WORCESTER – As large cranes and construction workers become a part of the downtown landscape, and optimism about the city’s future grows, a new question emerges.

The Worcester Regional Research Bureau is pleased to announce that it will present Daniel J. Morgado, former Town Manager of Shrewsbury, with the Fairman C. Cowan Municipal Leadership Award at its 32nd Annual Meeting on October 12, 2017 at 4:30p.m. at the DCU Center in Worcester, MA.

Let’s be honest, job reviews are not among most people’s favorite job-related activities. City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr. lightheartedly acknowledged as much a couple of weeks ago when the City Council gave him his annual performance evaluation.

Worcester is embarking on a strategic planning initiative toward making the Worcester Public Schools one of the best urban systems in the country. While we do better than most urban systems in the state, there is much more that can be done to meet the needs of our students and the community.

WORCESTER – Fulfilling a request made more than a year ago by elected school officials and local research and policy groups, Superintendent Maureen Binienda on Friday announced her administration will develop a strategic plan for the district over the remainder of the year.

Worcester Public Schools Superintendent Maureen Binienda spoke Friday afternoon, June 16 about the new Strategic Planning Task Force to create the best schools in the state. The Rennie Center, based out of Boston, will be assisting the public schools during the six-month plan, helping gain research by working closely with the public schools.

The Worcester Public Schools Strategic Planning Task Force will announce a strategic planning initiative Friday, June 16.

Thoughtful, meaningful discussions on tax policy are rare.

This is understandable, of course. The global, post-industrial age has changed the economic circumstances of a wide swath of the middle class. Concurrently, over the past 30 years the narrative that broad-based tax cuts spur economic growth has gained wide adoption.

While the Worcester City Council, at last, is beginning to address new revenue options in the Mayor’s Tax Policy Committee report, a report from the Worcester Regional Research Bureau last week offers a different sort of game-changer for navigating the painful annual process in determining the city’s property tax rates.

As a follow up to its 2016 analysis highlighting the negative impacts of Worcester's dual-tax rate, the Worcester Regional Research Bureau on Tuesday outlined ways for the city council to transition into a single rate.