Our investigation found that one cause of the prolonged vacancies is the flawed online waitlist system the state rolled out four years ago. Massachusetts replaced town-by-town waitlists with a single pool of applicants that 230 local housing agencies draw from. But the state failed to implement an efficient system for selecting potential tenants. Understaffed and underfunded local agencies have to screen applicants for income, criminal background and other eligibility criteria. Apartments are left in limbo as some candidates turn out not to qualify. Applicants often indicate they would accept housing in many towns, but then reject offers from communities that are far away from their current location.

Deb Libby, a Worcester grandmother with pancreatic cancer, has been on the waitlist for state-funded housing for almost a year. Credit: Jesse Costa/WBUR “I think it’s the most horrible, horrible, inefficient program,” said David Hedison, executive director at the housing authority in Chelmsford, a town 30 miles northwest of Boston. He said the agency spent six months contacting 500 people who were on the waitlist for a three-bedroom apartment, before it finally found one who responded and qualified for the unit. “The whole sense of helping residents in your community is gone,” he said.

Horrible inefficiencies and a terrible process. Good journalism and some terrible governance.

Have you seen some of those school board videos? This is representative democracy in practice.

Not defending studios, fuck them, pay your talent

I think they’re thinking they can patch this over with reality tv (or at least they did in the last writer’s strike), documentaries, and with international content. I’m betting Netflix is shifting a ton of money towards the Asian and European markets for next year’s content.

De Croo spoke just hours after a sixth school in the French-speaking Wallonia region was torched this week.

Sixth burnt school this week! Holy shit.

Desantis trying to kill off a few more of his voters this winter, before the primary season kicks off. That’s that herd mentality working for ya.

One of the more reliable jobs in the old west was selling pickaxes to hopeful prospectors. They may not find gold, but they’ll certainly be buying your axe to try. Years after the area runs out of gold, people are still going to be buying your wares.

It’s always been good business to sell products targeted at people hoping to make it big.

If you want more people to have kids, make being a parent easier.

“COVID would be gone by now, if not for the pesky masks!!”

Such a strange hot take, is the COVID coming in the masks?

If we’re trying to list the things Meatball Ron is afraid of, we’ll be here all day.

It’s high time that we stop selling weapons to the Saudis. If they’re not using them to kill migrants, they’re using them to kill Yemenis.

Guy wasn’t even named Joe