Greater Worcester

The Worcester City Council voted to make the city's inclusionary zoning policy into an ordinance on Tuesday. Any zoning applications for multifamily apartments projects submitted after that day –- May 9 – will be subject to the ordinance.

Days after Girls Inc. of Worcester suspended its programs and put its CEO and COO on leave, an online petition calling for the permanent removal of leadership was released alleging discriminatory treatment of employees.

About six weeks into the process, which is expected to take a year, about 70,000 Massachusetts households have begun the process of assessing whether they still qualify for state-funded health insurance.

After incorporating changes based on public feedback, state energy officials say they expect to finalize rules by July 1 for a program that will enable 10 cities and towns to require new building construction or major renovation projects to be fossil fuel-free.

An academic paper has used the $160-million Polar Park in Worcester as one of two examples of the problem of the pro forma model, saying the ballpark will saddle the city government with fiscal deficits up to $60 million.

Venture Forum in Worcester and the North Central Massachusetts Development Corporation in Fitchburg were chosen by the Innovation Institute at the MassTech Collaborative to receive two of its grants to bolster the regional startup economy.

The T.H.Chan School of Medicine at UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester ranks 13th in the nation and first in New England for primary care education in the U.S. News and World Report.

The Leapfrog Group, a Washington D.C. based healthcare watchdog nonprofit, has released its biannual Hospital Safety Grade scores, giving one Central Massachusetts hospital an A rating while another received the second-lowest D rating.

As Massachusetts prepares to compete for federal funding to support climate resiliency projects, state officials can rely on an initial grant to help fine-tune their plan and seek feedback from stakeholders, including marginalized communities.

The City of Worcester’s $848-million budget for the coming fiscal year is delivering on promises to give more resources and funding to the Executive Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, with a 67% increase in the financial allotment given to the office.