■Three persons assigned to the Northampton Headquarters of the Uniformed Branch of the Massachusetts State Police have been promoted. The staff members and promotions include Sgt. Gloria Kennedy to staff sergeant, Trooper Paul E. Malatesta to corporal and Trooper Timothy Topulos to corporal.
■Construction will start soon on a 207-unit apartment project off Barrett and Jackson streets, it has been announced. The final tracts of land were deeded to developer L. William Spear last week. A building permit has already been issued for the 18-acre project.
■The move to clear the air of smoking in all state-owned buildings has caught up with one of the last holdouts, a place where cigarettes have always been a significant part of life for many who live there: the Hampshire County Jail and House of Correction. Some inmates and staff members already have begun taking smoking-cessation classes.
■The director of the Western Massachusetts Shelter for Homeless Veterans is proposing that a cot shelter temporarily located on Hawley Street move permanently onto the grounds of the federal hospital in Leeds. Chuck Forbes’ idea to bring the cot shelter onto the grounds of the VA medical center is being cheered by some advocates for the homeless, but does not yet have VA approval.
■Essentials, a Main Street shop that sells everything from stationery to furniture to kids’ clothing, has decorated its front windows in the style of the great New York department stores. Designed and created by author and illustrator Tony Di’Terlizzi of Amherst, the display has drawn admirers from the Pioneer Valley and beyond.
■A family doctor who has spent the past five years planning a new building to house her practice will open her office there this week. Dr. Kate Atkinson, who has worked from 2,200 square feet of rented space on Cottage Street for the past decade, will move to a $2.5 million building on Research Drive that will give her significantly more space.