Worcester Council to Hold Hearing on City Charter Review Sept. 28

WORCESTER — The City Council’s Municipal and Legislative Operations Committee will hold a public hearing Monday, Sept. 28, on a review of the city’s charter, the City Clerk’s Office announced.

The hearing is set for 5 p.m. in the Esther Howland Chamber on the third floor of City Hall, 455 Main St. The committee is inviting residents to share ideas and ask questions about a possible charter review, according to a flyer the clerk’s office is distributing in English and Spanish.

Worcester has operated under a modified Plan E charter since January 1987, which established the city’s council-manager government, an 11-member City Council with six at-large and five district seats, and a popularly elected mayor. The charter was last amended in 2022.

The committee has previously discussed two distinct paths for changing the charter: a voter-initiated charter commission, which would require signatures from 15% of registered voters and election of commission members, or narrower amendments pursued through the council or special legislation.

Substantial structural changes, such as altering the makeup of the council, would require the commission route rather than council action, the outlet reported.

Residents unable to attend Monday’s hearing can submit comments to the City Clerk’s Office at clerk@worcesterma.gov.

Four New Brands Coming to Blackstone Valley Shops in 2027

MILLBURY — The Shops at Blackstone Valley announced Thursday, Sept. 24, that four new brands — Caffè Nero, Topcoat Nail Bar & Spa, Lovesac and First Watch — will open at the Central Massachusetts shopping center in 2027.

The four new brands are:

• Caffè Nero, an international coffee house chain;
• Topcoat, a nail and beauty salon brand;
• Lovesac, a modular furniture retailer; will open in two newly built, centrally located buildings at the open-air center. First Watch, a breakfast, brunch and lunch chain, will open in a separate location across the property.

Topcoat and Lovesac will open in two newly built buildings.

The two buildings are part of a nearly 35,000-square-foot expansion first announced in late 2025 by WS Development, the Chestnut Hill-based real estate company that owns the shopping center, according to the Worcester Business Journal. The expansion added 10 retail, restaurant and wellness tenants along with new walkways, landscaping and electric vehicle charging stations.

Yard House, a Florida-based restaurant chain, opened in one of the two buildings this past summer.

The additions follow the previously announced arrivals of Shake Shack and Sweetgreen to the same expansion, along with the recent openings of Apple, Coach, the food hall concept Wonder and the clothing brand Aerie.

Avvio Ristorante, an Italian-American restaurant chain based in Rhode Island, is set to open its first Massachusetts location at the center this fall.

The Shops at Blackstone Valley, at 70 Worcester-Providence Turnpike, spans about 788,000 square feet of leasable space and is billed by its owner as the largest open-air shopping center in Central Massachusetts. Other tenants include Lululemon, Warby Parker, Sephora, Ulta, Barnes & Noble, Kohl’s, Nordstrom Rack, Target and a 14-screen Cinema de Lux theater, according to WS Development.

Image courtesy of the Shops at Blackstone Valley

Mass. OIG Flags Audit Gap in Service Plaza Lease Deal

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General on Tuesday, Sept. 22, issued a required review of the state’s draft contract to redevelop and operate the Commonwealth’s 18 highway service plazas, flagging one “material objection” and recommending stronger audit rights, record keeping, and financial safeguards.

Under state law, the inspector general and the attorney general must notify the Public-Private Infrastructure Oversight Commission within 30 days of any material objections to a draft contract prepared through the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s public-private partnership procurement process.

The service plazas project, a 35-year lease covering fuel, food, retail, and parking facilities along the Mass Pike, Route 95/Route 128 and Routes 3, 6 and 24, is the first time the state has used that process for highway facilities.

Inspector General Jeffrey S. Shapiro said the draft contract does not explicitly state his office’s right to audit and investigate the eventual operator, which he identified as the report’s sole material objection. Shapiro’s office also recommended that MassDOT clarify that government access to records extends beyond investigations of noncompliance to include routine audits and reviews.

“The OIG acknowledges MassDOT’s meaningful efforts to use the ‘lessons learned’ from the initial procurement to improve its processes,” Shapiro said in a letter accompanying the report. He said his office was issuing its findings both to fulfill its legal obligation and to help ensure an effective procurement for facilities used by millions of travelers.

Shapiro’s office went beyond its narrow statutory mandate and produced a fuller review of MassDOT’s procurement process. Due to the scale of the project, his office opted for a discretionary full review step was warranted given that this marks the state’s first use of a public-private partnership for highway infrastructure.

