State

PITTSFIELD — The Pittsfield public schools have been accepted into a free COVID-19 testing initiative, as talks continue over what form of testing the county’s largest school system will follow, the interim superintendent said Monday.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., introduced legislation Monday that would tax the net worth of the wealthiest people in America, a proposal aimed at persuading President Joe Biden and other Democrats to fund sweeping new federal spending programs by taxing the richest Americans.

In West Stockbridge, Alisa Desmond sat down at her computer at 5 a.m. Sunday to begin the morning’s hunt for a COVID-19 vaccine appointment. Marge Millette goes online at midnight hoping to find an open slot.

LENOX — The Boston University Tanglewood Institute has launched its Young Artists Fund with a $1 million pledge by Dr. Chester W. Douglass and his wife, Joy, operators of the seasonal Douglass House bed-and-breakfast on the shores of the Stockbridge Bowl.

Gov. Charlie Baker is optimistic that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine approved for emergency use over the weekend will accelerate the effort to get more Massachusetts residents protected against COVID-19, even if states will face a gradual ramp-up in delivery.

Massachusetts on Monday reentered Step 2 of Phase 3 in its reopening, allowing businesses to expand capacity and restaurants to open at full capacity.

PITTSFIELD — Like most businesses, the Berkshire Innovation Center had to pivot quickly in 2020.

MIDDLESEX, Vt. — The town meeting, for centuries, was a staple of New England life — but the coronavirus pandemic could accelerate the departure from the tradition where people gather to debate everything from the purchase of local road equipment to multimillion-dollar budgets to pressing so…