A Look Back, May 1

50 Years Ago

• Vandals last night smashed or shot some 20 automobile and truck windows in Northampton’s business district and caused damage conservatively estimated at $1,250. City police today reported no leads or motives for what they termed “random vandalism” which struck the King and Pleasant Street areas.
• Three students were recipients of DAR good citizenship awards presented at the April meeting of the Betty Allen Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The winners are Kathleen Finn, from Northampton High School, Ann Emond, from Smith’s Vocational High School, and Shauneen Moriarty from Hopkins Academy in Hadley.

25 Years Ago

• Two area businesses have joined forces in a new company to manage Northampton’s landfill. Solid Waste Solutions of Northfield, a partnership of Alternative Recycling Systems of Cummington, and Whitney Trucking, Inc., of Northfield, will operate the landfill for $441,000 annually.
• Three men, including the interim superintendent of Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School, have been selected as finalists for the permanent superintendent’s post there. The finalists are: Gerald N. Corradino, David C. LaPierre, and Frank R. Llamas.

10 Years Ago

• The state Civil Service Commission has ruled that the Northampton Housing Authority wrongfully fired one of its top employees during a controversial agency reorganization last year and ordered that Michael Owens be reinstated with full back pay and benefits.
• The Easthampton Congregational Church has been temporarily closed for worship after the ceiling of a gathering hall was discovered collapsed earlier this week. A church employee discovered that the ceiling of Fellowship Hall had collapsed Sunday night.