■Francis P. Lyons, 62, president-treasurer of the Lyons Insurance Agency, died Sunday while attending an insurance convention in Chicago. He was born in Northampton and had lived here most of his life. He attended the local schools and from a very early age had been active in community affairs.
■Construction on the three-store Cumberland farms complex is moving ahead on Route 9 in Florence, one of several areas of new construction changing the face of that area.
■Teenage smokers at Amherst Regional High School want permission to step off campus for a quick cigarette during lunch or study hall. A petition signed by 400 students was presented Tuesday to Gus Sayer, Amherst’s superintendent of schools.
■Lilly Library will get the shrubs, after all. The city’s Property Committee decided Wednesday that a Florence gardening group could have all the shrubs the city owns on a piece of Federal Street property. The gardening group wants to plant the shrubs this fall on the Lilly Library grounds.
■Less than six months after Grow Food Northampton volunteers staked out the first 100 plots to start the Florence Organic Community Garden, another 150 plots were staked this month to satisfy the overwhelming demand for growing space. Grow Food Northampton Executive Director Lilly Lombard said the season was a great success for the garden.
■With the specter of casino competition on the horizon, state officials are reconsidering whether to revive the happy hours banned from bars in this state for 28 years. The state commission in charge of setting alcohol regulations will visit Northampton this week to field opinions on whether it should rekindle happy hour in Massachusetts.