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Jake Blumgart

@jblumgart.bsky.social
3.8K followers 480 following 1.8K posts

Reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer www.inquirer.com/author/blumgart_ja…

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Reposted by Jake Blumgart
David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Sooner or later, after exhausting all other possibilities, everyone realizes that the only smart way to do public benefits is with auto-enroll www.washingtonsun.com/whitehouse/t...
washingtonsun.com
Trump Is Preparing to Auto-Enroll Every Child in a Trump Account
Few Americans have set up Trump Accounts on their own.
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Reposted by Jake Blumgart
Philadelphia Inquirer @inquirer.com · 28/09/2026
The developers acquired the building in 2023 but faced financing difficulties due to the volume of apartment construction in recent years.
inquirer.com
An office-to-apartment conversion is underway in Logan Square. Here’s why it works.
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Reposted by Jake Blumgart
Philadelphia Inquirer @inquirer.com · 28/09/2026
Higher menu prices followed Philly restaurants earning Michelin stars, Bib Gourmand, or Recommended status. But the price hikes could also be attributed to inflation and other factors.
inquirer.com
Did Philly restaurants get more expensive after Michelin recognition? We checked the checks.
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Reposted by Jake Blumgart
Philadelphia Inquirer @inquirer.com · 28/09/2026
The redevelopment will raze two-thirds of the building. A seven-story, 325,000-square-foot replacement, dubbed the Penn Discovery Commons, will be built in its place.
inquirer.com
Penn’s $520 million renovation of David Rittenhouse Lab is one of Philly’s largest construction projects
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Reposted by Jake Blumgart
Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Philadelphia, PA. H/t @jblumgart.bsky.social
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Jake Blumgart @jblumgart.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Councilmember Young is adding language to the zoning overlay covering his district to make it harder to redevelop the Natural Sciences museum www.inquirer.com/politics/phi...
inquirer.com
Drexel wants to sell the Academy of Natural Sciences museum. A Council bill could restrict its redevelopment.
If the bill from Councilmember Jeffery Young Jr. passes, it will limit the redevelopment of the museum building to specific uses.
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Reposted by Jake Blumgart
Philadelphia Inquirer @inquirer.com · 23/09/2026
John Dougherty asked President Donald Trump to commute his sentence and backers included former Council candidate Daniel Pellicciotti, former U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum.
inquirer.com
Johnny Doc was a longtime Democratic power broker. But his ties to some Republicans helped free him from prison.
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Reposted by Jake Blumgart
Philadelphia Inquirer @inquirer.com · 24/09/2026
Parker says the tax abatement would spur the conversion of "deteriorated" buildings, such as Center City office towers and empty school buildings, into apartments.
inquirer.com
Mayor Parker wants Council to back a tax break for redeveloping derelict buildings. Council says it’s waiting on her.
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Jake Blumgart @jblumgart.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
great reporting www.inquirer.com/politics/joh...
inquirer.com
Johnny Doc was a longtime Democratic power broker. But his ties to some Republicans helped free him from prison.
John Dougherty asked President Donald Trump to commute his sentence and backers included former Council candidate Daniel Pellicciotti, former U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum.
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Jake Blumgart @jblumgart.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
one of the few developable lots in Girard Estate: www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...
inquirer.com
A 122-unit duplex development is planned just west of Girard Estates
The property was previously part of a far larger development proposal, which collapsed during the pandemic.
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Jake Blumgart @jblumgart.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The Southeastern part of South Philly looks nothing like the rest of the city: www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...
inquirer.com
A gated community of 140 townhouses is proposed near Packer Park
The proposal includes a playground, dog park, and pickleball and basketball courts.
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Reposted by Jake Blumgart
ProPublica @propublica.org · 22/09/2026
Sen. Susan Collins helped steer millions in federal defense contracts to Navatek, whose CEO illegally funneled thousands of dollars to her campaign. The FBI sought to launch a probe and was eyeing Collins and other lawmakers. Then Trump gutted the unit in charge. THREAD 🧵
Martin Kao, CEO of defense contractor Navatek, poses next to Sen. Susan Collins for a photo. Collins is holding a model of a boat in her hands. Behind them is a large sign with the Navatek logo.
