50 Years Ago
- Some 45 workers at the Northampton State Hospital may be laid off later this month because of state budget cuts, Assistant Superintendent William Goggins said today. If there are layoffs, Goggins said, only temporary or provisional workers would be dropped. These employees would include social workers, psychologists, laboratory technicians and others.
- The fourth annual Spanish festival, originally scheduled for this weekend in Northampton, has been canceled due to the death of one of its active participants. The late Juan Manuel Ortiz, who drowned in the Mill River Aug. 1, was a member of the band “Juariquitas” that provided much of the music for the festival.
25 Years Ago
- Gov. Paul Cellucci’s veto of $5 million for the Pioneer Valley Life Sciences initiative is a blow to the region’s hopes of building a new economy based on high-tech research, local legislators said today. The initiative is a partnership involved in the University of Massachusetts, Baystate Medical Center and the City of Springfield that would use a combination of private and public funds to conduct biomedical research.
- Residents living near a Leeds manufacturing plant wrote a letter this week to publicly thank those who helped find a solution to odors that have fouled their neighborhood. The letter lauds an agreement reached between Chartpak and the state Department of Environmental Protection which seems to have made the air sweeter this summer in the neighborhood surrounding the River Road company.
10 Years Ago
- U.S. Sen. Edward J. Markey spent an hour with Mayor David J. Narkewicz at City Hall on Tuesday talking about the city’s pressing needs and economic development plans as part of a multi-day tour through western Massachusetts. The visit, which included a brief walk along Main Street, touched on a range of issues that Markey said will help him better understand how Congress can serve the city, particularly through federal funding.
- Amherst Superintendent Maria Geryk received mostly high marks for her performance over the past year based on a completion of evaluations by members of the school committee she serves, with members indicating significant progress toward goals that include improving community engagement and providing a support structure for special-needs students and their families.