A Look Back: Feb. 6

50 Years Ago

■A former city resident, Air Force Capt. James Cutter, will be one of the first Americans to leave a prisoner of war camp in North Vietnam. His grandmother, Mrs. Mary B.D. Cutter of 211 Elm St., said that Cutter’s parents have received notification of his imminent release.

■Amherst College’s board of trustees voted not to make the 150-year-old-all male college coeducational at this time. President John William Ward, who recommended last fall that the college begin accepting women as students, announced the trustees’ decision to an all-college audience Monday.

25 Years Ago

■More than 20 animal-rights activists showed up at the City Council meeting last night to try to influence a city decision about whether to trap beavers in the outer reaches of Florence. The decision to trap the beavers, which have dammed a section of Parsons Brook near Burts Pit Road, was made Jan. 28 by the Board of Public Works.

■The Northampton St. Patrick’s Association is sponsoring its annual marshal’s reception Feb. 21. This year’s honoree is Robert Cahillane, the Northampton parade marshal who will lead the Northampton contingent in the Holyoke St. Patrick’s Parade.

10 Years Ago

■Twenty-one school positions are set to be eliminated or cut back in the next school year, Superintendent Maria Geryk said Tuesday as she outlined for the Amherst School Committee her plan for addressing the $656,303 budget gap in the elementary schools. During a public comment period at the start of the committee meeting, several parents expressed anger that the cuts fell more heavily on teachers than administrators.

■An anaerobic digester that would turn public waste into electricity could be in Easthampton’s future if a study finds it a workable option. Easthampton is the first municipality in the western part of the state to consider building an anaerobic digester to dispose of sludge from wastewater and commercial food waste.

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