September 11: Christopher Sawyer’s Sheriff primary platform | Policing the police on bike lanes | Insurance industry vs. Lyft

Christopher Sawyer of the Philadelinquency blog previews his platform for a possible run against Sheriff Jewell Williams next year: “Sheriff sales will increase to 1,500-2,000 a month and a prioritization scheme will be put in place to ensure that vacant properties and properties owned by absentee investors go to auction first, and properties that have active homeowners living in them will be scheduled last.”

US DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx addressed the Pro-Walk, Pro-Bike, Pro-Place conference here in Pittsburgh and drove home his agency’s commitment to winning more bike and pedestrian infrastructure funding in the next transportation bill.

Zach Billet at This Old City wants cyclists to step up the #unblockbikelanes Twitter campaign, and call out cops who park in bike lanes. “Next time you see a Philadelphia police car parked in a bike lane, tweet a photo with the hashtag #unblockbikelanes and direct it to @PhillyPolice including the squad car number.”

Should City Council members have to take public transit to work? Eric Jaffe at CityLab makes the case that the people who make decisions about transit should have direct experience riding the bus or train. 

The Pennsylvania Insurance Federation wants ride-share drivers to be required to carry (more expensive) commercial insurance all the time, as opposed to being covered by Uber and Lyft’s commercial insurance when they’re en route to picking up customers.

Fire sale: a South Florida developer bid $94 million on the $2.4 billion Revel casino property.

The William Penn Foundation awarded the Free Library of Philadelphia $25 million – the largest grant in its history, and the largest William Penn grant ever. $7 million will support the ongoing renovation of the Parkway Central Library and a new small business and entrepreneurial center there, while “[t]he bulk of the gift – $18 million – will go toward renovating a handful of neighborhood libraries. It goes a long way toward a $40 million “Building Inspiration” campaign to tailor branch libraries to fit the specific needs of their communities.”