Jim Bridgman

50 Years Ago

  • About 750 area residents turned out last night to tour the new offices of the Daily Hampshire Gazette at 115 Conz St. Families, couples, children and elderly citizens took part in the open house at the Gazette. The newspaper’s staff was on hand to explain how the daily operation works.
  • The Zoning Board of Appeals heard a request for a special permit by Sports Farms, Inc. last night to allow a sports camp to be operated off Bridge Road. About 25 abutters or neighbors to the opposed camp spoke in opposition to the plan, and two city residents spoke in favor of it.

25 Years Ago

  • A judge on Monday reinstated the state’s 38-year-old ban on tattooing until Jan. 31 to give state health officials time to draft industry regulations. The ban had been lifted on Oct. 23 when Superior Court Judge Barbara Rouse said it was an unconstitutional infringement on freedom of expression.
  • A Color guard from the Northampton Fire Department marched past Our Lady of the Annunciation Church in Florence Monday where the funeral was held for former firefighter James Ryan, who died last week at age 101. Ryan was a member of the Northampton Fire Department from 1930 until he retired in 1964. City firefighters turned out to honor him Monday.

10 Years Ago

  • A speaker mistaken for a suspicious package that led to a bomb squad response Tuesday — and the second closing of Main Street for such an incident this month — has been above the door to Casa Del Sol for 10 years, according to the store owner. “We always like to play a little bit of music,” said Edmundo Becdach, owner of the 207 Main St. clothing store. “That speaker’s been hanging there since the first day.”
  • Current Amherst College students overwhelmingly support replacing Lord Jeff as the college’s unofficial mascot, according to poll results released Thursday by the Association of Amherst Students, the school’s student government association. Students voted 1,338 to 268 to change the mascot, according to the student government association. Meanwhile, many alumni have written in support of Lord Jeff.