■The Northampton Historical Commission has announced that it will take the first step in an organized effort to preserve the historic character of Northampton. A proposal for having the downtown area designated a National Historic District will be sent to state Historic Commission officials today.
■Shoppers are paying the highest prices ever for beef while motorists are paying more for gasoline. The Agriculture Department said Tuesday that the average price for all cuts of beef was $1.54. The Federal Energy Administration said average gasoline prices are 54.3 cents per gallon.
■Visitors to the Fitzerald Lake Conservation Area soon will be able to get a good look at the ducks, moose, birds, bears and other animals that visit its marsh, from inside a new wildlife blind. A project of the Broad Brook Coalition, a city land-conservation group, the blind is scheduled to be built by mid-July with the help of coalition members and a group of AmeriCorps volunteers.
■Hazel Young, an outspoken environmental activist whose tireless volunteerism, dry wit and land conservation efforts were legendary, died June 24 at her Glendale Road home at the age of 78. She did a lot of good things for the town, said Fire Chief William Barcomb. She set her goals, and she went after them. She was controversial, but she always had the best interest of the town at heart.
■Colette Katsikas said she fan-girled out for the first time ever this week when feminist icon Gloria Steinem walked into Essentials, the Main Street shop Katsikas owns. According to Steinem s office, the activist and author was in town for a workshop on the Steinem Initiative at Smith College, a program that aims to integrate lessons from women s history into current activism.
■The Class of 2015 is the last in the Smith College master’s in education of the deaf program, which the college decided last year to discontinue. The program, which has graduated about 1,500 students, had been a collaboration between Smith and Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech, which now will form a similar partnership with Fontbonne University in St. Louis.