A Look Back: July 11

50 Years Ago

■Kenneth R. Mosakowski, a 27-year-old library assistant at the University of Massachusetts, formally announced his candidacy yesterday for the seat held by U.S. Rep. Silvio O. Conte, Republican of Pittsfield. Mosakowski, a Democrat, said that he had decided to run for Congress because he was “fed up with the repeated failures of the Nixon administration.”

■A state-built ice-skating facility for Hampshire County cleared a final hurdle on Beacon Hill when Gov. Francis Sargent yesterday signed into law the capital outlay budget, including $1.2 million for a skating rink. The proposed rink would be built in Amherst, Northampton or Hadley.

25 Years Ago

■John Fortunato, a car salesman who became the second person to announce his candidacy for mayor back in February, has decided to bow out of the mayoral race to open a used car sales business. Fortunato announced his decision Thursday, saying a business deal he’s been working on for years had materialized and needed his attention.

■The Northampton Arts Council has awarded 20 grants totaling $16,000 in a round of funding. The money was raised at last summer’s “Transperformance, Oy Vegas!” and the recent Two Sundays in January and Four Sundays in February ‘99 Series.

10 Years Ago

■After moving over 1,000 miles from a small town in Iowa, the new Emily Williston Memorial Library director said she feels right at home in Easthampton. “I couldn’t be happier here,” said Stephanie Sueppel, 50, who stepped into her new job as the public library’s director July 1. “I feel like I blend in.”

■Jeff Glaze of Southampton has been elected president of the Western Massachusetts Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Glaze has been involved with the Boy Scouts since 1968, when he was 10. In 1971, he earned the rank of Eagle Scout with Westfield Troop 110.