Bill Shaner
@billshaner
I write about a city that punishes you for caring
We get to do it all over again at the next meeting, Aug 18. Really strong showing tonight, thank you to everyone who came out!! I'll be adding to this with more scene from the meeting throughout the night.
Just in: Second member of the human rights commission resigns after Batista said no civilian review board friday. First Jacqueline Yang yesterday, now Drew Schnoebelen today. 1 member HRC by the end of the week?
Presser tomorrow before the council meeting on Batista trashing his long awaited civilian review board proposal. I'll be there, and ill have a post on this up soon i promise haha drive.google.com/open?id=1C9H...
In case anyone was holding out hope, CM Batista has decided against a civilian review board, as articulated in a report submitted to the most reactionary city council of all time (many are saying) which would have never approved a CRB proposal anyway 👍
If you're confused about this awful new mural, the guy who commissioned it / owns dive bar now was a framingham cop up until he was caught uhhh... shmealing shmocaine... in such an open way that he was one of the few officers actually suspended by the POST commission
I was off last week so I’m catching up on the council’s review of the manager. My god. This council is unbelievable
1. what the fuck dude I hate massachusetts 2. i hope the rent control campaign carefully investigates who it was internally that advocated for the religious exemption in the first place and the reasons they gave. This has sabotage written all over it
Did the music and mastering for HEX LINE a new and very cool podcast about occult matters in New England from my friend Sam Halen. First two eps are up today check it out !! linktr.ee/hexlinepodca...
This is obviously a reaction to my recent piece about how it’s fucked that Toomey, an employee of the sheriff, has been public safety chair for a decade. But most ppl don’t know that and are instead going to see a 20-year veteran of the council asking what the council does. Lol. Got my ass Kate
My newsletter Worcester Sucks & I Love It turns six years old this week and I turn 35 years old this week too so if you like to read it or like that I’m alive come hang at steel & wire on Saturday night to celebrate another year of Worcester’s continued sucking
using the public edit feature to get your burn just right is such a sick move hahaha
Every time I talk about how annoying shitty and counter productive this kid is someone chimes in with the "tsk tsk iN fIgHtInG" scold but I can't take it. This is obnoxious and pointless. He is making a living mockery of anyone who's bothered to give a shit about this city enough to try to change it
Catching up on a few days of news after getting back from a wedding... realizing anew how overly difficult local news websites make the act of reading local news lol. For instance I hope MassLive knows this shit is THE most obtrusive and hostile features I've ever seen on a local news site. Unreal
First they rob people then they rob the state by hiding the money they rob in the accounts of a literal shell corporation hahaha what the fuck lew!
TIL the worcester county sheriff has a non-profit named worcester county sheriff civil process division llc staffed by the same sheriff's deputies that are in the regular office, accounting partly for the ~$3 million annual revenue they aren't reporting, according to new ig report. Literal mafia lol
it's weird synchronicity that the only other notable city in the region with our fucked up form of government (they just do it a little better) also has the same city hall building? with the vaguely phallic architecture?? (just a little nicer)
last worcester sucks post was about how the budget hearings are useless charades, an insane local political ritual, annoying and stupid, a waste of everyone's time. As if to prove the point here's how the council spent 7.5 hours (!!!) on tuesday
This time last year ICE agents came to Worcester to take a mother from her kids and community members showed up resist and it ended up being one of the first glimpses of a budding new domestic occupation campaign. Tonight we’re doing a live podcast w a bunch of ppl who were there to reflect !!
I love it when Mr 'Character of the Neighborhood' -- who is guaranteed to oppose even the slightest zoning reform should he ever get the chance -- talks out his ass about the need for "more units." The only counter argument this guy deserves is a swirly