■Smith’s School Trouble Shooters won the state competition in Wakefield Thursday and were proclaimed Massachusetts champs, making the local team eligible to enter national competition in Los Angeles in June.
■A proposal to build an 83-unit apartment complex in Leeds met with fiery opposition last night as two dozen local residents presented the Zoning Board of Appeals with a petition, signed by 85 persons, to “disallow a zoning variance” for the building site. The complex would include a cluster of five buildings on Evergreen Road near Leonard Street.
■The Jehovah’s Witnesses convention will be the largest convention in Amherst this summer, but not the largest event. The annual Teddy Bear Rally, set for Aug. 9, is expected to attract 15,000 people to Amherst in one day.
■On Sunday, Cynthia A. Kochan plans to begin a summerlong test of the market for souvenirs of Northampton. She will open a new business, Souvenirs and Stuff, on the first floor at Thornes Marketplace on Main Street. Kochan is subletting the space that now houses Flowers A La Carte.
■The fancy new horse barns at the Three County Fairgrounds are generating more rental revenue than originally estimated, giving officials even more optimism that the long-planned redevelopment of one of the city’s oldest venue is a wise economic investment. “We’re encouraged by the action we’ve seen happening as a result of Phase 1,” said Ann Burke, vice president of the Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council.
■Northampton’s second reuse and recycling rally is set for Saturday at Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School on Locust Street. Karen Bouquillon, waste management supervisor for the Department of Public Works, is hoping that instead of throwing styrofoam, building supplies or packaging materials away, people will bring them to the rally.