A Look Back, Nov. 1

50 Years Ago

■The City Council will decide Nov. 21 whether to rehabilitate the old Bay State Gas Co. building behind City Hall to create a new municipal building. The building in question now sits vacant, with large empty rooms on every floor.

■A former Northampton man was recently elected national commandant of the Marine Corps League, the Marines-Veterans organization. Lt. Col. Richard J. O’Brien has served for two years as national senior vice commandant of the league before being elected to this new post. He is a graduate of St. Michael’s High School.

25 Years Ago

■For the first time in 12 years, Mayor Mary L. Ford is not seeking votes from Northampton residents today, a municipal election. Instead, the retiring mayor and former City Council president will be seeking signatures for election as a Democratic State Committeewoman.

■Elizabeth Weissbach, a former administrator at The Cooley Dickinson Hospital, has been named interim executive director of the Lathrop Community Inc., replacing Donald M. Houghton who has been on an indefinite leave.

10 Years Ago

■Charlie Baker, the Republican candidate for governor, and running mate Karyn Polito made a stop at the Cedars Banquet Hall in Springfield yesterday, while Democratic candidate Martha Coakley, along with U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Maura Healey, candidate for attorney general, whipped up a crowd of 100-plus supporters at One Bar & Grill in Northampton.

■Online essays by several former employees of the Route 9 Diner in Hadley detailing ongoing sexual harassment on the job have led the popular 24-hour diner to publicly acknowledge these allegations and make a promise of reform. “We’re taking a zero-tolerance approach” said Chris Karabetsos, co-owner of the diner.