Leicester

Becker College will permanently close at the end of the spring semester, the Worcester school announced Monday morning, bringing a growing crisis in higher education to the city.

Chicago-based Cresco Labs has purchased Cultivate, the groundbreaking operator of two marijuana retail locations in Leicester and Framingham, in a deal that could net Cultivate up to $158 million.

A 24-unit residential building on Main Street in Leicester has sold for $2.6 million, a price that values each apartment at about $108,000.

With the future of Becker College still unclear, state higher education officials say they want to make...

Becker College, mired in financial problems that could put its long-term future at risk, is moving ahead with its spring graduation ceremony. But it's also making contingency plans for students potentially having to transfer elsewhere if the college were to close.

A new state grant aims at helping Leicester determine how a Route 56 site capable of 1.5 million square feet of space can best be developed.

Becker College said Tuesday it is considering options for its future, including closing, amid financial uncertainty and other challenges, and after affiliation talks with another institution fell apart.

Nearly $7 million in state funding announced Tuesday will go toward neighborhood and housing improvements in 10 Central Massachusetts cities and towns.

The Gov. Charlie Baker administration is issuing $333,989 in grants to Central Mass. collaborative workspaces, to help them expand and safely reopen, according to a Tuesday press release from MassDevelopment, which is administering the funds.

The Gov. Charlie Baker Administration announced this fall 13 Central Massachusetts communities would split $1.25 million in Shared Streets and Spaces emergency grants, in order to make roads more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly, part of $10 million handed out statewide.