50 Years Ago
- Nearly everybody in Hampshire County Superior Court yesterday got a dancing lesson. In a day-long civil trial, a man successfully defended himself against a woman’s charge that he was responsible for damages because he had tripped her on a dance floor and caused a painful, lingering shoulder injury. The woman charged the man with negligence, while doing the hand-waving, feet-kicking “Alley Cat” in a space reserved for the gently swaying “Hully Gully.”
- Wilma Hoxie, a teacher at Northampton High School, has been appointed by the American Institute for Foreign Study to accompany a group of students on an educational travel program abroad. Students will have the opportunity to visit such cities as Paris, Versailles, Chartres, and Fontainebleau during their spring vacation.
25 Years Ago
- As executive director of a nonprofit organization promoting social and economic justice, Gregory Speeter knows what it takes to be an effective activist. And Speeter said Granby resident Jon Weissman is as effective as they get. That’s why Speeter, along with the rest of the staff at the National Priorities Project, has selected Weissman for this year’s Frances Crowe Award.
- Neighbors of a proposed cluster subdivision on nearly 58 acres in Leeds say they are concerned it will endanger area wildlife and wetlands, which include three state-certified vernal pools. More than a dozen residents attended Thursday’s meeting of the Conservation Commission, which reviewed the latest plan for 54 single-family homes at Beaver Brook Estates.
10 Years Ago
- An unexpectedly heavy snowstorm covered the region Thursday afternoon and evening, causing a flurry of traffic accidents, backups and power failures from snow-laden branches falling on power lines. As of about 11 p.m., Eversource reported more than 2,100 customers without power in Hampshire County.
- If voters approve Question 4 on Nov. 8, Massachusetts would join the ranks of the four states where possessing, consuming, selling and growing marijuana is legal. For proponents, the new industry would look like the one for alcohol sales. Opponents say opening the floodgates of recreational marijuana use could introduce risky edible marijuana products.