50 Years Ago
- The Western Massachusetts Native American office has moved from its former headquarters at the Neighborhood Center, 21 Pleasant St., to 21 Market St., the storefront for People for Economic Survival. Red Elk and Half Arrow, who staff the office, said they served some 40 area native Americans in the last year through counseling and referral work.
- One or more thieves broke into the Hampshire Day House at 71 Pomeroy Terrace sometime during the night and took a small quantity of cash and other items. Barbara Longley, a member of the community mental health center’s staff, said that less than $100 in cash, along with a typewriter, an air conditioner, a stereo set, and an adding machine, were taken.
25 Years Ago
- After a long debate on gambling and the struggles of the Three-County Fair, the City Council Thursday night voted 8-1 to allow simulcasting, which will permit betting on horse races around the country shown via satellite on television screens at the fair. Ward 3 city councilor Maria Tymoczko, the lone dissenter, invoked a little-used council rule known as minority reconsideration that would require one more vote on the matter.
- Calling the Pioneer Valley a “beacon of hope for the country,” because of its diversity and strong community values, the new president of the Hampshire Community United Way said Thursday he will place as a priority working on the area’s shortage of affordable housing and living-wage jobs. Lewis C. Rudolph, 54, was named this week as the organization’s president by the board of directors.
10 Years Ago
- Grow Food Northampton is still growing, with no signs of stopping. For the past few years, the non-profit that provides fresh, local produce to low-income community members has seen a steady rise in participation for its programs, and a recent $50,000 grant from the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation has allowed for even more room to grow.
- Amherst native Michael Hixon trained for two years to perfect the dive known as 109C. On Wednesday, with his partner Sam Dorman, it earned him a silver medal in the Rio Olympics. Dorman and Hixon, diving in the Olympics for the first time, beat the bronze medalists from China, the pre-event favorites, by 10.62 points.