50 Years Ago

• Northampton Institution for Savings plans to open its new Easthampton branch office on Saturday. The new branch, which will be located near Ed’s Foodland on Union Street, is the third branch office opened by the bank. Other branches are located at Hamp Plaza and at Mountain Farms Mall.
• A group of about 25 demonstrators representing the July 4th Coalition marched in front of the Hampshire County Courthouse yesterday afternoon. The demonstrators, mostly people in their 20s, carried signs that read: “End F.B.I. Harassment of the July 4th Coalition,” “Independence for Puerto Rico,” “Why are 35 percent of Puerto Rican Women Sterile,” “Jobs Now,” “Self-Determination for Indian Nation: Support Native Resistance.”

25 Years Ago

• The Save Old Main Campaign is seeking people to join the effort to save the historic main building of the former Northampton State Hospital. The group aims to preserve the building as an educational memorial and is preparing a presentation for the July forum by the Citizens Advisory Committee, the city panel shepherding development on the former hospital grounds.
• Two years after installing automated “Fast Lane” booths, the Turnpike Authority is spending more, not less, to collect tolls. In 2001, the Turnpike will spend a projected $30.7 million on toll collection, up from the $28 million it spent in 1999, the year Fast Lane booths were installed on the full length of the road.

10 Years Ago

• After 18 months of existence and not much to do, the Northampton Public Works Commission will likely be eliminated as part of another restructuring of city government, according to a plan from Mayor David J. Narkewicz. The commissioners aren’t complaining.
• Tensions flared again Tuesday night as the Shutesbury Planning Board approved a special permit for a 30-acre solar installation. After nearly a year of debate, the permit is a compromise between the developer and residents concerned about a possible Native American burial ground.