A Look Back, June 21

50 Years Ago

■The coordinator of career education in Northampton schools, Carl Thor, has been invited to serve as a consultant to the department of Health Education and Welfare as “one of 250 outstanding career education practitioners in the United States.” Thor will attend a conference in July in Washington, D.C., where consultants will discuss methods of implementing career education.

■The two-millionth passenger hopped aboard the Look Park “Kiddieville” train this week, signaling what director Brian Elliott speculates is “the busiest season ever at the park.” Debbie Lamere of Easthampton won a season’s pool pass, a $10 book of exchange tickets to be used at the park, a certificate, and a plaque featuring a silver-plated railroad spoke, when she became the two-millionth train passenger early this week.

25 Years Ago

■When a Northampton man was pulled over last month, he offered the state trooper his driver’s license and, police say, a $50 bill taped to the back. Now the man is facing a bribery charge for allegedly attempting to pay off a trooper.

■Kaiser Permanente, the insurer of more than 93,000 Western Massachusetts residents, announced Friday that an aggressive turnaround plan for the Northeast has failed, and the company intends to end all of its insurance coverage in the region by the end of the year.

10 Years Ago

■The battle between the city of Northampton and businessman Eric Suher over his so-called “pocket” liquor license is heading to court. In papers filed in Hampshire Superior Court Thursday, the city and its License Commission are seeking a preliminary injunction against Suher to compel him to surrender the license for the former Blue Note Guitars property at 26-28 Center St. downtown.

■Six years after opening in an old granite quarry on North King Street, River Valley Market is doing far better than expected. The market is on target to exceed $20 million in annual sales by the time its fiscal year closes at the end of the month, up from $8 million in its first year.