■The Northampton Planning Board last night unanimously recommended that the Zoning Board of Appeals refuse to grant a variance for the construction of the 170 low- and middle-income housing units in the Baker Hill area. The developer of the project is asking for the variance under the provisions of the state’s so-called “anti-snob” zoning law.
■James F. Hazel, presently director of the Copiague Memorial Library in Copiague, N.Y., has been appointed Forbes librarian effective Jan. 1, 1974. He replaces Oliver R. Hayes who resigned in July to become librarian at Eastern Connecticut State College, Willimantic, Conn.
■As U.S. troops readied for another night of bombing Iraq, local views of the military action — and its timing — are mixed. While some local people say they feel the action is the correct military response to Saddam Hussein’s defiance of the United Nations, others say the timing of the attack is President Clinton’s attempt to forestall or influence the impeachment process.
■Smith College on Wednesday announced one of its biggest financial coups ever: the receipt of two alumnae gifts totaling $24 million. One of the donations, $14 million, may be the largest single gift ever made to a Seven Sisters college, officials say.
■Veteran educator Anne S. McKenzie of South Hadley will take over as Hadley school superintendent beginning in July. McKenzie, 45, is currently the executive director of the Lower Pioneer Valley Educational Collaborative in West Springfield.
■A report by the University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute’s Population Estimates Program says that while the state of Massachusetts will grow by 3.2 percent from 2010 to 2030, the Lower Pioneer Valley, including Hampshire and Hampden counties, will lose 4.6 percent of its population — the only area in the state projected to see a decline.