■The promotion of John Punk to the position of controller was announced by John Zaeptel, general manager of Chartpak, a division of Avery Products Corporation. Punk joined Chartpak in 1959 and has held previous positions with Chartpak as office manager, assistant manager of administration and accounting manager.
■Beer and wine will be on sale at the city’s first annual Spanish-American fiesta set for Sept. 3. Arts and crafts, native foods and Spanish-American bands will all be part of the major undertaking which will be planned as an annual event.
■Balloon pilots who work out of the Valley are expected to fill their crafts this evening not far from the Connecticut River. If all goes well, the hot-air balloons landing and taking off over the weekend will be the seeds of a future balloon festival centered in Northampton.
■Two people who want to transform the old Amherst Cinema on Amity Street into a combination art gallery and center for the arts have wasted no time scheduling their first free movie for families and children. Benjamin Higham and Erin Grasberger have arranged to have “Cats Don’t Dance” shown at the theater this Sunday.
■A new player seeking to further connect area residents with the harvests of local farmers has sprouted on the Valley’s landscape. A start-up company called CitySprout has created an online marketplace for consumers to buy locally grown foods, from organic produce to humanely produced meats, poultry, and dairy products.
■A proposed new charter to expand the mayor’s term to four years, among other substantive changes, is headed to voters this fall after the City Council agreed Thursday to hold a special municipal election to coincide with the Nov. 6 general election.