WORCESTER - Sometimes acting globally sparks ideas that have an impact locally.

A report released Thursday from the Worcester Regional Research Bureau recommends the city create an independent parking division and raise parking rates, so a dedicated staff can give the proper attention to the infrastructure, service and technology improvements necessary for parking to complement the city's redevelopment plans.

The Worcester Regional Research Bureau is urging the city to create a dedicated Parking Division following the release of a report that concludes the available downtown parking’s “location, condition, and design limit its ability to support an aggressive economic development agenda,” and that its “position within City government—well down the hierarchical food chain—limits its ability to compete for attention and resources and adapt to new technologies that are improving the relationship between parking and cities globally.”

The analysis by Worcester Research Bureau educates and raises warning flags over issues ranging from the percentage of the City's property that is exempt because it is held by non-profits to the threat of unfunded liabilities -- the long-term pension and healthcare costs tied to city workers.

Since the Education Reform Act of 1993, public school funding has been determined by the Commonwealth's Foundation Budget, a formula intended to ensure that every school has adequate levels of funding from both state and local governments to ensure universal access to quality public education. In the two decades since its formation, the Foundation Budget formula has considered the number of students, the characteristics of the student body, the characteristics of the community, and the costs of education to establish minimum local and state contributions.

Full and original article posted on Telegram.com A major developer [...]

WORCESTER - Five municipal employees were honored Thursday night at Assumption College with Thomas S. Green Public Service Awards.

A recent report by 24/7 Wall St. LLC concluded that the metro Worcester area is one of the unhappiest places in America.

WORCESTER – State Education Commissioner Mitchell D. Chester said at the start of his speech Wednesday on school funding that he would be provocative, and he apparently succeeded, stating that more attention needs to be paid to how schools are spending money, not just how much they spend.

I WAS disappointed to read Megan Woolhouse’s article “Still waiting for business to take off.”Worcester Regional Airport, known by its call letters as ORH, is a critical element of Central Massachusetts’ transportation tripod of road, rail, and air.