50 Years Ago

• The teachers committee of the Northampton School Committee last night recommended that schools be closed on Good Friday in 1977 because of the large number of students absent on that day this year. However, the subcommittee voted 2 to 1 not to endorse Supt. John M. Buteau’s recommendation that Yom Kippur also be a school holiday.
• A portion of the land where the county hopes to build a new jail will provide University of Massachusetts cows with corn next winter. Nineteen acres of state hospital land on the north side of Route 66 has been plowed and will be planted with field corn. In the past, the University of has used the land for grazing its cows, but this is the first time it will be used for a crop for the UMass dairy herd.

25 Years Ago

• Jessica Zane of Hadley, a former freelance producer of corporate events and video projects in New York City, has been named project manager of the Amherst Cinema Center. Zane is the first employee hired by a group of residents seeking to renovate the old movie theater on Amity Street and turn it into a performing arts center.
• The Gateway Regional School district is renovating its middle and high schools, building new elementary schools in Huntington and Chester and renovating elementary schools in Worthington, Blandford and Russell. School officials and the public gathered for an official groundbreaking ceremony yesterday.

10 Years Ago

• After Gov. Charlie Baker issued revisions Thursday that allow state police to detain people wanted by federal immigration authorities, Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz said the changes will not supersede his 2014 executive order on the subject. The new state guidelines, which took effect immediately, reverse policy enacted by former Gov. Deval Patrick.
• A group of 40 climate-minded residents crowded into the lower level of the Unitarian Society Thursday evening for a public forum to address the 91 natural gas leaks that exist in the city, some dating back to 1999, which they say are plaguing their neighborhoods and harming the environment. The forum was led by Mothers Out Front representative Ania Camargo.