■The proposed appointment of a city planning director, the subject of a brief flurry of controversy last week, will most likely be received favorably when the ordinance committee of the City Council meets tonight to discuss the matter. Two of the three ordinance committee members indicated this morning that they favored the overall proposal submitted by Mayor Sean Dunphy.
■The 911 emergency number is slated to begin here Nov. 29. The new number will supplement the existing numbers for police, fire and ambulance service in the city, New England Telephone Co. spokesmen say.
■JavaNet, an Internet service provider that was founded in Northampton, has made its first corporate acquisition. JavaNet announced today it has acquired North American Internet Inc. of Newington, Conn.
■University of Massachusetts Provost Cora Marrett has been appointed to the advisory board of the John E. Fogarty International Center for Advanced Study in Health Sciences. She is one of five new appointments made to the board by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna E. Shalala.
■Armand “Buddy” Duseau Jr. once described Northampton as “a microcosm of what’s best in the world.” As news of his death traveled across the Valley this week, friends, family and associates described Duseau as a man who not only loved his native city, but someone who also exemplified what’s best in people.
■A Greenfield Community College room that serves as a home space for the school’s 200 veterans and their supporters has been officially renamed the Channing and Marie Bete Veterans Center. Channing “Joe” Bete, 76, and his wife, Marie, 75, attended a veterans appreciation event at the college Thursday, followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the center.