50 Years Ago
- The solid waste management committee last night voted to mark the fourth anniversary of the Regional Recycling Center on April 29 with an advertising campaign directed at increasing the use of the center. Committee members said that since the opening of the center in 1972, the volume of materials collected at the Locust Street facility has stayed at about the same level from year to year.
- A large group of city parents is expected to attend Thursday’s Northampton School Committee meeting to protest the schools being open on Good Friday. Petitions have been circulated in city churches during the past week to gather support for the effort to close the schools. Some 1,500 persons have signed the petitions.
25 Years Ago
- Oct. 27 would be poet Sylvia Plath’s 69th birthday, if she were still alive. But the city will celebrate the day nonetheless, as Mayor Clare Higgins has formally proclaimed it “Sylvia Plath Day” to celebrate the life and work of the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet who graduated from Smith College in 1955 and later returned to teach English literature at the school.
- Management at the West Street night spot the Grotto and its neighbors are now trying to forge an agreement over how to deal with what neighbors say is bothersome noise too late at night from the club. The effort comes after License Commission hearing that has spanned several meetings since last autumn.
10 Years Ago
- At least 25 patients who had colonoscopies at Baystate Noble Hospital plan to bring legal action for negligence after improperly cleaned scopes placed them at a small risk of contracting infectious disease. A report filed by the hospital with the state health department last week notes that the incident was “clearly preventable.”
- University of Massachusetts Amherst administrators gave an update Wednesday on the school’s diversity plan. Wednesday’s session was the last in a series of forums on diversity, equity and inclusion held during this academic year. They were scheduled in response to student requests, especially from the Black Student Union and Student Bridges, a group that aims to increase college access for underrepresented students.