A Look Back, March 25

50 Years Ago

■A public information meeting held by Northeast Utilities Friday to detail the company’s plans for a twin-reactor nuclear power plant at Montague turned into a question-and-answer session between area legislators and NU officials over the safety and environmental effects of nuclear plants. In the audience was nuclear adversary Sam Lovejoy, the man who admittedly toppled NU’s weather tower at its proposed nuclear plant site.

■Tubed Products President W. Howard Auerswald said today a report that the company would relocate in Northampton’s industrial park was “erroneous.” Auerswald stated that the company will expand within the next three years but that “the headquarters will stay in Easthampton.”

25 Years Ago

■A member of the student government at the University of Massachusetts and others on campus allege a student organization is actually a front for a church group that has been accused of cult-like practices locally and at colleges across the country. “This is not an independent organization,” said an attorney for the Student Government Association. “Their purpose appears to be recruiting members of the International Churches of Christ.”

■Northampton joined communities in every state in the country Tuesday night when about 100 people gathered for a rally on City Hall steps demanding equal treatment for gay people. The rally was part of the “Equality Begins at Home” campaign initiated by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

10 Years Ago

■Travel along a stretch of Route 9 in Florence will become much smoother, with plans moving forward on a reconstruction project for a one-mile stretch from South Main Street to Look Park. The work will include bicycle lanes, and, if money is available, sidewalk replacement.

■It’s a data-geek’s delight: A coalition of Pioneer Valley agencies has launched a new website to share information they’re collecting about the region — its health, roads and bridges, population, housing and more. The website, known as the Pioneer Valley Data Portal, includes information about the region stretching from the Vermont border into central Connecticut.