A Look Back, Dec. 31

50 Years Ago

■Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary is offering an alternative to sending used Christmas trees to the landfill where they take up needed disposal space. Instead, the sanctuary requests that residents recycle their trees by bringing them to Arcadia where they will be ground into wood chips and spread on the sanctuary trails to reduce erosion and prevent soil compaction where foot traffic is heavy.

■In a far-reaching decision, the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination has found Smith College guilty of sex discrimination. The decision, issued this week, resulted from a complaint brought in 1972 by two women faculty members who were denied tenure in the English department. The women charged that the basis of their dismissal from the college was the fact that they were women.

25 Years Ago

■Tonight’s changeover from 1999 to 2000 is likely to pass without Y2K computer glitches, thanks to months of planning by government, utility companies and businesses. “We don’t anticipate any problems, to be honest with you,” said John T. Pappas, director for the western part of the state of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.

■Three fire captains have been promoted to acting deputy chiefs to fill in for the loss of two deputy chiefs to retirement. At a ceremony in the City Council Chambers on Wednesday, Mayor Mary L. Ford announced the promotions of captains Timothy McQueston, David Gagne and William Hurley. Four captains applied for three openings about two months ago.

10 Years Ago

■An Amherst native who just completed his 30th year as an employee of the Amherst Police department was promoted to lieutenant this week, with one of his primary tasks to prepare the department’s response to the possibility of another Blarney Blowout in March. David R. Knightly, Jr., a sergeant for more than 14 years, started his new role Monday.

■Southampton officials will ask voters to approve the purchase of a piece of land next to Town Hall at a special Town Meeting Jan. 20. The site would accommodate a septic system for a future public safety complex.