That review recommended MassDOT consider requiring a performance bond to guarantee the plazas are properly maintained and handed back to the state in good condition at the end of the lease. Shapiro’s report also reccomended MassDOT adopt stronger record keeping to document project milestones and decisions.

The review follows a failed first attempt to procure an operator.

MassDOT sought a single operator in 2024 to rehabilitate and run the plazas, most of which are over 20 years old, under a 35-year lease with a 10-year renewal option. After a two-stage evaluation of six proposals, the agency’s Board of Directors voted in June 2025 to award the contract to Applegreen LLC over competitor Global Partners LP.

Global Partners sued in Suffolk Superior Court that September seeking to block the award, and Applegreen terminated its contract negotiations with MassDOT roughly a week later, saying the two sides could not agree on a final contract.

The inspector general’s office reported in February that the first procurement suffered from an inadequate conflict-of-interest disclosure form, an apparent employee conflict of interest, contact-rule violations, unclear selection criteria, weak scoring documentation, and other flaws.

MassDOT restarted the process in October 2025, announcing it would split the 18 plazas into three regional groupings and use the new public-private partnership commission structure for its second attempt.

The report released Tuesday found MassDOT has incorporated most of the inspector general’s prior recommendations into the new draft lease and request for proposals, including clearer revenue-sharing terms, operator accountability provisions and a closed, sealed scoring process to replace the live scoring used in the first round.

The report also found MassDOT only partially addressed the audit-clause and record keeping recommendations.

The state’s current service plaza operators — McDonald’s Corp., Gulf Oil and Global Partners — generated roughly $31.2 million in revenue for MassDOT in fiscal year 2023 under leases that expire between December 2025 and June 2027, according to the report. MassDOT has said it aims to have a new operator agreement in place by July 1, 2027, though the inspector general’s office noted the timeline for the oversight commission’s review has already slipped by several weeks.

The oversight commission is scheduled to meet again Oct. 15 before voting on whether to approve the request for proposals.

Image Credit: Kenneth C. Zirkel, McDonald’s at Eastbound Ludlow Service Plaza Massachusetts, CC BY-SA 4.0

BHN to Hold Worcester Listening Session on CHL Transition

WORCESTER — Behavioral Health Network (BHN) will hold a community listening session Tuesday, Sept. 29, in Worcester as it takes over services formerly run by Community Healthlink, the organization announced.

The session takes place at the Central Community Branch YMCA, at 766 Main St, at 5 PM.

BHN executives and community engagement staff will lead the discussion, which is open to the public. The organization intends the session to gauge behavioral health needs in the Greater Worcester area and to introduce residents to BHN’s programs and approach to care.

BHN said it plans to hold additional listening sessions and will post updates on its CHL transition page.

Community Healthlink, a UMass Memorial Health affiliate that has served Worcester County for more than 40 years, announced in April that it would close because of years of financial strain. The agency served roughly 20,000 patients annually for substance use, homelessness, and mental health services.

State regulators approved a plan dividing its programs among several providers, including BHN, which is taking over the Worcester Community Behavioral Health Center. Other organizations receiving programs include Clinical & Support Options, Eliot Community Human Services, Mentor South Bay, Open Sky Community Services, and the Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance.

BHN, founded in 1938, is one of the state’s largest behavioral health providers, offering mental health, recovery, crisis intervention, developmental disability, autism and family support services across Massachusetts.

Image Credit; Goog;e

Gardner Man Pleads Guilty to Tampering With Hospice Opioids

WORCESTER — A local man pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to tampering with oxycodone meant for hospice and memory care patients at a Fitchburg healthcare facility, federal prosecutors said.

Andrew Milgrim, 41, of Gardner, pleaded guilty to one count of tampering with a consumer product.

U.S. District Court Judge Margaret R. Guzman scheduled sentencing for Jan. 7, 2027. Milgrim was charged in July.

Prosecutors said Milgrim diverted oxycodone from patients in the skilled nursing and dementia care units of the facility between September 2024 and February 2025. He initially took 5-milligram oxycodone pills prescribed for patients on an as-needed basis and consumed them himself instead of administering the doses, according to prosecutors. He then began replacing the missing pills with loratadine, an allergy medication similar in appearance to the oxycodone tablets.

In January 2025, Milgrim also diverted 10-milligram oxycodone pills from an elderly memory care patient and replaced them with levothyroxine, a thyroid medication, prosecutors said.

