■The Right Rev. Msgr. J. Alfred Lane, V.F., 79, pastor of St. Brigid’s Church in Amherst for the past 33 years, and dean of the East Hampshire Deanery, died Monday at noon in the rectory. In conjunction with his pastorate, he had spiritual jurisdiction over the Catholic students at the University of Massachusetts and Amherst College.
■“I’m not sure Northampton will survive the malls in the area, unless the downtown merchants do something new pretty soon,” Ira Weinstein, manager of McCallum’s Department store on Main Street, summed up the feelings of frustration downtown merchants feel about the shopping centers spreading throughout the river valley.
■A handful of JFK students will miss a chance to appear on a national children’s television news show, after their principal decided against allowing a segment on school diversity issues to be filmed at the school. Principal Richard Carnes said today he has opted not to allow a segment of Nick News to be filmed at JFK, following the School Committee’s discussion of the proposal Thursday.
■What would be the city’s first four-way stop sign received its first round of support Tuesday night, when the Police Committee voted unanimously to back it. The four stop signs are projected to be placed at the intersection of Burts Pit and Florence roads, a crossing that many Florence residents say is one of the city’s worst.
■William H. Dwight will officially launch his bid for another term as an at-large city councilor with a campaign kickoff on Thursday at the Florence Civic Center. Dwight, 58, is the social media coordinator for the Media Education Foundation and serves as the council’s president.
■Following the lead of Easthampton, Northampton is preparing to install cameras and audio recording equipment in most of the venues where municipal meetings take place in an effort to give the public greater insight into how government policy is made. “The goal here is to be able to provide some coverage of virtually every committee meeting that happens in the city,” NCTV Executive Director Al Williams recently told the City Council.