■Shades of yesteryear appeared on Northampton’s Main Street Thursday as cast members of the Northampton High School production of “Guys and Dolls” stopped off to “rob” a city bank. Upon entering, however, they changed their minds and settled for a lively card game in a rear office.
■The Northampton City Council voted unanimously last night to set up a Consumer Advisory Commission to investigate and research matters “affecting consumer interest.” The commission, which was recommended to the Council by Mayor Sean Dunphy, will consist of from five to seven members drawn from many walks of life.
■The Mullins Center at the University of Massachusetts might be a successful site for various entertainment and sports events. But the $50 million facility is not successful in financial terms, according to account books. From fiscal 1994 to 1996, the cost of running the center has exceeded gate receipts by $356,000 to $537,000.
■The sun may not be visible here early this workweek, but the sun’s energy will be powering some of the 50 futuristic electric vehicles expected to pull into Northampton this afternoon, in the annual Tour de Sol. The road rally is sponsored by the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, of Greenfield.
■A local car dealer has purchased the former Kollmorgen Electro-Optical site on King Street for $1.8 million. Cosenzi Automotive Realty Limited Partnership closed the deal Friday afternoon to buy the 5.1-acre site. The Cosenzi family owns four dealerships in the region under the name TommyCar Auto Group, including Northampton Volkswagen and Country Nissan in Hadley.
■A pastor at an Amherst church will be the new bishop for the Episcopal Church for the state of New Hampshire. The Rev. A. Robert Hirschfeld, rector at Grace Episcopal Church since September 2001, was elected Saturday to succeed Bishop V. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop to preside over an Episcopalian diocese, which caused a worldwide schism in the Anglican church.