■Eugene E. Balazs, a native of Norwalk, Conn., who has been assistant superintendent of Mohawk Trail Regional School District in Shelburne Falls for the past four years, has been named principal of Easthampton High School and has begun his duties there. Balazs fills the vacancy created when Paul Caouette resigned in January.
■A group of Northampton residents is circulating a petition seeking a November referendum on the issue of whether Northeast Utilities should be allowed to build a twin-reactor nuclear power plant in Montague. The Northampton branch of the Alternative Energy Coalition, a group opposing the Northeast Utilities proposal, seeks signatures for two referendum questions on the local state senate district ballot.
■Police are expecting heavy traffic Saturday, when roughly 12,000 people are expected to descend on Northampton for Vans Warped Tour at the Three-County Fairgrounds. Police are encouraging motorists to avoid the fairground areas during the peak traffic hours.
■The Electro-Optical Division of Kollmorgen Corp. has been awarded a $2.9 million contract from the U.S. Navy for the construction of periscopes and other equipment for use on fast attack submarines. The contract was expected and will not bring a spike in employment at the Kollmorgen facility in Northampton.
■Two Valley communities say a New Hampshire company sold them short on the fireworks they bought for their Fourth of July celebrations. Both South Hadley and Greenfield noticed discrepancies in the number of fireworks guaranteed in their contract with the company and the number of fireworks delivered. Both communities are getting a break on the bill as a result.
■The man police allege is responsible for a fire that caused $5,000 damage to a Forbes Library staircase Monday was displaced from his home by a fire earlier this month. The suspect is also connected to an alleged cayenne pepper attack on shoppers at Whole Foods on Friday night.