A Look Back: Feb. 3

50 Years Ago

■Bids received for the construction of an addition to the Ryan Road Elementary School were all below the estimated cost for the project, according to Peter DeRose, chairman of the building committee. The contract was awarded to Aquadro and Cerruti of Northampton with a low bid of $777,180.

■Attorney Stephen Kaplan was announced today to have been appointed assistant district attorney following the resignation of Saul Gliserman from the post. Kaplan, son of Dr. and Mrs. Julius A. Kaplan of Northampton, is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard in 1957, and the Harvard Law School in 1961.

25 Years Ago

■Smith College will give 20 computers to the Northampton schools in the coming week. The donation comes on top of 10 computers the college donated earlier this school year, as well as 20 computers from Mount Holyoke College, nine from the Minute Maid company, several from Motherwear Inc., and a number from residents and other businesses.

■City officials say the roughly four dozen men seeking to become Northampton’s next fire chief are a promising group. Two applicants — former Fire Chief Lawrence J. Jones and acting Fire Chief Edward W. Passa — are from Northampton.

10 Years Ago

■Terry Masterson, Northampton’s new economic development coordinator, says he is optimistic about the direction in which the community is moving. “There are a lot of exciting development projects currently in the works and that really bodes well for the city’s future,” he said.

■Even though an increasing number of states are legalizing gay marriage, same-sex married couples still won’t be able to file joint federal tax returns this year. The federal Defense of Marriage Act defines marriage as “a legal union between one man and one woman,” and that’s what the Internal Revenue Service follows when it comes to federal income taxes.

]]>