Plainville

With about three weeks of data in hand, state officials said Thursday that they have already noticed a dip in Lottery sales near the Plainridge Park Casino.

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.

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

With a statewide vote approaching on whether to continue down the casino path in Massachusetts, racino proponents plan to gather Wednesday in Plainville to place the final beam on an expanded gambling facility permitted under the state's 2011 gambling law.

Arguing it would sap $600,000 budgeted for the Gaming Commission, Gov. Deval Patrick sent back to the Legislature a bill that would lower the state's take on greyhound simulcast wagers.

With Massachusetts seemingly ready to roll the dice, Plainville and the Interstate 495 south area are suddenly poised to become the state's de facto capital for Las Vegas-style gambling. When Penn National's Plainridge Park opens next spring, it will enjoy a gambling monopoly in Massachusetts that could last — at least in the eastern half of the state — for two or three years, local officials and gambling industry experts say.

The DCU Center has entered into an exclusive, multiyear coffee partnership with Plainville-Based Honey Dew Donuts.

With Leominster and Millbury officials having signed host community agreements with developers, there are two Central Massachusetts...

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission will now weigh four bids for the state's only slots parlor license now...

Baltimore-based Cordish Cos. has made its intentions clear. It hopes to win the state's sole slots license for a location in Boxborough.