A Look Back, April 20

50 Years Ago

• Since late February at least 38 dogs and two cats have been killed in a wave of apparent poisonings which began in Belchertown and has spread into Granby. Belchertown residents say they believe the poisonings are the work of a “sick mind” and many say they fear that a young child may be poisoned before the mystery is solved.
• Nine area residents have been named Outstanding Young Men of America by the U.S. Jaycees for 1976. The nine are: James Brazeau, Bruce Niemczyk, Dana Owens, Ronald Scott, Peter McNulty, Jeffrey Spear, Capt. Lawrence Jones, Stephen Boyd, and Paul Duval.

25 Years Ago

• City Councilors will meet Northampton’s first poet laureate, Martin Espada, at their meeting tonight, following his appointment last month to the two-year post. Espada’s introduction will be the second poetry-related item on councilors’ agenda this month, with Mayor Clare Higgins earlier declaring April Poetry Month in Northampton.
• The boundary lines of some or all Northampton wards are expected to change in a redistricting planned in light of 2000 census figures released this year. The city’s Redistricting Committee met for the first time Tuesday to begin considering how to redraw the lines, a plan that the City Council will vote on by June 15.

10 Years Ago

• The marquee of the Calvin Theatre on King Street is missing a letter. Owner Eric Suher has not yet spelled out a timeline for when residents can expect the marquee to undergo repairs. “I’ll take all the rest of the letters down, so it evens itself out, how about that?” Suher said when reached by a reporter Monday. “That’s my quote.”
• Stacey Konwiser, the South Florida zookeeper who was attacked and killed by a tiger last week, was a graduate of Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, the college confirmed in a statement Monday. Konwiser, 38, graduated from the college in 2000 with a degree in biology.