State welfare officials bob and weave when asked about EBT cards for new arrivals living in migrant shelters, but someone on the inside isn’t holding back.

A source who just left working for an agency at a migrant hotel said it was part of his job to deliver the mail dumped at the front desk and plenty of EBT cards were in those bins.

“Some were applying for multiple EBT cards because they spelled their names wrong,” the insider told the Herald this week. He added “staff instructed them how to apply” for benefits.

State officials, however, never put anyone on the phone with the Herald. Instead, they sent a statement: “Families are arriving through the federal immigration system, and are assessed for federal eligibility guidelines for programs including SNAP, WIC, TAFDC and EAEDC. SNAP and WIC are federally-funded programs.

“Every family has to go through an application process and there are various eligibility requirements, including around income levels,” an anonymous spokesperson from Health and Human Services added. “Families in EA (Emergency Assistance, or the $1 billion a year migrant mess) are also connected with work authorization services so they can transition to jobs and out of the shelter system as soon as possible.”

This all comes as the state Department of Transitional Assistance is reporting a 34.6% jump in EBT cards over a recent 14-month period, as the Herald has reported.

Again, the anonymous HHS spokesperson: “The number of households enrolled in DTA programs has increased in recent years primarily in the wake of the COVID pandemic and its economic impact.”

The Herald will keep digging. – Joe Dwinell

A big tip from Gov. Healey

Gov. Healey’s “no” on Question 5 comes from a place of experiences.

Before she was the governor of Massachusetts, Maura Healey was a cocktail waitress slinging drinks at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom.

The governor related this personal tidbit earlier this week during a radio appearance when the conversation turned to ballot Question 5.

What she didn’t say then — but that we now know — through her time at the Ballroom, in addition to catching traditional season closers Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, some of the shows she remembers best were performances by Eddie Money, John Prine, Ziggy Marley, and Joe Cocker.

The governor was even, she told the Herald, lucky enough to be at the Bob Weir performance that took place in August of 1995, just after Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia passed away.

During an appearance on GBH on Wednesday, Healey said that her past experience as a server contributed to her decision to come out against the ballot initiative which if passed would see tipped employees paid the state’s $15 per hour minimum wage, up from $6.75.

“I think it’s important to vote ‘no’ on this because I think you run the risk of closing restaurants and putting these workers out of work,” Healey told the hosts of Boston Public Radio.

Healey also worked tables at Whale’s Tale and Purple Urchin, she told the Herald, adding that she’s “grateful to the Dumonts, Schaakes, and Dan Twomey for hiring me and building great teams at those places.” – Matthew Medsger

Well that stinks

Massachusetts Attorney General has filed a lawsuit against a food recycling company that she contends is stinking up the town of Grafton.

The odors emanating from Feedback Earth, Inc., an animal feed manufacturer that uses food waste to produce their product, Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell says, are foul enough they necessitate an injunction to stop the stink.

“Every community deserves fresh air and responsible neighbors. No one should be unable to enjoy their yard, walk their neighborhood, or open their windows because a company, even one with an important mission, is prioritizing its business over complying with reasonable and sound environmental laws and regulations that protect the health of our residents,” Campbell said.

Campbell is asking the Suffolk Superior Court to step in, and notes the problem smells wafting from the facility grew especially odiferous this summer, when the company apparently started processing discarded lobster shells without the state’s permission.

The Attorney General is seeking, according to her office, “a permanent injunction to stop the nuisance odors” and civil penalties for an alleged “pattern of environmental permit violations.”

The smells, according to the AGs office, are bothering residents “several miles” away from the facility, “resulting in hundreds of complaints to MassDEP and Feedback Earth.” – Matthew Medsger

On the Norfolk hot seat

David Linton, a reporter for the Attleboro Sun Chronicle, said he will replace David Traub as spokesman for the Norfolk DA. Linton said late Friday night he could confirm, after first saying he couldn’t, that he’s next up in the topsy-turvy office.

“I’ve had a long career at the Sun Chronicle,” he added, “and I look forward to the challenge.” – Joe Dwinell

Governor Maura Healey (Matt Stone/Boston Herald)