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Jake Blumgart @jblumgart.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
share.inquirer.com/7tRHd2
share.inquirer.com
SEPTA has a new, ambitious plan that offers funders a vision of better transit
Selling doom hasn't worked for SEPTA, so it's pivoting to an upbeat approach in the quest for funds from Harrisburg.
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Reposted by Jake Blumgart
The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 18/09/2026
Exclusive: More American service members have died in the Middle East during the ongoing Iran war than the Pentagon has disclosed publicly, according to six U.S. officials familiar with the data.
washingtonpost.com
More U.S. troops have died amid Iran war than Pentagon has disclosed publicly
Officials who spoke with The Post expressed frustration that the additional loss of life in the Middle East is not reflected in the Defense Department’s casualty database.
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Reposted by Jake Blumgart
Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 18/09/2026
With a $50,000 downpayment, a year ago it would have cost you $2,774 monthly to pay back principal and interest on the mortgage for a $500,000 house. Today, it would cost you $2,979 monthly. That's $200 dollars a month going down the drain because of rising mortgage rates.
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Reposted by Jake Blumgart
Maggie Harrison Dupré @mharrisondupre.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
NEW: Brown Brothers Media is the most successful media company you've never heard of. For years, its success was fueled by AI, fake writers, and fake reporting. When we started asking questions, BBM started mass-deleting content. Somehow, what came next was even worse. futurism.com/artificial-i...
futurism.com
How Three Brothers Built an AI Slop Empire by Buying Legitimate News Sites and Turning Them Into Zombie Content Farms That They Say Get 50 Million Page Views per Month
Brown Brothers Media is a media empire raking in millions of clicks with AI, fake writers, and plagiarism.
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Jake Blumgart @jblumgart.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com
Former labor leader and Democratic power broker Johnny Doc is now a registered Republican
One week after being released from prison and having his sentence commuted, John Dougherty switched parties.
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Jake Blumgart @jblumgart.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
"Garrity has struggled to fundraise and has yet to be able to cash in on Trump’s backing. As of Thursday, she had spent just $300,000 more than Mastriano had at this point in the race." www.inquirer.com/politics/pen...
inquirer.com
Gov. Josh Shapiro spent more than $2.4 million on ads this week. His GOP opponent Stacy Garrity spent $672.
A clearer picture of Shapiro’s latest campaign haul will become available next week, but his ad buys topping $24 million offers early insight into his strategy heading into November.
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Jake Blumgart @jblumgart.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
"The Working Families Party’s chapter in Pennsylvania recently commissioned a poll that showed Brooks as broadly popular with the city’s Democratic primary electorate but with much lower name recognition than Parker." www.inquirer.com/politics/phi...
inquirer.com
Philly City Councilmember Kendra Brooks is considering running for mayor, sources say
A bid for the mayor’s office would pit Brooks, the leader of the city’s Working Families Party, against Parker, a centrist aligned with the Democratic Party establishment.
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Jake Blumgart @jblumgart.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...
inquirer.com
A 43-unit apartment building that preserves historic features is proposed in Old City
Old City is one of the few neighborhoods that still sees condo development. This project could become part of the trend.
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Jake Blumgart @jblumgart.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
The mixed-income apartment project on Chestnut Street - from PHA and Alterra - was meant to break ground early this year after a decade in the pipeline. Instead, further delays at a hollowed out HUD meant a further 9 months of delay and a cost spike: www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...
inquirer.com
Mixed income apartment project in Center City gets its final approval after almost 11 years
The project was planned to replace PHA's former Center City headquarters but has faced years of delays.
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Jake Blumgart @jblumgart.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Earlier this week, an HRP Group executive said that the Bellwether District in South Philly does not have “data center users in our current project pipeline.” www.inquirer.com/politics/phi...
inquirer.com
Mayor Parker has ordered a task force to study data centers in Philly and report back by June
Parker said the issue is of “grave importance.” But activists who have called on the city to pass a moratorium on data centers called her move too little, too late.
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Jake Blumgart @jblumgart.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
To my knowledge, this is the first time a Philly politician has moved to regulate the self-storage industry. In this case, its a ban from lower Northeast Philadelphia: www.inquirer.com/politics/phi...
inquirer.com
Philly City Council returns with dueling plans for the city’s trash | Council roundup
Also this week in Council: One member floated a new structure for the law department and another wants to ban new storage facilities from his district.
