■Northampton streets may soon be dotted with snappy new litter baskets, if the mayor and city council follow the Board of Public Works recommendation to have new containers installed at no cost to the city. “They’re good looking and very nicely done,” said City Engineer Francis P. Ryan.
■Faculty members apprehensive over signing a loyalty oath as a condition of employment at UMass will meet next week to discuss possible responses to the requirement. Under the oath, everyone entering the employ of the university must swear to “uphold and defend” the constitutions of the United States and the Commonwealth and “oppose the overthrow of the government” of the state or of the country, “by force, violence or by any illegal or unconstitutional method.”
■In a ceremony blending judicial tradition with the sounds of gospel music and poetry, W. Michael Ryan was sworn in yesterday as presiding justice of Northampton District Court. Ryan succeeds retired Judge Alvertus J. Morse.
■Ten police officers, including two on horseback, will be on duty this weekend to help curb alcohol-related problems in the downtown, according to Amherst Police Chief Donald Maia. The action comes in response to a rash of alcohol-related incidents and violence that occurred last weekend.
■An invasive beetle that has destroyed millions of ash trees since it appeared in the U.S. a decade ago has been found in Massachusetts, where officials are plotting to contain its spread. The state Department of Conservation and Recreation said Wednesday that the emerald ash borer was detected in Dalton on Aug. 31.
■Northampton Superintendent Brian Salzer received stellar marks on an evaluation of his first year on the job leading city schools. The report praised him as a “dedicated, enthusiastic and optimistic leader,” and stated that the School Committee “wholeheartedly supports his leadership.”