Hospitality

As they explore ways to either shore up or restructure the Cannabis Control Commission, lawmakers heard Wednesday from outsiders who suggested that the Legislature first be clear about its goals for the agency and then allow the best governing structure to emerge from there.

Employees at companies including Cornerstone Bank, ERA Key Realty Services, and Flexcon Holdings Trust are advancing in their careers.

Four and a half years after the COVID-19 pandemic altered the configuration of the U.S. workforce, Central Massachusetts employers are still navigating the reverberations of a landscape that changed overnight.

"This case presents important and undecided questions concerning the removal of a commissioner from an independent agency of the Commonwealth. It presents a number of issues of first impression, as the enabling statute of the Commission has never been construed by this Court," lawyers for O'Brien wrote in their new filing.

The Harvest Cup, an annual cannabis-focused convention and product competition, is set to return to Worcester’s DCU Center on Saturday and Sunday, as a planned Saturday night afterparty featuring a member of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan has led to a honorary proclamation from Worcester Mayor Joe Petty. 

The campaign boasted endorsements from Attorney General Andrea Campbell and former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Opponents amassed support from Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, plus a bevy of state lawmakers and Boston city councilors.

After opening its first location in Worcester in 2017, Chick-fil-A is eyeing a second location in the city.

With less than a week until Election Day, about 16 restaurant workers gathered on the State House steps to urge Bay Staters to vote against Question 5, warning the measure would lead to job losses and reduced services, and fall short of proponents' goal to boost the livelihoods of tipped employees.

As regulators were discussing removing the two-driver rule in Worcester, cannabis delivery operators were explaining the impact of the CCC’s three-year-long delay in removing the rule to lawmakers on Beacon Hill. 

Tourism in Worcester County accounted for some of the highest economic impact among Massachusetts' 14 counties in 2023, which combined accumulated $23.6 billion in spending statewide.