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Jake Blumgart @jblumgart.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
City Hall evacuated for suspicious package, but share.inquirer.com/EWhC4m
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Reposted by Jake Blumgart
The Wall Street Journal @wsj.com · 16/09/2026
Breaking: The Fed voted unanimously to raise rates for the first time in three years, and most officials projected one more increase by year-end. on.wsj.com/4xxmco6
wsj.com
Fed Raises Rates for First Time in Three Years
Most officials penciled in one more increase this year. An energy shock and a surge of AI investment have reshaped the inflation outlook.
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Jake Blumgart @jblumgart.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
"Data centers are set to reach 12% of total U.S. electricity demand by 2030, according to Rystad Energy. That’s the equivalent of between 30 and 60 nuclear plants of additional capacity." www.wsj.com/finance/stoc...
wsj.com
An AI Slowdown Has To Happen Regardless of Safety
Plus, it’s Fed day
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Jake Blumgart @jblumgart.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
www.inquirer.com/politics/phi...
inquirer.com
After a messy budget fight, Philly City Council turns to its unfinished business: Trash, taxes, and a new arena
When lawmakers last met in June, they approved a $7.1 billion city budget that left all sides feeling dejected.
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Reposted by Jake Blumgart
Gerry Doyle @mgerrydoyle.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
however much you think the iran war is sapping u.s. military readiness, it's probably more than that. a free link for you, the people www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
bloomberg.com
The Iran Blockade’s Growing Price Tag Is Draining America’s Global Military Power
The cost of naval operations since the buildup began in January has topped $7.1 billion — not including all the US assets being used to escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.
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Reposted by Jake Blumgart
Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
This is a terrific, meticulously reported post-mortem on a catastrophic journalism breakdown.
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Jake Blumgart @jblumgart.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
www.inquirer.com/news/rochell...
inquirer.com
Sheriff Rochelle Bilal’s new undersheriff has resigned just three months into the job
George Gossett Jr. was hired by Sheriff Rochelle Bilal in June to help streamline the struggling office. He has already left to “pursue opportunities in the private sector.”
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Jake Blumgart @jblumgart.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
"Changing rates near an election isn’t unusual; the central bank raised rates before a political convention in 1988 and ahead of elections in 1994, 2004, 2018 and in 2022, when Joe Biden was president." www.wsj.com/economy/cent...
wsj.com
Warsh’s Arrival Ended Trump’s War With the Fed. A Rate Hike Would Test the Truce.
The current chairman criticized the Fed last year for moving too slowly to cut rates. Investors now expect him to start taking those cuts back.
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Reposted by Jake Blumgart
Brian Stelter @brianstelter.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
This jaw-dropping story has become ProPublica's most-read article of 2026, with more than 2.2 million views in the first day, a spokesperson tells me
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Jake Blumgart @jblumgart.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
share.inquirer.com/v7qSP7
share.inquirer.com
Jalen Hurts donated $600,000 for AC at Philadelphia’s largest high school
Fifty-two Philadelphia schools lack air conditioning. The Eagles' star quarterback will cool the auditorium at Northeast High, and said he wants to give more.
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Jake Blumgart @jblumgart.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
"This year’s run-up in mortgage rates, driven primarily by the war in Iran, has kneecapped a housing market that is now well into its fourth year of stagnant sales." www.wsj.com/economy/hous...
wsj.com
The Stagnant Housing Market Is About to Face a 7% Mortgage
The housing market is approaching the highest mortgage rate since January 2025, likely spooking home buyers and home builders even more.
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Reposted by Jake Blumgart
Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
AI doom or not, something has shifted with AI recently. The guardrails that kept AI sitting in a chatbox are gone, the models are better, there's more compute. AI agents are everywhere. They are annoying as hell. IMO the situation is going to get much worse www.404media.co/theres-a-100...
404media.co
There’s a 100% Chance AI Agents Are Already Ruining the Internet
“AI agents” now have enough power and permission to be extremely annoying online.
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Jake Blumgart @jblumgart.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
"Most of the housing construction in core Center City, defined as Vine Street to Pine Street, were units in office-to-residential conversions." www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...
inquirer.com
Center City is a major driver for Philadelphia housing, with room to grow, report says
Two in five homes recently built in Philadelphia were constructed in greater Center City, according to Center City District's latest housing report.
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Reposted by Jake Blumgart
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
“The Miami Herald will no longer have a Miami beat” is the state of local journalism in a nutshell. Really, really bad.
