Fitchburg

Pennsylvania marijuana company Ethos Cannabis will open its first recreational dispensary in Fitchburg on Halloween, the company announced on Friday.

A firm registered in the North Shore town of North Reading has paid $2.2 million to expand its holdings of multi-family homes in Fitchburg and Leominster.

Fitchburg State University will no longer charge an application fee for its undergraduate programs, the school announced on Monday.

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.

Proposed housing developments in Auburn, Fitchburg, Southbridge and Worcester have received a share of $106 million in state funding announced Wednesday to help support the creation of new affordable housing.

Charles Park Plaza, a shopping center at Airport and Bemis roads in Fitchburg, has sold for just under $1.7 million.

Enrollment at public colleges in Central Massachusetts has dropped substantially, including by more than 10% at Framingham State University and Mount Wachusett Community College, a trend echoed statewide as higher education has been upended by the coronavirus pandemic.

People are on the move at UMass Medical School, Bay State Savings Bank, Greater Worcester Community Foundation and more.

A Fitchburg retail plaza on Airport Road has sold for just over $1.2 million.

The unemployment rate in the Worcester area improved to 10.3% in August, down from 14.9% a month earlier, according to new data Wednesday from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.