■Three neighbors, two ambulance drivers and the Easthampton Fire Department are credited with savings the life of Albin Kowalski, 30 Plain St., Easthampton, who was buried alive late Friday afternoon. Kowalski was digging to the sewer line in front of his house when soft sand in the hole caved in on top of him.
■Torrential rains, high winds, crashing thunder and lightning ripped through Hampshire County yesterday afternoon and caused damage in the thousands of dollars. Hard hit by the rains were Northampton underpasses, especially ones on North King Street and on North Street as it turns into Market Street.
■Through a three-year lease-purchase arrangement, Northampton schools’ technology coordinator Bob Hanna is set to buy about $158,000 worth of computer hardware and software for the city schools. The payments on the leases will cost the city $62,000 in the first year.
■Two employees of the Pearl Street Night Club suffered minor cuts and abrasions early yesterday after police said they were attacked by a group of eight people as the employees were locking up for the night. The employees, one of whom was bleeding from the nose and mouth, escaped serious injury and declined medical attention.
■Secretary of State William F. Galvin was unable to produce records to back up his earlier claim that Northampton officials were notified of a June 1 deadline for getting municipal questions on November’s election ballot, according to documents emailed to Northampton Mayor David J. Narkewicz early Thursday night.
■The city is studying whether to sell or continue to rent out the former Florence Grammar School, an 83-year-old Pine Street building that now houses 15 nonprofits and other tenants. Mayor David J. Narkewicz has set up a committee to assess the three-floor former school and make recommendations about its use beyond the current fiscal year.