Jim Bridgman

50 Years Ago

  • Registrar of Voters Russell Smith said today that the opponents of the downtown TOPICS traffic control program had gathered nearly twice the number of signatures needed on a petition to put the controversial program before the voters at the next city election. Smith said that his office had certified 3,631 signatures on the petition circulated by TOPICS’s opponents.
  • At the insistence of Mayor David W. Cramer, the Jackson Street School Building Addition Committee last night reversed itself and agreed to include a wading pool in its plans for the school addition. The committee had earlier decided not to include a wading pool in the project because of concerns about safety.

25 Years Ago

  • The Liebmann Optical Co., an Easthampton high-tech manufacturer of precision optical lenses that was acquired several years ago by a giant German company, is making plans to double its plant here within the next year or two. The company currently employs 35 people in the manufacture of lenses and optical components.
  • At least two marijuana-harvesting operations were located during a helicopter fly-over of Amherst Thursday. The marijuana plants were growing in the Wentworth Farm Conservation Area off Belchertown Road and in a field off East Pleasant Street. Amherst police said members of a taskforce, who were on the ground, destroyed the plants.

10 Years Ago

  • The Northampton Human Rights Commission on Wednesday set about planning measures that fit into the mayor’s view of its duties as it moves forward after controversy over a would-be member’s social media activity and questions about its authority. The commission has lost five members since April 2015, some of whom cited concerns over the advisory role the commission was relegated to after the city adopted a new charter in 2013.
  • After more than a year in business, Bliss cafe in Easthampton will close its doors Friday, though its owners hope someone might step in to take over the Cottage Street establishment. Ann and Clark “Skip” Matthews are closing the eatery they opened last summer at 42 Cottage St. to spend more time with family and focus on expanding their primary business, Louis & Clark Medical Equipment & Supply in Springfield.