■The moment for groundbreaking of the new Florence Fire Station arrived this morning at 7:30 as city and fire officials gathered at the site in the cool early morning fog. Mayor Sean M. Dunphy dug the first shovel full of dirt. Many other officials attended. The new station will cost about $400,000.
■The Northampton Charter Commission backed down last night from its recommendation that the city abandon its present system of electing seven of its nine city councilors by ward. By a 6-3 vote the commission decided to drop a long-considered recommendation for reducing the number on the City Council from nine to seven and to require that all seven be elected at large.
■More than 500 students missed summer school today, after six classrooms and the library were vandalized with paint and glue. Police and officials at the Smith-Northampton Summer School said an individual or a group used available materials to cause thousands of dollars’ worth of damage at the Smith College Campus School, 33 Prospect St., yesterday afternoon.
■The sounds of bagpipes and bodhrans will echo Saturday as the Western Mass. Highland Games and Music Festival returns to the Northampton Airport. The daylong event will include medieval athletic competitions, Highland dance and solo bagpipe competitions, Scottish country dancing lessons, and traditional Scottish food on sale.
■A week of celebratory events commemorating the 250th anniversary of Chesterfield kicks off Sunday with a 4-mile road race and a 1-mile fun walk. Organizer Janet Laroche, a member of the town’s 250th Committee, which is sponsoring the race, said it will be a fun lead-in to a variety of activities that will take place through July 7.
■Hikers walking between Puffer’s Pond and Mill River Recreation Area will have better footing thanks to an Amherst teenager. As part of an Eagle Scout project, Lucas Denit, an Amherst Regional High School student, recently rebuilt the stairs at the entrance to the Julius Lester Trail, which is on Mill Street below the Puffer’s Pond dam.