The charge of tampering with a consumer product provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.

Mass. Consumers Eligible for Generic Drug Settlement Payouts

BOSTON — Massachusetts consumers who bought certain generic drugs over the past decade may be eligible for compensation under a multi-state antitrust settlement, the Attorney General’s Office said Tuesday.

A federal judge in Connecticut this month granted preliminary approval of a plan to distribute settlement funds from generic drug manufacturers accused of conspiring to inflate prices. Massachusetts joined 47 other states and territories in the case.

Consumers who purchased an eligible generic drug between May 2009 and December 2019 can check their eligibility and file a claim here, by calling 1-866-290-0182 or by emailing info@AGGenericDrugs.com. A list of covered drugs is posted on the settlement website.

The distribution plan draws on roughly $96.5 million in prior settlements with manufacturers Glenmark, Lannett, Bausch, Apotex and Heritage, along with Heritage’s parent company, Emcure.

The settlements stem from four antitrust complaints the state coalition has filed since 2016 against generic drug makers and executives. The first complaint named Heritage Pharmaceuticals and 17 other corporate defendants over 15 drugs. A second, filed in 2019, targeted Teva Pharmaceuticals and 21 other manufacturers, along with 16 senior executives. A third complaint, the first scheduled for trial, covers 80 topical generic drugs and names 26 corporate defendants and 10 individuals. Attorneys general filed a fourth complaint in February against Novartis AG and Sandoz, and later announced a $400 million settlement in principle with Sandoz.

Investigators built the cases on cooperating witnesses, millions of documents and phone records that they said showed competing executives regularly communicating to divide markets and hold prices steady, using terms such as “fair share” and “playing nice in the sandbox,” according to the complaints.

The following states and territories joined Tuesday’s announcement: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, the Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Healey Marks First Veterans Suicide Awareness Day in Mass.

BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey marked the state’s first Military Service Members and Veterans Suicide Awareness and Remembrance Day on Tuesday, Sept. 22, a designation she signed into law in 2025 to honor service members and veterans lost to suicide and raise awareness of mental health resources.

Veterans Services Secretary Eric Goralnick and the Executive Office of Veterans Services hosted the first official remembrance ceremony at Memorial Hall in the State House. Families who have lost loved ones to active-duty or veteran suicide joined state leaders, veterans advocates and community partners for the event.

“When our service members come home, we want Massachusetts to set the standard for how we support them and their families,” Healey said in a statement. “That means making sure veterans can get mental health care when they need it, expanding suicide prevention and peer support, and recognizing that women veterans and military families may have different needs and experiences.”

In Massachusetts, one in nine suicides in 2020 involved someone with current or past military service, according to the administration.

“Service members, veterans, and their families face unique pressures—from the demands of military service to difficult transitions, loss, and the challenges of asking for help in a culture that focuses on strength and self-reliance,” said Veterans Services Secretary Eric Goralnick. “Creating a culture in which people feel safe speaking up, checking in on one another, and seeking help without stigma, can strengthen our military community and help save lives.”

Healey’s office says her -Driscoll administration has taken several other steps aimed at veteran suicide prevention:

• Signed the HERO Act, which expanded access to outpatient behavioral health treatment and increased benefits for disabled veterans.
• Strengthened the Statewide Advocacy for Veterans Empowerment program and established a Suicide Mortality Review Committee to identify risk factors.
• Awarded $2 million to 15 community organizations for behavioral health and peer support programs.
• Trained Veterans Services Officers and distributed firearm safety devices carrying crisis line information through a statewide lethal means safety initiative.
• Launched a $20 million campaign to end veteran homelessness that has helped more than 1,000 veterans secure housing.

State agencies will hold the annual Governor’s Challenge conference on suicide prevention this week.

Worcester Schools Hold Steady in 2026 Accountability Data

WORCESTER — Worcester Public Schools retained its overall state accountability classification of “not requiring assistance or intervention,” with a designation of “making moderate progress toward targets,” according to 2025-26 school year data released Tuesday by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Of the district’s 44 schools that received accountability classifications, 31 were designated as not requiring assistance or intervention, while 13 were classified as requiring assistance or intervention.

Four Worcester elementary schools — Columbus Park, McGrath, Midland and Worcester Arts Magnet — were named Schools of Recognition for 2026, a designation the state gives each year to a limited number of schools showing notable progress toward accountability targets, with particular emphasis on achievement and growth in English language arts and math.

