Senator Hinds Tests Positive for COVID-19

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — State Sen. Adam Hinds says he and his wife have tested positive for COVID-19.
 
The senator is reporting mild symptoms and is isolating according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control guidelines. According to a statement released Thursday afternoon, he is vaccinated and boosted. His wife, Alicia Mireles Christoff, is an English professor at Amherst University.
 
"COVID is far from over, and I feel lucky to have been vaccinated and boosted," said the senator. "But there are still a lot of people, including my young son, who cannot get the vaccine. This points to an uneasy situation now that my wife has also tested positive. 
 
"So I want to encourage everyone to stay vigilant and to get vaccinated and boosted if you are eligible."
 
The number of positive cases in Massachusetts has continued to climb over the past six weeks, with nearly 20,000 new cases reported in the last week. Vaccination reduces the chance of infection — positive cases are less than 10 percent in those inoculated — but the the positivity rate is now more than 6 percent.
 
Hinds is a candidate for lieutenant governor of Massachusetts. He said will continue to work from home and campaign virtually while he adheres to CDC isolation guidelines. 
 
"I am the right candidate for LG because I have a record of bringing people together for progress," he said. "If I need a webcam to do that for now, so be it."

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Big Lots to Close Pittsfield Store

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Two major chains are closing storefronts in the Berkshires in the coming year.
 
Big Lots announced on Thursday it would liquidate its assets after a purchase agreement with a competitor fell through. 
 
"We all have worked extremely hard and have taken every step to complete a going concern sale," Bruce Thorn, Big Lots' president and CEO, said in the announcement. "While we remain hopeful that we can close an alternative going concern transaction, in order to protect the value of the Big Lots estate, we have made the difficult decision to begin the GOB process."
 
The closeout retailer moved into the former Price Rite Marketplace on Dalton Avenue in 2021. The grocery had been in what was originally the Big N for 14 years before closing eight months after a million-dollar remodel. Big Lots had previously been in the Allendale Shopping Center.
 
Big Lots filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September. It operated nearly 1,400 stores nationwide but began closing more than 300 by August with plans for another 250 by January. The Pittsfield location had not been amount the early closures. 
 
Its website puts the current list of stores at 960 with 17 in Massachusetts. Most are in the eastern part of the state with the closest in Pittsfield and Springfield. 
 
Advanced Auto Parts, with three locations in the Berkshires, is closing 500 stores and 200 independently owned locations by about June. 
 
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