he explained that due to the organization of the Catholic Church, he receives letters 15-1 against abortion per year, and that despite the poll results which indicate 60 percent of the population to be for changing the 1945 law, the Senate killed the bill 37 to 3.
■Honored yesterday for his service outside the courtroom, lawyer and former prosecutor John M. Callahan said attorneys have an “ethical obligation” to improve their community. Appearing before 85 lawyers and judges at a Massachusetts Bar Association luncheon, Callahan was presented with the bar’s annual Community Service Award for Hampshire County.
■Leslie Tarr Laurie, president/CEO of the Family Planning Council of Western Massachusetts, has been reappointed to serve on Gov. William Weld’s Advisory Commission on the Status of Women. First appointed to the commission in 1991, Laurie co-chaired the group’s sub-committee on health.
■Kumble R. Subbaswamy pledged to take risks if named the next chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Amherst during a visit to the state’s flagship campus on Wednesday. He told faculty and staff at Memorial Hall that “there can be no progress without risk.” But he promised to do so in a manner that would recognize the complexity of the issues facing a large public research university like UMass.
■A Boston-based real estate investment group is poised to acquire a former nursing home on Bridge Road in Northampton that closed last October because of financial troubles. Bluefin Investors has signed a purchase-and-sale agreement to acquire the 85,000-square-foot facility. The prospective buyer declined to comment on its plans when contracted by the Gazette.