The state’s accountability ratings rely heavily on student performance on the MCAS exam. Statewide, MCAS scores declined in English language arts and held flat in math this year. Worcester’s results largely mirrored that pattern, with scores remaining flat in grades 3-8 and declining in grade 10. A 2024 ballot initiative removed a passing MCAS score as a requirement for high school graduation.

Superintendent Brian E. Allen said the accountability data helps the district identify where to focus its efforts.

“Accountability data gives us the urgency to look under the hood,” Allen said in a statement. “State testing gives us one piece of the picture. We must stay the course with our core academic strategies, focusing on areas that are working well, and pinpointing learning gaps to target support where it’s most needed.”

The accountability report also shared the following information for Worcester Public Schools as a whole:

• The four-year graduation rate remained at about 86%, the same as the year prior. The statewide average is 89%.

• The dropout rate remains unchanged from the year prior at 2% in 2026.

• The advanced coursework rate increased from about 52% in 2025 to 54% in 2026.

• English Learners in grades 1-8 exceeded targets on English language proficiency attainment, gaining 7 points since the prior year; high school students declined by 3 points in this area.

• The chronic absenteeism rate remains essentially unchanged from the year prior: 19% for grades K-8 and 34% for grades 9-12.

District-wide MCAS scores show the following:

• English Language Arts, grades 3-8, meeting or exceeding expectations:

  • 2026: 25%

  • 2025: 26%

• English Language Arts, grade 10, meeting or exceeding expectations:

  • 2026: 26%

  • 2025: 33%

• Math, grades 3-8, meeting or exceeding expectations:

  • 2026: 24%

  • 2025: 24%

• Math, grade 10, meeting or exceeding expectations:

  • 2026: 20%

  • 2025: 24%

School-Level Summary

• Of the 44 district schools subject to accountability designations, four schools “met or exceeded targets,” 19 made “significant progress,” 18 made “moderate progress,” and 3 made “limited or no progress” toward their 2026 targets.

• 21 schools increased their overall accountability scores from last year. The following schools increased by at least five percentage points:

  • Flagg Street Elementary

  • Lake View Elementary

  • Wawecus Road Elementary

  • Midland Street Elementary

  • Worcester Arts Magnet Elementary

  • Columbus Park Elementary

  • McGrath Elementary

The following schools met 75% or more of their annual progress targets in 2026.

• Columbus Park Elementary School: 98% of targets met in 2026

• Worcester Arts Magnet School: 90% of targets met

• Flagg Street Elementary School: 89% of targets met

• Francis McGrath Elementary School: 89% of targets met

• Worcester Dual Language Magnet School: 80% of targets met

• Elm Park Elementary School: 78% of targets met

Mass. 2026 MCAS Results Show Mixed Math, ELA Performance

EVERETT — Massachusetts students showed mixed results on the 2026 MCAS exams, with math scores holding roughly steady and English language arts scores declining, according to results the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) released Tuesday, September 20.

In math, 41% of students in grades 3-8 met or exceeded expectations, about the same as 2025, while grade 8 math showed the sharpest improvement of any tested grade or subject, rising 4 percentage points to 42%. Grade 10 math results were roughly flat compared with last year.

In English language arts, 40% of students in grades 3-8 met or exceeded expectations, a 2-percentage-point decline from 2025; grade 10 ELA scores also fell. Grade 8 science scores rose 2 percentage points to 39% meeting or exceeding expectations, while grade 5 and high school science scores declined. Grade 8 students took the civics assessment for a second year, with 40% meeting or exceeding expectations, roughly consistent with last year.

Fourteen districts have now returned to or exceeded their pre-pandemic performance in both math and English language arts for students in grades 3-8, the DESE said, with additional districts matching pre-pandemic performance in one of the two subjects.

Education Secretary Steve Zrike pointed to the state’s Literacy Launch initiative and recently passed legislation requiring districts to adopt evidence-based early literacy curricula as reasons for confidence in future English language arts performance. “With this strong focus and support on early literacy, I am confident that we will see improved outcomes in our English language arts performance,” Zrike said in a statement.

The DESE also highlighted a new online tool, the MCAS Family Portal, which for the first time let families view their children’s preliminary MCAS results before Tuesday’s statewide release. Commissioner Pedro Martinez said the release would let families learn more about how their schools and districts performed as a whole.

