A Look Back: Jan. 24

50 Years Ago

■Western Massachusetts Bus Lines Inc. has hired a new general manager to replace 10-year veteran Joseph Maddaloni. Robert J. Dostal Jr., 27, replaced Maddaloni last Saturday morning. He has had seven years’ experience with the bus company as a charter driver and dispatcher.

■A drive to collect used men’s clothing for Puerto Rican migrant tobacco workers who arrive in this area in March has hit an unexpected snag – a second-hand clothing shortage. Although the drive has been underway in Northampton and Amherst for over a month, little clothing has been collected so far.

25 Years Ago

■After three decades of doing business here, the Northampton Caldor will close its doors forever this spring. In 1995, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in order to reorganize. According to Associated Press reports, however, that reorganization failed on Friday.

■Northampton’s three-year-old needle exchange program drew 189 new participants last year and the number of needles exchanged more than tripled. Dr. Howard Koh, commissioner of public health, delivered a strong endorsement of Tapestry Health System’s harm reduction program, which seeks to reduce new infections of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, by allowing drug users to exchange potentially HIV-contaminated needles for clean ones.

10 Years Ago

■A proposal to start passenger rail service between Greenfield and Springfield is picking up steam. Along with repair of 49 miles of track along the Connecticut River to move Amtrak’s Vermonter trains back through Greenfield, Northampton, Holyoke and Springfield, state officials are looking at starting an intercity passenger service in the Pioneer Valley.

■For the second time, a candidate whom the Select Board chose to be Southampton’s next administrator has turned down the job. Lyn N. Simmons, the choice in the second search, said she could not agree to the contract the board offered her and will keep her current job as an aide to Northampton Mayor David J. Narkewicz.