■A proposed Colonial-type shopping center and mall is being planned for a site on King Street. Stanley R. Shermeta, owner of Standan Steels Inc., said plans for the center, which could include up to 20 specialty shops, are still being formalized. The project will be the city’s third shopping center. Ground-breaking may be in late spring.
■Two Northampton men were arrested shortly after midnight and more arrests are expected as Northampton City Police believe they have solved the case of a weekend bombing near a home on Park Street in Florence. The two men are alleged by police to have heaved a pair of hand grenades onto the lawn of the home on Saturday morning.
■The gay pride march will reverse its course after 15 years and rally at a new site — the Three County Fairgrounds. The parade will start at Pulaski Park at 11:30 on May 3 and proceed through downtown and out along Bridge Street to the fairgrounds. The rally will continue through the day.
■A South Deerfield farmer who was the herdsman at the University of Massachusetts for 14 years has been hired to manage the farm at the Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School. Timothy N. Smith will replace Ed Maltby, who resigned as farm manager, effective April 5.
■A team of national experts from the private sector will visit Northampton this week to teach officials and the public about a concept called “green streets.” Green streets are designed with the environment in mind and include an emphasis on techniques such as narrower streets, a natural approach to manage storm water runoff and recharge groundwater, and other similar techniques.
■Former Amherst resident Cynthia Lowen is the producer of a new documentary film on bullying that is opening in New York and Los Angeles this weekend. Lowen, who lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., said she will be in her hometown in a few weeks for a showing of the film, and a question-and-answer session, at the Amherst Cinema.