Leominster

Two Central Massachusetts communities will now vie for the state's lone slots parlor license after Millbury selectmen on Tuesday approved a host community agreement with the developer, Mass Gaming & Entertainment.

The Cordish Cos. has requested Sept. 24 as an election date for its Leominster slots parlor proposal and the city council is expected to vote on it tonight.

Leominster and Baltimore-based casino developer Cordish Cos. have reached an agreement that could make the Northern Worcester County city the site of the state's only slots parlor and provide it with nearly $4 million a year, Mayor Dean Mazzarella announced this morning.

Casino developer Cordish Cos. and Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella said they're making progress on negotiating a host agreement for a slots parlor in the city.

Two of the four developers vying for the state's single slots license passed initial background checks and received approval from the Gaming Commission Thursday to continue with the licensing process.

Promising to bring at least 500 full-time jobs to Leominster, officials from Baltimore-based Cordish Cos. laid out a proposal for a slots parlor in the city at Monday night's City Council meeting.

A proposal to build a slots parlor off Route 117 in Leominster will be presented to the City Council at an informational meeting tonight by Baltimore-based Cordish Cos. and local construction management firm McCarty Cos.

Worcester County was among the majority of areas in the state that saw their unemployment rate tick up slightly in May, rising to 7.5 percent, up 0.5 of a percentage point from April, according to the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.

Patrick Muldoon, president and CEO of Leominster-based HealthAlliance Hospitals Inc., was named chairman of the Massachusetts Hospital Association (MHA) Board of Trustees at MHA's annual meeting June 13.

Perhaps feeling as if they had always been taking a back seat to the Boston area, officials...