Berkshire Vaccine Collaborative Launches Website

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Vaccine Collaborative has announced the launch of a new website containing comprehensive information on how to access the Berkshire area COVID-19 vaccination clinics.

The new site, www.getvaccinatedberkshires.org, was developed to provide a consolidated resource with information about the COVID-19 vaccines, to provide resources on the state's Vaccination Phases and vaccine availability, and to aid the public in making appointments at the three large mass vaccination clinic sites in the Berkshires.

The Berkshire Vaccine Collaborative has established vaccination sites in Pittsfield at the Berkshire Community College Field House, in Great Barrington at the WEB Du Bois Middle School and in North Adams at St. Elizabeth of Hungary's Parish Center. Vaccine clinics are now scheduled for early February to begin vaccinations for the first part of Phase 2, which includes anyone aged 75 and older.

The Berkshire Vaccine Collaborative estimates that there are approximately 18,000 Berkshire residents who are 75 and older, and based on the current distribution of vaccine by the State of Massachusetts, it is likely to take several weeks before completion of Phase 2-A. Clinics will be held weekly based on availability of the vaccine from the Commonwealth.

The website will be updated regularly as more clinics are scheduled throughout February and the coming months and as the state continues to move through Phase 2 and into Phase 3, which is estimated to run through the remainder of winter and into the spring.

The Berkshire Vaccine Collaborative is a partnership between Berkshire Health Systems, Community Health Programs, the Berkshire County Boards of Health Association and public health nurses.

The website is www.getvaccinatedberkshires.org.

 


Tags: BHS,   CHP,   COVID-19,   


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Former Miss Hall's Head Arraigned for Child Endangerment

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

Warning: this article discusses sexual assault. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A retired head of Miss Hall's School was charged with reckless child endangerment in relation to sexual abuse allegations against a former teacher

Jeannie Norris, head of the girls' boarding school from 1996 to 2012, was arraigned on Monday for one count of reckless endangerment of a child. Now living in North Carolina, she appeared virtually before Judge James Manitsas in Berkshire Superior Court and pled not guilty. 

Based on evidence collected during the investigation into allegations of abuse that occurred at the school, the Berkshire County District Attorney's Office alleges she was aware of inappropriate relationships between a teacher, Matthew Rutledge, and students attending the school. The evidence collected demonstrated that she received numerous reports of Rutledge's alleged inappropriate conduct, according to the indictment. 
 
Rutledge, 63, was arraigned on rape charges in April of this year. Several women came forward publicly to accuse him of grooming them as teenagers and raping them. 
 
Norris, represented by attorney Thomas Hoopes, had her physical presence waived for Monday's arraignment and for Nov. 18, when the case goes to pretrial. Reckless child endangerment is a misdemeanor that carries more than 100 days of incarceration. 

The DA's Office, represented by Assistant District Attorney Joseph Yorlano, returned the indictment on July 22. 

Rutledge was indicted by a Berkshire grand jury following accusations dating back to the 1990s of sexually assaulting students at the girls' school. Standing in front of the Superior Court, former students Hilary Simon and Melissa Fares that day called out the school for failing to protect them. 

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