■Slightly over 100 people gathered yesterday at St. John’s Church for a Peace Convocation sponsored by the Western Mass. Division of Clergy and Laity Concerned. Middle-aged men in business suits, and women in Sunday best, mixed with students from area colleges, Roman Catholic sisters out of uniform, and Protestant clergy, equally indistinguishable.
■Following a rally of about 200 students and faculty at the University of Massachusetts, a group of 20 students marched into the office of the Daily Collegian yesterday, demanding more coverage of the killings at Southern University in Louisiana. The protestors argued that the incident which left two black students dead last week was not receiving enough attention on the 20,000 student UMass campus.
■Some population estimates for Hampshire County are being questioned by Northampton city officials. Patricia Shaughnessy, clerk of the Northampton Board of Registrars, said the census bureau’s 1996 estimate of Northampton’s population – 28,838 – is considerably lower than the city’s own count from last year of 30,384.
■A re-landscaping of Gilrain Terrace that began with the fury of a winter storm was completed last month, when the last of new trees were planted to replace 80-foot pines that had become dangerous. “It’s going to be a very nice street,” said Morris Cave, one of the organizers of a neighborhood petition that asked the city to cut down 25 pine trees that lined the street.
■Southampton residents voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to allow the town to purchase a 4.25-mile stretch of rail bed that town officials hope to transform into a recreational trail. “I’m just delighted,” said Michael Buehler, chair of the town’s Greenway Committee, while receiving handshakes and slaps on the back from other greenway supporters after the meeting.
■The Transgender Day of Remembrance in Northampton began Tuesday with a candlelight vigil outside the Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence before processing down Main Street. The event is an opportunity for the transgender community to remember those who died the previous year through violence or suicide.