The City Council last night approved the purchase of 96 acres of conservation land in Leeds as part of the “Mill River Greenbelt.” Purchase of the land would be the first large conservation acquisition in the city’s history and would mark the beginning of a long-range open-space program planned by the conservation commission.
Cindy Scott has been appointed Northampton’s new coordinator of senior services. Her post with the city, which she took up July 1, is to oversee services to the elderly. As of the 1970 census, some 5,500 city residents were over the age of 55.
Two thrifty, former city elementary school teachers from Florence left $2.4 million to a Springfield-based foundation that will distribute the money in the form of college scholarships for city students and yearly grants to a Boy Scout troop, the Lilly Library, and their own Catholic parish. Margaret and Agnes O’Donnell, who lived in Florence all their lives and taught in city schools for about 100 years between them, gave the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts the money in a bequest upon the death of Margaret last year.
Two area clothing stores will fill empty storefronts in the Main Street retail district next month. Dorset Menswear plans to move to 112 Main St., formerly occupied by Options, and Zanna, a women’s clothing store, plans to open a branch a few doors down, where Serendipity has been located for several years.
The latest improvement to Nashawannuck Pond in Easthampton — a boat launch at Boathouse Beach on Water Lane — broke ground earlier this month and will open in September. The project is being constructed and paid for by the state Department of Fish & Game Office of Fishing & Boating Access.
Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Sullivan, who grew up in Springfield and graduated from Cathedral High School, was one of four Marines killed in shootings in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Thursday. Sullivan was deployed twice during the Iraq War and received two Purple Hearts.