■Rail passenger service returns to Vermont and New Hampshire Sept. 29 thanks to the decision of the National Railway Passenger Corp. — Amtrak — to route its New York City-Montreal passenger run through western New England. The board said the trains would start running Sept. 29 on a route through Bridgeport, New Haven and Hartford in Connecticut; Springfield, Mass., White River Junction and Montpelier in Vermont to Montreal.
■The City Council last night banned all-night parking on Elm Street in front of the Smith College campus, and the city hopes to have the no parking signs installed by the time the 2,300 Smith College women return to school. The ban comes at the request of three churches in the area.
■The blimp rose this month to a noble cause: signaling a summer’s end rite in Northampton, the Three County Fair. But it proved a sitting duck — in the season of vandals. Though they cannot be sure, fair officials say they suspect it was a rifle or shotgun blast that downed their helium-filled advertisement.
■Seventeen years ago, a Northampton woman went to an air base in Westfield looking for part-time work. Today, she’s notched not only a career, but a gender first. In a ceremony last week, Cheryl Pawlin was introduced to the top brass at her military base, the 104th Fighter Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard. Pawlin, 40, rated the special treatment because she’s attained the rank of chief master sergeant. She’s said to be the first woman in Massachusetts to be wearing the rank’s eight stripes.
■Hampshire College has created an endowment for students not eligible for loans or federal grants because they are undocumented immigrants. The college has raised $350,000 from students, alumni, parents and donors, and the first undocumented student drawing on the endowment will arrive on campus next month, said Margaret Cerullo, a professor who organized the campaign.
■The state intends to install a laser-triggered warning system in the city next month that officials hope will help tractor-trailer drivers avoid the so-called “truck-eating” railroad bridge over Main Street downtown. The system is designed to detect vehicles more than 11 feet in height and direct them away from the bridge, and its 11-foot clearance.