Arts & Entertainment

More governments and nonprofit groups across Central Massachusetts are focusing on culture and the arts as money-making cornerstones capable of anchoring entire neighborhoods while making cities more livable.

The Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts (GSCWM) said it will divest of three of its seven outdoor facilities while leaving open the possibility of expanding its four remaining properties in the future.

Worcester city officials, Comcast Corp. and Charter Communications have agreed to extend the deadline for a decision on the transfer of the city's cable television license, according to a statement Tuesday from City Manager Edward M. Augustus' office.

The fate of casino gambling in Massachusetts is far from certain as a ballot question that could nix it looms closer. But developers of the Plainridge Park Casino aren't faltering. “We are already underway with construction … In fact, we are a little more than halfway done,” said Eric Schippers, senior vice president of public affairs for Penn National Gaming, the Pennsylvania-based firm that was awarded the state's single slots parlor license by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.

The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts has taken a step toward expanding Worcester's theater district with the purchase of a three-story building adjacent to its downtown location.

Nine months away from its planned opening, Plainridge Park Casino operators are now accepting applications for 500 new jobs.

Boost Fitness is moving its Hudson club in the fall to a larger facility in town, the company announced.

With three weeks until primary polls open, the three Democrats vying to succeed Gov. Deval Patrick debated everything Tuesday from the legalization of marijuana to indicted Texas Gov. Rick Perry and casinos.

Waltham-based Vantage Builders Inc. said it has begun construction of a Sikh temple on Flanders Road in Westborough, which will become the principal place of worship for the New England Sikh community.

The woman responsible for moving Danforth Art into Framingham's historic Jonathan Maynard Building announced Monday that she will retire at the end of the year.