■Workmen began tearing down Smith College buildings along Elm Street this morning to make way for the college’s planned Fine Arts Center. Coming down are Gateway House, Graham Hall, Hillyer Art Gallery, and the Museum of Art. Demolition will be complete in about 20 days, with construction to start Sept. 15.
■Abutters and other interested parties presented little opposition to a proposed Kay-Vee Realty subdivision for 101 home building lots off Florence Road, and the Northampton Planning Board gave its approval to the preliminary plans after a public hearing at the BPW building last night.
■Big Sister Productions of New York City will be filming for four days in Northampton, leaving Sunday for a central Massachusetts town where the bulk of the movie “Everything’s Relative” will be shot. “It’s a lesbian ‘Big Chill,’” said the movie’s producer and director, Sharon Pollack, who teaches at New York University.
■Christopher Picard, 16, of Crestview Drive in Florence, is the latest and the 146th Eagle Scout produced by Troop 103 at Our Lady of the Annunciation Church. Picard was awarded the rank of Eagle Scout in a ceremony last month at Camp Father Freel in Chesterfield.
■Northampton police are issuing no-trespassing notices and arresting residents of a homeless encampment after discovering the place commonly referred to as tent city is located inside a wildlife refuge. The camp, off Hockanum Road in the Meadows section of the city, has been a gathering place for the city’s homeless for years.
■City officials believe that Coca-Cola Co. is on the verge of selecting Northampton for a $33 million expansion that would mean 40 new jobs. “We expect to get good news from Coca-Cola in the next week,” said Mayor Clare Higgins at Thursday’s City Council meeting.