Results continued to show a link between school attendance and academic performance. Chronically absent students scored substantially lower than their peers. The state made reducing chronic absenteeism a priority, providing $10,000 grants to 175 districts, launching an attendance-focused public awareness campaign called Your Presence Is Powerful, and creating an initiative aimed at improving high school attendance and engagement. The state also made broader investments in universal school meals and student mental health services.

Chronic absenteeism fell to 17.1% statewide in the 2025-26 school year, down from 22.2% in 2022-23, according to the DESE.

Separately, the DESE released 2026 school and district accountability results, which assess schools using measures including student achievement and growth, graduation rates, English learner progress and chronic absenteeism.

Eighty percent of schools were designated as not requiring state assistance or intervention, and 53% met, exceeded or made substantial progress toward their accountability targets.

The department also named 56 Schools of Recognition this year for strong improvement or overall achievement, spanning schools from Cape Cod to Berkshire County.

The results come as the state continues developing a new statewide graduation framework following a 2024 ballot measure that eliminated a passing MCAS score as a graduation requirement. In response, the administration created the K-12 Statewide Graduation Council, which released final recommendations this spring calling for rigorous coursework, end-of-course assessments, postsecondary planning, career and work-based learning opportunities, and expanded access to coursework aligned with the state’s MassCore standards as part of a broader approach to determining readiness for a diploma.

Detailed MCAS Results

English language arts: English language arts results declined for grades 3-8 combined and declined in grade 10 compared to 2025.

Science: Science results were mixed, with an increase in grade 8 and declines in grade 5 and high school.

Math: Compared to 2025, the percentage of students scoring Meeting or Exceeding Expectations in math was unchanged in grades 3-8. The percentage of students who scored Meeting or Exceeding Expectations in grade 10 also remained unchanged.

Civics: Compared to 2025, the percentage of grade 8 students scoring Meeting or Exceeding Expectations on the civics assessment remained flat.

Image courtesy of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE)

Audit Finds Widespread Mismanagement at Mass. Unemployment

BOSTON — A state audit released Monday found widespread mismanagement at the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA), including hours-long call center wait times, mishandled complaints, delayed benefit payments and unlawful gaps for in-person service, according to State Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s office.

DUA administers the state’s unemployment insurance program, determining eligibility, collecting employer contributions and processing claims for residents seeking temporary income support between jobs.

The audit examined DUA’s operations from July 2022 through June 2024, a period during which the auditor’s office said it received numerous complaints about claims stuck in “pending” status for months, long call center hold times, and claimants unable to get in-person help.

“When hardworking people lose their jobs, unemployment insurance becomes a lifeline that allows them to continue to pay bills while they search for a new job,” DiZoglio said in a statement. “When those benefit payments are delayed, job search resources are unavailable, and complaints are not tracked and prioritized appropriately, the system fails job seekers and taxpayers alike.”

The audit found DUA never established performance standards or monitoring procedures for its call center, despite collecting call data, leaving the agency unable to evaluate wait times or make service improvements. More than half of callers were kept on hold longer than 30 minutes, the audit found, and about half of those waited more than an hour before reaching an agent or an automated prompt.

The agency also violated state records retention requirements by failing to keep call log data for the required three years, auditors said, further limiting its ability to track and correct performance problems.

Auditors also found DUA treated most claimant contacts — by phone, text, email, mail or its online portal — as generic correspondence rather than potential indicators of problems with a claim, and recommended the agency adopt a centralized system to track and identify patterns in complaints.

The audit found DUA failed to meet federal Employment and Training Administration timeliness standards for claimants’ first benefit payments, a shortfall auditors said stemmed partly from the agency’s failure to identify recurring causes of delay or build system alerts that would let claimants fix errors before submitting claims.

Continued noncompliance puts DUA at risk of losing federal funding, according to the audit.

Auditors also found DUA violated state law by not providing in-person assistance at three regional offices — in Lawrence, Brockton and Springfield — leaving Boston’s Re-Employment Center as the only location offering face-to-face help. That gap forced claimants elsewhere in the state to either travel to Boston or call DUA’s already-strained phone lines, according to the audit.

The audit also identified more than 33,000 email exchanges between DUA and state legislative offices in which lawmakers intervened on behalf of constituents struggling to obtain benefits, a volume auditors said raises questions about DUA’s ability to resolve claimant issues without legislative help and about equity for claimants unaware that such intervention is possible