A Look Back: Oct. 31

50 Years Ago

■City Clerk James E. Faulkner today urged Northampton voters to turn town the proposed city charter. “After careful study of the new City Charter, I don’t believe it’s worth the paper it is printed on,” said Faulkner.

■The Forbes Library trustees have narrowed their search for a new librarian to less than a dozen candidates and expect to choose one after completing personal interviews during the next few weeks. Former librarian Oliver Hayes resigned his directorship to take a post at a Connecticut college in July, and his assistant, Stanley Greenberg, has been acting librarian since that time.

25 Years Ago

■It turns out replacing traditional parking meters with computerized ticket dispensers may not have been the best decision two years ago. That’s the opinion of city Parking Director Peter Skaza, who told city councilors on the Finance Committee this week that the yellow computerized machines in most of the city-owned parking lots often break down and when they do, they are difficult to repair.

■The Hampshire County Interfaith Community Cot Shelter will open Sunday with a new coordinator and more housing and employment counseling. Starting its fifth year, the shelter, run both by volunteers and paid staff, returns to 123 Hawley St., where it operated last year amid some neighborhood protests.

10 Years Ago

■An estimated 3,000 students who gathered in the Southwest courtyard at the University of Massachusetts to celebrate the Red Sox World Series win Wednesday night were dispersed in about 20 minutes by police clad in riot gear using tear gas and pepper-spray pellets. Some students were arrested.

■Relief efforts are underway to assist the many victims of a blaze that destroyed 11 businesses and two residential units at the Norwottuck Shoppes plaza on Route 9 Sunday. The Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce is coordinating a relief fund that has been rapidly gaining support from local business owners and residents throughout the valley.