• 2 seeking seats in S. Hadley
SOUTH HADLEY - Former Selectman Dana G. Muller has taken out nomination papers to run for Selectboard Chairman Gregory R. Sheehan's slot on the board in the Dec. 19 special election.

• Charter panel seeks input
HOLYOKE - The charter study commission at its first meeting set a public hearing date, elected a chairman and accepted the resignation of one of its nine members.

• Children learn healthy life skills
WEST SPRINGFIELD - A Big E grant of nearly $2,000 provided about 35 children who utilize the West Springfield Boys and Girls Club with sports equipment and healthy life skills that promote wellness and physical fitness by having fun.

• Council funds police overtime
HOLYOKE - The City Council has approved a transfer of $150,000 to the Police Department for overtime and sent to committee a request for $200,000 for Fire Department overtime.

• Jobless dip brings word of caution
SPRINGFIELD - The state's unemployment rate fell slightly last month for the first time since June 2007, but experts are warning of a "W"-shaped recovery instead of a straight line out of the recession.

• Legislators OK Soldiers Home funds
BOSTON - State legislators approved $500,000 on Thursday to save the outpatient department at the Holyoke Soldiers Home, even as the governor warned that additional budget cuts may be needed.

• Pynchon Award given to 3 for service
AGAWAM - On the day he learned he had been chosen for the William Pynchon Award, Gary L. Fialky thought he was going to be on the committee that selected this year's winners.

• Result upheld in Ward 6 vote
CHICOPEE - It was still a squeaker in the recount for the Ward 6 City Council race Thursday with Councilor Timothy S. McLellan holding on to his seat by 11 votes over challenger David M. Amo.

• Search criticized
SOUTH HADLEY - Five town residents alleging irregularities in the search process for a new town administrator have urged selectmen to scrap the current effort and take up the matter again after two new members will join the five-person board in mid-January.

• Silversmith's exit leaves questions
GREENFIELD - Lunt Silversmiths' decision to sell its brand of gifts and tableware and shut down manufacturing here after 107 years has city officials searching for a productive reuse of the Lunt complex on Federal Street.

• Uniform survey not a perfect fit
CHICOPEE - The results of a parents' survey about uniforms is leaving School Committee members divided on whether they should continue to pursue the idea.