FEMA Awards Over $4M to MassDOT for COVID-19 Precautions

08:00AM / Sunday, May 21, 2023Print Story | Email Story

BOSTON — The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be sending more than $4 million to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to reimburse the Massachusetts Department of Transportation for the cost of disinfecting its facilities to continue operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The $4,057,253 Public Assistance grant will reimburse the department for the cost of providing electrostatic sprayers to perform facility disinfection at 25 locations between March 2020 and December 2021.

MassDOT also contracted for facility disinfection at all 25 locations, as well as the installation of plexiglass shields to prevent the spread of the virus.

"FEMA is pleased to be able to assist the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with these costs," said FEMA Region 1 Regional Administrator Lori Ehrlich. "Providing resources for our partners on the front lines of the pandemic fight is critical to their success, and our success as a nation."

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 $1.7 billion in Public Assistance grants to Massachusetts to reimburse the commonwealth for pandemic-related expenses.

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Former Miss Hall's Head Arraigned for Child Endangerment

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
04:03PM / Monday, August 17, 2026

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.