■Smith College students would like to influence decisions on the tenuring of faculty, testimony at a college-wide hearing revealed last night. But students do not agree on how much power they should have over faculty appointments.
■Patients at Northampton State Hospital now have a chance to learn to deal with life on the “outside” without even leaving the hospital grounds. An incentive community program, designed to train chronic mental patients for life on the outside, is now in its first phases, with 17 residents participating in the program.
■Property owners in city neighborhoods dominated by higher-priced homes should prepare themselves. Their property values, as determined by the city Assessor’s Office, are expected to rise dramatically — in some cases as much as 25%, compared to the property values set just three years ago.
■With an eye toward boosting publicity for the complex, tenants at the Hadley Village Barn Shops have formed their own business association. The Hadley Village Barn Shops Merchant’s Association began meeting several weeks ago. The group’s main goal is to dispel the notion that the complex is no longer a worthwhile shopping destination.
■After overseeing the move of the Amherst Survival Center from its longtime quarters in the former North Amherst school to a new, larger building less than a mile away, its executive director is preparing to depart. Cheryl Zoll, 50, will leave her position in June after serving at the nonprofit for just over six years.
■Easthampton City Council President Justin P. Cobb said he won’t run for re-election in November, making his 10th year as a councilor his last. “It’s my time,” he said Wednesday afternoon before making the formal announcement at the City Council meeting that night. “I’m due to retire and there are all kinds of home repairs I need to get to.”