■On Thursday, for the first time in over five years, a passenger train will connect Montreal and New York, passing through Northampton. That this is only a one-day run in no way detracts from the significance of the event. AMTRAK is planning to establish permanent passenger service between the two major cities and has only to decide which of two routes the service will take.
■Massachusetts ought to lower the legal age from 21 to 18, according to a report released today in Boston by Rep. John W. Olver. While 18-year-olds in Massachusetts today can vote, marry, and be drafted, the new legislation would extend those rights and responsibilities for all purposes. They would be able to serve on juries, own property, and make contracts, if the proposed legislation is approved.
25 Years Ago
■Dreamworks SKG, a major Hollywood studio, is considering Northampton, and wider Valley locales, for a feature film to be directed by the creator of “The Crying Game.” The main building of the former Northampton State Hospital and other sites in western Massachusetts, including the Quabbin Reservoir, are being considered for use. The film has the working title of “In Dreams.”
■The Jones Library is the proud new owner of an Emily Dickinson manuscript, purchased this week through Sotheby’s, the renowned New York City auction house. With $24,150 he raised himself, Daniel Lombardo, special collections curator for the Jones Library, phoned in the winning bid Tuesday for the autographed “poetical manuscript,” or unpublished poem, signed “Emily.”
10 Years Ago
■Northampton’s aging stormwater and flood control systems are in need of nearly $100 million in capital improvements over the next two decades, according to a recent report, on top of looming water and sewer system upgrades. The report recommends that the city create a new enterprise fund, or utility, to pay for the projects, which would impose a stormwater fee on property owners.
■The billionaire family from Oklahoma that’s giving away a 217-acre campus in western Massachusetts has narrowed the potential recipients to two. Grand Canyon University, a Christian school in Arizona, and the North American Mission Board, the Southern Baptist Convention’s missions and evangelism arm, are the last groups in the running for the Northfield site.