■Almer Huntley Associates Inc., the engineering firm on Bridge Street, is buying a former Northampton Junior College building on Pleasant Street for $190,000. Huntley said this morning that his company will be moving to the building now called Rittenhouse Hall, across from Strong Avenue.
■Traffic was light across the county yesterday as the new year began, with most gas stations closed until their January allotment arrives and motorists keeping a wary eye on their fuel supply. State Police Sgt. Leonard F. Von Flattern Jr. said traffic locally was down as much as 25 to 50 percent from last New Year’s Day.
■Northampton school officials say they expect to have a temporary band director in place by the time students return from winter vacation Jan. 4, following Mark Grauer’s resignation two weeks ago. Assistant Principal Frank Tudryn said Tuesday he has been interviewing candidates this week to fill the vacancy until a permanent replacement is found.
■As part of an overall spruce-up of the University of Massachusetts campus, the fence surrounding the W.E.B. Du Bois Memorial Library is slated to come down. The fence was erected as a safeguard some years back after pieces of brick began to fall from the library.
■Now that MGM Resorts International has filed its 7,000-page final application with the state to build a Springfield casino, Northampton officials continue to plow ahead with plans to petition the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to have the city designated as a surrounding community, and thus make it eligible to receive mitigation funds from MGM.
■Connecticut authorities continue to investigate the homicide of a well-known nursing home developer whose assisted-living facilities dot the Pioneer Valley, including one now under construction in Northampton. John C. Chakalos, 87, of Windsor, Conn. Was found dead in his home by a family member on Dec. 20. Last year he received approval to build the Zoe Life Retirement Community just south of Linda Manor off Haydenville Road.