■After more than 50 years of family ownership, the State Street Fruit Store, a Northampton landmark with a suggestion of old-world atmosphere, is changing hands. “The time had come to take a little rest,” explained James Camposeo in discussing the recent sale of the family business.
■At the Hampshire Regional YMCA’s 83rd Annual Meeting, Alfred Griggs was elected president. Other officers elected were: first vice president, Peter DeRose; second vice president, Frederick Graves; secretary, Mrs. Janet Hemminger; treasurer, David Fogel; assistant treasurer, John R. Surgen.
■After more than four years of effort, a visitation center will be created in Hampshire County for the children of families split by domestic violence. The center will be a boon for families who must now travel to a YWCA facility in Springfield for court-ordered visits between estranged parents.
■Northampton School Committee members are expected to decide tonight whether to use state emergency money to cover the cost of a full-day kindergarten class at Leeds School now paid for by parents. Members are also expected to consider whether to implement a full-day program for all city kindergarteners this fall, Superintendent Bruce Willard said Wednesday.
■The University of Massachusetts is amping up efforts to rely on locally produced food with the Real Food Challenge, a national movement pushing colleges to adopt more sustainable food practices, and a two-year grant from a Boston-based foundation. The Real Food Challenge at UMass has set a goal of ensuring 20 percent of all food served at UMass is “real food” by 2020.
■Advocating for a graduated state income tax that would make wealthier Massachusetts residents pay more and adopting a local income tax for city residents are measures that could appeal to voters in Northampton. But at the state level, actions by the Legislature in the past year indicate there is no appetite for significant tax reform, and with a gubernatorial election this year, chances for such reform remain remote.