Fitchburg

While single-family home prices in Worcester County remained relatively steady in January, the number of home sales dropped significantly.

Three companies contracted for a 2018 project at a Fitchburg State University dorm will pay up to $325,000 combined in civil penalties for failing to properly remove and dispose of asbestos, or asbestos-containing material.

The North Central Massachusetts Development Corp. in Fitchburg loaned $150,000 to Adams Farm and Slaughterhouse in Athol to help run the company and purchase equipment.

The share of Massachusetts students who take out loans to pay for public higher education has exploded in the past two decades while the combined pressure of inflation and a lack of investment have hamstrung the impact of state-funded financial aid, according to a new report.

Fitchburg Access Television has moved its studio and offices to 780 Main St. in Fitchburg, the Rollstone Bank & Trust building.

The Greater Worcester Community Foundation in Worcester has granted $2.2 million total to 120 local nonprofit organizations to aid in operations and fund new projects.

The three Central Massachusetts metropolitan areas tracked by the state all saw slight increases in their unemployment rates in December.

Merrimack Valley Realty Group, LLC of Lawrence, owned by Bernard Goulet, purchased three multi-family properties in Fitchburg totaling 18 units.

Through the Working Places Challenge program, the Fed supports a competition among cities and towns for grant money provided by states, the private sector and philanthropists to address a "shared goal for improving the economy that benefits low-income people."

Now the residential real estate market has slowed, Richard Healey of Foster-Healey Real Estate Inc. hopes to see it settle down again and level out.