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Jake Blumgart @jblumgart.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Highly recommend you read this story about the veterans of our forever wars share.inquirer.com/0tpmP5
share.inquirer.com
After 9/11, these Pennsylvanians went to war. Here’s how their lives changed.
The stories of these four military veterans, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, offer a glimpse into the experience of countless others whose lives were altered by the wars that followed Sept. 11.
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Reposted by Jake Blumgart
JW Mason @jwmason.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I feel like maybe before AI wipes out humanity and/or renders work obsolete, it might deliver a couple points of faster labor productivity growth.
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Reposted by Jake Blumgart
Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Good lord www.poynter.org/business-wor...
executive ncer micnael
Applegate. The Miami Herald, which had 20 layoffs and eliminated 10 vacant positions, lost its city of Miami and city of Miami Beach beats, said deputy investigations editor Carol Marbin Miller.
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Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
The concept outlined here — called recursive self-improvement (RSI) — seems much more plausible than AI consciousness or human-style cognition. Which is to say, much more frightening.
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Jake Blumgart @jblumgart.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
meanwhile, in Trenton www.inquirer.com/politics/new...
inquirer.com
N.J. Democrats are frustrated with Mikie Sherrill’s handling of allegations against her lieutenant governor: ‘They feel left in the dark’
Gov. Mikie Sherrill has offered few details about an investigation into Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell's alleged inappropriate behavior with women, causing tension in Trenton with lawmakers.
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Reposted by Jake Blumgart
Tim Stephens @proftimstephens.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
“The International Energy Agency estimates that data-center emissions could more than double by 2030—becoming one of the fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gases in the world.” www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
theatlantic.com
Inside the Dirty, Dystopian World of AI Data Centers
The race to power AI is already remaking the physical world.
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Jake Blumgart @jblumgart.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
The Ritz 5 is open again, and you can smell the popcorn from the street www.inquirer.com/business/lan...
inquirer.com
Landmark Ritz Five movie theater is open again
The movie theater failed a city inspection in March and another in August. It was ordered to close on Aug. 25.
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Reposted by Jake Blumgart
Max Read @maxread.info · 04/09/2026
if the hugging face hack sounds like a sci-fi story, that's because it is. literally!
patreon.com
AI is all sci-fi stories all the way down | Read Max
Greetings from Read Max HQ! In today's newsletter, a question: Is it fair to call the Hugging Face hack "three secret AI civilizations"? I t
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Jake Blumgart @jblumgart.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Best thing I have read on the Hugging Face incident so far: www.patreon.com/MaxRead/post...
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Jake Blumgart @jblumgart.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
wild stuff www.inquirer.com/news/philade...
inquirer.com
Johnny Doc is a free man after President Donald Trump cut his six-year prison term short
John Dougherty had served less than two years of a six-year sentence, but President Donald Trump approved a commutation to allow Dougherty to care for his gravely ill wife.
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Jake Blumgart @jblumgart.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
not to be defeatist, but i don't really see how the me worrying about AI is going to do anything www.nytimes.com/2026/09/03/t...
nytimes.com
Why the Hugging Face Hack Should Make You Worry More About A.I.
The attack by an aggressive “collective” of OpenAI agents shows the danger of artificial intelligence systems that organize themselves.
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Jake Blumgart @jblumgart.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
“Boyer said he expects Dougherty will be prohibited under the terms of his release from jumping back into labor and politics right away.” www.inquirer.com/news/philade...
inquirer.com
Johnny Doc’s prison sentence was commuted by President Donald Trump, his lawyer says
John Dougherty's lawyer said he hoped Dougherty could be released from prison as soon as Friday.
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Jake Blumgart @jblumgart.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
"America PAC, Musk’s super PAC, has contributed roughly $12,000 apiece in support of U.S. Reps. Ryan Mackenzie, of Lehigh; Rob Bresnahan, of Lackawanna; and Scott Perry, of York — all GOP incumbents facing tough reelection challenges" www.inquirer.com/politics/ele...
inquirer.com
Elon Musk is throwing his cash around in Pa. again. This time, in support of three GOP lawmakers in swing districts.
Elon Musk's super PAC has contributed roughly $12,000 a piece to benefit GOP U.S. Reps. Ryan Mackenzie, Rob Bresnahan, and Scott Perry.
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