A Look Back: April 23

50 Years Ago

■More than half of the physicians at Northampton State Hospital may leave the hospital in July because of recent changes in state regulations requiring that foreign graduate physicians take a special licensing exam. Nine of the hospital’s 16 foreign physicians have failed repeated efforts to pass the Educational Council for Foreign Medical Graduates test, while the remaining seven have passed.

■The twice-a-day bus service to the Ryan Road and Bay State areas, in operation for only about 20 days, may end soon unless ridership increases, according to Robert J. Dostal, general manager of the Western Massachusetts Bus Lines, Inc., carrier of the route. Dostal said ridership on the new lines is so low the service may have to be discontinued before the 60-day period ends.

25 Years Ago

■Mayoral candidate Leon Malinofsky says the assignments given new parking enforcement officers who work the evenings are a disservice to the city. “I think we are being over-vigilant on this issue,” he said. “Parking in Northampton used to work very well.”

■A Prospect Avenue resident is this year’s state Conservation Officer of the Year. State Environmental Police Officer David Kinner, 45, of Prospect Ave., Northampton, was nominated by co-workers and chosen from a pool of nominees by a special committee.

10 Years Ago

■The Easthampton Democratic City Committee has chosen committee member Jackie Brousseau-Pereira as the first recipient of an award to recognize a city Democrat who has made a difference through grassroots activism. Brousseau-Pereira is the director of Student Success and Retention in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at UMass.

■Smith College students are planning a rally this week to advocate for change in the way the college deals with transgender applicants. Organizers have been trying to get the college to adopt policies that would be more inclusive to transgender people who apply for admission to the women’s college.