FEMA Awards Funds to Massachusetts for COVID School Testing Costs

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BOSTON — The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be sending more than $64 million to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to reimburse it for the cost of contracting to provide testing services in public schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
The $64,144,440 Public Assistance grant will reimburse the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services for the cost of contracting to provide testing at schools and in public buildings in surrounding communities between February 2021 and June 2022.
 
The contractor provided services which included operations and logistics of pooled testing, training, software, and technical assistance to school personnel.
 
The contractor also provided transportation for a total of 907,829 COVID-19 test specimens from approximately 2,400 public schools across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to the laboratory for analysis.
 
"FEMA is pleased to be able to assist Massachusetts with these costs," said FEMA Region 1 Regional Administrator Lori Ehrlich. "Reimbursing state, county, and municipal governments – as well as eligible non-profits and tribal entities – for the costs incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic is an important part of our nation's ongoing recovery."
 
FEMA's Public Assistance program is an essential source of funding for states and communities recovering from a federally declared disaster or emergency.
 
So far, FEMA has provided more than $2.7 billion in Public Assistance grants to Massachusetts to reimburse the commonwealth for pandemic-related expenses.
 

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Show-Cause Hearing for Pittsfield Bar Continued Again

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Bei Tempi will have a show-cause hearing for its liquor license in May after police brought forward pictures that appear to show underage patrons drinking.  

On Monday, the Licensing Board continued a hearing for Zuke's Soups and Variety LLC, doing business as Bei Tempi, to May 18. This is the second month it was continued. In the last year, the bar has been accused of underage service by two different parents.  

Earlier this year, Police Capt. Matthew Hill received a call from an upset parent about her 19-year-old daughter patronizing Iztac Mexican Restaurant at night and being served. 

Those photos resulted in a two-week liquor license suspension for Iztac, and the same mother submitted an almost identical complaint about Bei Tempi with photos, one of them with the owner "clearly visible" in the background, Hill said. 

The owners, Richard and Elizabeth Zucco, did not show up in March, and the hearing was continued again this month. 

"This show-cause hearing was scheduled for March 23 of 2026 and the licensee did not appear at that hearing, although I understand that notice went out by way of email," Chair Thomas Campoli reported after the bar's second no-show, adding that the Zuccos' lawyer communicated they had a "planned prepaid trip" that conflicted with the meeting. 

Last year, a different mother approached the Licensing Board asking for accountability after her underage child was allegedly served at Bei Tempi. After drinking at a graduation party, she said her 18-year-old son became further intoxicated at the establishment before returning home late and becoming combative, resulting in an arrest by police. 

In March, the pictures of alleged underage drinking at Iztac were printed and presented to the Licensing Board with faces blurred; the reporting party wished to remain anonymous along with her daughter and friend, and she was unable to attend the hearing. 

Hill ran the patrons' names through police records to confirm they were not 21. This is the same underage daughter who is said to have drunk at Bei Tempi, and her mother has provided photos. 

The Health Department ordered Iztac to close on March 13 after finding "pests" in the establishment.  On Monday, a notice stating that it was closed to the public to protect public health and safety was no longer on the door but the Health Department confirmed that the closure was still in effect. 

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