50 Years Ago

• Retired Amherst Police Chief Francis E. (Frank) Hart, County Court officer, died yesterday evening at the Cooley Dickinson Hospital following a long illness. Hart retired from the Amherst Police Department in November 1973, after having served as chief for 15 years.
• The Liberty Construction Co., of East Boston, has begun work renovating six buildings owned by the Department of Mental Health on Pomeroy Terrace. Work on two of the buildings at the Comprehensive Children’s Center is expected to be completed in September, said business manager George McQuillen. One would be a residence for eight persons and the other building would be used for classrooms.

25 Years Ago

• Not one but two candidates have emerged to run for the 1st Hampshire District seat vacated in June by Rep. William P. Nagle Jr., D-Northampton. And in an unusual twist, Michael Aleo and Patricia Wieland, both of Northampton, will decide among themselves and their supporters which of the two will run a Green Party sticker candidacy in the primary.
• The Northampton City Council last week passed a measure that paves the way for the Elks Lodge, seeking a home since it sold its historic Center Street building last year, to buy a parcel in Florence and build its new lodge there. An ordinance that changes zoning from general industrial to special industrial in two locations passed the City Council last week.

10 Years Ago

• Train enthusiasts will once again flock to Palmer as the Amherst Railway Society settles into the town. The growing nonprofit organization now has room to expand in its newly acquired headquarters at 1130 South Main St. — its first permanent home in more than half a century.
• Dakin Humane Society has named a new executive director with extensive animal welfare program experience to lead the organization beginning Aug. 1. The appointment of Carmine DiCenso follows a national search to replace former executive director Leslie Harris, who resigned last October following 20 years with the non-profit agency.