Winners and Losers for the week ending July 14, 2017

If you’ve been consumed by the front-page stories at the national level, trying to keep abreast of the secondary and tertiary issues affecting the country can be somewhat overwhelming.

That’s what makes Amy Siskind’s blog, The Weekly List, so indispensable. Siskind, a former Wall Street specialist in distressed-debt trading, compiles an incredibly comprehensive list of how the Trump administration is directly and indirectly changing the nation. Her rationale for doing this work can be found in the quote that leads off each week’s entry: “Experts in authoritarianism advise to keep a list of things subtly changing around you, so you’ll remember.”

WINNERS

Matt Weintraub: The Bucks County DA won praise for his swift and thorough handling of the disappearance of four young men, spearheading an investigation that has thus far yielded two defendants charged with killing and burying the victims in Solebury Township.

Bart Blatstein: the real estate developer and owner of the former Inquirer building on North Broad Street is looking at an even bigger payday than simply developing the building into the new HQ for the Philadelphia Police Department, thanks to $40 million he can earn through a historic-renovation subsidy.

Pat Toomey: It was a good week for the junior US senator, Trumpcare boondoggle aside, thanks to his squad’s decisive victory over Sen. Bob Casey’s side in their annual softball battle and a positive story about his beekeeping hobby in the New York Times.

LOSERS

John Maher: the state Rep. was charged with DUI outside of Harrisburg.

Montgomery County taxpayers: The final tally for hosting the Bill Cosby trial came in at a steep $219,000, including $129,000 in overtime costs and $74,000 to sequester the jury.

James Clark: In the face of higher murder rates and falling clearance rates, Capt. Clark, the longtime head of the Philadelphia Police Department’s Homicide Division, was reassigned.