50 Years Ago
- A heavy turnout marked the early voting today as Americans chose between Jimmy Carter and Gerald R. Ford to lead the nation as president over the next four years. In Hampshire County voter turnout was heavy late this morning, but election officials were predicting only an 85 percent turnout.
- The Northampton School Committee last night approved a three-year contract which grants city teachers an immediate 4.5 percent salary increase and keeps them among the highest paid teachers in Hampshire County. The new contract also provides substantial increases for salaries of women sports’ coaches, bringing their pay in line with coaches of boys’ sports.
25 Years Ago
- As he campaigns to be chief executive of Northampton, Roy C. Martin is proposing a 2 percent city sales tax and allowing a casino as ways to raise revenues. “I don’t think it would hurt business at all,” he said of the sales tax in an interview at Gazette offices earlier this month.
- Barnes & Noble, Inc. will open its “superstore” next to the Wal-Mart in the Mountain Farms Mall on Nov. 14. The hiring of 40 employees has started. The store is roughly two-thirds the size of the Barnes & Noble at the Ingleside Mall in Holyoke.
10 Years Ago
- Valley View Farm in Williamsburg is seeking permission from the town to convert an old barn on its Walpole Road site into a venue that could accommodate roughly 50 events a year. The request by owners Susan Fortgang and her husband David Nehring calls for fixing up the 100-year-old, post-and-beam barn to host events that could accommodate up to 200 guests at the 16 Walpole Road farm.
- Former Springfield mayor Robert T. Markel has signed a contract to serve as interim Southampton town administrator. Heather Budrewicz, the town’s administrator since March 2014, announced her resignation Sept. 27 after accepting a position as town administrator for Ashburnham, which she starts Nov. 28