Greater Worcester

A Holden insurance agency has become part of a larger group of Worcester-based agencies.

The Worcester and MetroWest regions will each receive roughly $3 million to 4 million over the next four years to help fight chronic illness and reduce health care costs.

A report released by the Sierra Club on Monday said a proposal to replace the commonwealth's existing bottle redemption law with a one-cent fee would saddle municipalities with extra costs and result in thousands of lost jobs.

Unemployment in Central Massachusetts held relatively steady in December and throughout the past year.

Gov. Deval Patrick on Wednesday presented his eighth and final budget proposal before he leaves office, filing a $36.4-billion spending plan for the next fiscal year that includes a $205 million increase for public education and investments in the life sciences, dental care for the poor, and caregivers who assist the state's neediest residents.

Worcester-based Spectrum Health Systems has taken out an $8.5-million bond to build an 80-bed, 30,000-square-foot treatment facility in Westborough.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute has tapped a geochemist and space scientist with both academic and governmental expertise as its next president.

The federal government and the state agency that oversees Worcester Regional Airport have made it easier for aircraft to take off and land, according to the state agency, the Massachusetts Port Authority, or Massport.

Assumption College is promoting its director of finance to the role of vice president for administration and finance/treasurer, effective June 1.

UMass Memorial Medical Center (UMMMC) cut all or part of 99 positions, including those in high-level roles as well as a small number of clinical staff members, a spokesman for its parent organization said today.