A Look Back, April 21

50 Years Ago

• Gretchen Ziegler of Cummington was recently appointed executive director of the Highland Valley Elder Service Center, Inc., of 58 Pleasant St. She replaces Patricia Jones, who was named interim director when the agency was formed in July.
• A van used by the Northampton Council on Aging to transport elderly city residents on trips and errands was stolen over the weekend and submerged in a pond in the Meadows area, police said today. The 15-passenger Dodge van was hauled out of Baye Pond near Hockanum Road on Sunday.

25 Years Ago

• The Five College Center for East Asian Studies, located at Smith College, was awarded $1.12 million as its share of a grant to foster teaching about Asia. The five colleges collaborate in the National Consortium for Teaching About Asia, an initiative to educate teachers through intensive courses on Asian history, social studies, geography, and literature.
• The River Valley Market, a member-owned natural-foods grocery store, will share space in the former Price Chopper building on King Street with two national retailers, Staples and Borders Books, according to market coordinator Russell Powell. Powell said today market organizers are in the final stages of negotiating a lease for 18,000 square feet of space in the Hill and Dale Mall at 327 King St.

10 Years Ago

• Laurie Millman, director of the Center for New Americans in Northampton, is crossing her fingers waiting news about the Supreme Court’s decision on President Barack Obama’s immigration initiatives. The Obama administration is asking the justices to allow two programs to move forward that could shield roughly 4 million people from deportation and make them eligible to work in the United States.
• A protest demanding the University of Massachusetts pull out of its direct investments in fossil fuel companies entered its second week Tuesday as organizers called on President Martin T. Meehan to appear on campus Thursday and announce his commitment to full divestment.