■A major storm packing heavy snow and intermittent rain swept into Hampshire and Franklin Counties shortly before midnight, closing all public schools and several large businesses by morning. A total of 8 inches were reported in Northampton by 8 a.m. and the forecast calls for as much as another 4 before the storm ends this evening.
■The Northampton City Council tonight will consider a raise in pay for the mayor from $7,500 to $10,000 under a late-filed order recommended by Council President Edward P. Gross, Councilors Robert R. Patenaude and William C. Ames.
■Workers are fast completing the construction of an addition to the JFK Middle School. Over the Christmas vacation break, the walls between the existing building and the new one will come down, says Principal Richard Carnes.
■The Oak Shoppe, a new furniture store, opened for business Dec. 6 on Routes 5 & 10, just over the Deerfield line. Opened by Andy’s Springfield Inc., the corporation that also owns Andy’s Showroom of Greenfield, the new store specializes in furniture and accessories of solid oak construction made in the United States.
■Hampshire County is younger, better educated, less diverse and has more individuals living below the poverty line than the state on average, according to the latest census information released this week. Those figures are dramatically impacted by the presence of the region’s four colleges and the University of Massachusetts, demographic observers say.
■The National Yiddish Book Center laid off four people this month and closed its bookstore in a move the organization’s president said reflected a strategic change in the center’s operations. Aaron Lansky, center president, said the nonprofit is shifting its emphasis from saving and restoring ancient Yiddish texts to educating people about those books.