50 Years Ago
- A break at the Threshold youth center at 9 1/2 Market St. was reported to police at 1:30 a.m. yesterday. Police said the front door was unlocked and apparently the intruder walked in without forced entry. Some $100 to $140 in vandalism was done but nothing was taken.
- Samuel Lovejoy, an opponent of Northeast Utilities’ plans to build twin nuclear reactors in Montague and a self-confessed toppler of a 500-foot environmental testing tower owned by the utilities, filed suit yesterday against the chief officials of Montague alleging that they have illegally collaborated with the utility to facilitate its building plans.
25 Years Ago
- For the third time in six months, the Northampton City Council voted to bail out an over-budget city department. City Councilors Thursday night were less than happy to hear from Fire Chief Brian Duggan, and he in turn was less than happy to be there, requesting $198,036 from the free cash fund because of overtime costs that drove up his department’s spending.
- A plan for restoring wetlands damaged by a Turkey Hill Road quarry operation is expected to go forward this spring, but questions remain about how to protect wetlands from future work on the site. The Conservation Commission said Thursday it expects to make a decision on a restoration plan at their next meeting.
10 Years Ago
- State Senate President Stanley C. Rosenberg on Monday criticized Gov. Charlie Baker for a “woefully inadequate” and “disappointing” increase for the University of Massachusetts in his budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning July 1. Baker’s budget proposal includes a 1.4 percent increase for UMass, for a total of $539 million compared with the current year’s figure of about $532 million.
- The World Health Organization declared a global emergency over the explosive spread of the Zika virus, which has been linked to birth defects in the Americas, calling it an Òextraordinary event’ that poses a public health threat to other parts of the world.