50 Years Ago
- A Hadley woman fell for a ruse at the Food Mart store on North King Street and lost $300 to $400. When a young man asked her where the tuna fish was, she turned to point it out, leaving her purse in her shopping cart. When she turned back to the cart, the man and the purse were gone.
- A Smith College student was attacked by a male assailant Tuesday morning. The man approached the student in the vicinity of the boathouse on Paradise Pond. He threw her to the ground, she bit him, and he pulled away and fled.
25 Years Ago
- Families flocking to the Five Colleges for commencement this spring will be spared the start of major construction on the Coolidge Bridge, with the plan to reduce the span to two lanes scheduled for late July or early August. Preliminary work will take place before the most dreaded part of the two-year-project begins — the closure of a lane.
- The Northampton City Council has approved an ordinance for residents-only parking areas, giving neighborhoods seeking parking remedies a model to follow. The council voted 7-1 to approve neighborhood parking standards modeled on a program in Boulder, Colorado.
10 Years Ago
- A crew from Truck Crane Service of Westfield is demolishing the former Berkshire Bank branch at 142 Main Street in Haydenville. The site will soon be home to a new Dunkin’ Donuts restaurant.
- Representatives from Northampton’s business community showed up in force Thursday night to oppose the mayor’s proposed water and sewer rates, ultimately convincing the City Council to postpone its second vote. In a meeting marked by several testy exchanges, the focus mushroomed from talk of fees and infrastructures to a debate about the very nature of the city’s relationship with its private sector.