■The number 1779 took on new importance to the town of Cummington Saturday. The year the town was incorporated, 1779, is the serial number of a brand new one dollar bill presented to the town’s historical museum by Cummington’s most famous summer resident, Secretary of the Treasury George P. Shultz.
■The city’s first Spanish-American fiesta got off the ground Sunday with a parade, delegation of city officials and spirited activities in the Armory Street parking lot. About $1,000 was collected, which will be used to support the Spanish-American Center on Market Street.
■The use of a Hawley Street building in Northampton as a permanent site for a volunteer-led cot shelter will likely last only one year, Mayor Mary L. Ford said yesterday. Ford also said that no additional homeless shelter programs should be launched in Northampton. There are four shelters now in the city. “Adding a new program on top of this would be impossible,” she said.
■Cuts in Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, along with lower fees from private insurers, have taken a toll on Baystate Health System, which plans to eliminate nearly 200 jobs, including some in Greenfield. The company yesterday laid off 22 managers and told another 139 staff members that their jobs were being eliminated next month in an effort to cut operating expenses.
■From the roar of monster trucks to the bouquet of a fine glass of chardonnay, there was a little something for everyone at this year’s Three County Fair. “We usually average between 35,000 and 40,000 people. This year I think we will be around 40,000, if not more,” general manager Bruce Shallcross said.
■The new school year in Northampton will see a more cooperative approach to collective bargaining. That was a key theme sounded at a convocation held at Northampton High School last week to mark the first teacher work day of the 2012-2013 academic year.