■The University of Massachusetts, flooding the Hampshire County District Court with 20,000 parking tickets this term, has rented an office on King Street here to help the court handle the growing ticket load. UMass is now paying three full-time workers to help handle the parking tickets.
■Two Northampton banks lost $6,000 in one day last month to forgers operating a bad check scheme, the Gazette has learned. Police said that the banks, which they declined to identify, were victims of a forgery ring, which has taken over $100,000 from banks across the state in recent weeks.
■The extent to which basic services will be disrupted come Jan. 1, 2000, because of computer problems, is the subject of all kinds of speculation. Many computers and software programs were built with a two-digit year code that needs to be replaced or modified to prevent their shutting down or going haywire or off kilter when the year “OO” kicks in.
■After some last-ditch compromise and teamwork, Northampton’s leaders have come up with an ordinance “everyone can live with,” as one councilor said, to restrict strip bars to a portion of King Street. Called the Adult Uses Ordinance, the measure has been under intense discussion in public meetings and committees for three months.
■Northampton is starting a long-term project to improve safety and reduce congestion at the downtown intersection near the Academy of Music, a spot that has vexed transportation officials for years. A traffic consulting firm is presenting a combination of short- and long-range ideas for safer and easier vehicle and pedestrian crossings, said Wayne Feiden, director of the city’s Office of Planning and Sustainability.
■In one of his final acts before his eighth and final term as mayor of Easthampton ends next month, Michael A. Tautznik is throwing a party to say a fond farewell to his colleagues and friends in the community. “The fact that I’m leaving is bittersweet — there’s a lot here I’ll miss,” Tautznik said Monday.