The District’s Parks and Rec department has been hosting teen parties since 2021. This summer, they're as popular as ever.

“So is Washington, D.C. its own state?” I was asked this morning by a friendly car-rental clerk in Vancouver as he inspected my driver’s license. “It’s complicated,” was all I could respond. (To his credit, he did not mistake it with Washington state, which I have gotten lots.)

Interesting: The D.C. Office of Campaign Finance has denied @janeese4dc.bsky.social’s motion for reconsideration of the $16,000 in fines for impermissibly coordinating with a labor union ahead of the primary. The denial, dated June 23, was quietly posted last Friday. ocf.dc.gov/release/jane...

Less than a week until @notus.com launches our @notusmetro.bsky.social newsletter, authored by @maustermuhle.bsky.social and me!! We'll have daily news, scoops, trivia, @tomsietsema.bsky.social's food recs — need I say more? Sign up here: www.notus.org/metro-newsle...

Interesting: @chmnmendelson.bsky.social has introduced a bill for D.C. to enter into a public-private partnership with D.C. United to build a roof on Audi Field “in order to realize more than one hundred new events annually” at the eight-year-old soccer stadium. lims.dccouncil.gov/Legislation/B2…

Getting solar panels is an easy way to bring down your electric bill in D.C. But what if it’s making everyone else’s bills higher? A dive into why addressing political demands for action on high electric bills is complicated, in @notus.com: www.notus.org/metro/solar-...

Sad, but so damn proud of what Switzerland pulled off. 🇨🇭 Along with Cabo Verde and Egypt, they did what needed to be done: Humbled Argentina. Now it’s up to England to finish them off. Let’s do this. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Be warned: I’m in Vancouver visiting family and I’m going to be nerding out so hard on all things urbanism, starting with some of the city’s awesome residential buildings. Starting with this one, which looks amazing from all angles.

Friday news dump of sorts: @mayorbowser.dc.gov is introducing a housing bill that, among other things, proposes a number of changes to the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), which broadly gives tenants the first crack at buying their building when it hits the market.

It seems like some of the main proponents of Initiative 83, which brought ranked-choice voting to D.C., aren't happy with the D.C. Council's emergency fix. Here's @miguelfordc.bsky.social, a Ward 1 ANC and former council candidate, calling it "a half-baked solution at breakneck pace":

Interesting: Earlier this week the Restaurant Association of D.C. released new data is says shows that "closures among D.C.'s mid-priced restaurants fell sharply by 54%" in first half of 2026. The group says the D.C. Council's pause on Initiative 82 and changes to the tipped wage are the reason.

Interesting: Next week the D.C. Council will vote on an emergency bill to cancel the annual July tax lien sale, when liens on homes with unpaid property tax bills are sold to private individuals/businesses to help collect the debt and foreclose on homes if debts aren't settled.

NEWS: The D.C. Council is taking up an emergency bill next Tuesday to change how votes are tabulated in the election for two At-Large CMs in November. Concerns were raised that the existing ranked-choice voting tabulation system would lock some voters out of choosing both seats.

Today a D.C. Council committee advanced a bill that would make changes to the city's ballot initiative process, which lets normal residents propose legislation to be voted on during citywide elections. The biggest change: Only one topic per initiative, not multiple.

This is pretty cool: The Capital Stonewall Democrats have a very handy online guide and questionnaire on running for ANC in D.C. While the goal is to increase the number of LGBTQ+ commissioners, anyone can use this to get lots of handy info. queeringancs.org

Interesting: @chenderson.bsky.social has a new bill that would require D.C. to create an *online* version of the health and dental health forms all parents have to submit to their schools to enroll their kids. She says the current paper form is "arcane" and an "unnecessary... burden."

I checked with the Teamsters, who have been most vocally opposed to Waymo, and they told me it’s not them.

With the D.C. Council set to hold a hearing on Monday on a bill that would legalize Waymo and other self-driving cars, I've started getting ads urging residents and lawmakers to oppose the bill. It's unclear who is behind them, but a number of local unions tell me it's not them.

🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭 I AM TAKING THE REST OF THE WEEK TO PROCESS WHAT HAPPENED 🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭 oh crap we have to play Argentina next

Interesting: On Thursday @cmcharlesallen.bsky.social is holding an invite-only roundtable in the D.C. Council on a 10-cent bottle- and can-deposit bill that was introduced by @brianneknadeau.bsky.social last year. He's already proposing some changes to ease compliance costs on local businesses.

Interesting: Another provision of the final budget bill the D.C. Council will vote on tomorrow would clarify that peer-to-peer carsharing services like Turo have to pay the prevailing sales tax on car rentals (currently 10.25%) instead of just the normal sales tax (now 6%).

Interesting: The final budget bill the D.C. Council will vote on tomorrow includes a new provision requiring the D.C. CFO to report by the end of Jan. 2027 on how the city would implement a new business activity tax. @janeese4dc.bsky.social advocated for this new tax during her mayoral run.

There's been plenty of attention paid to the drama at the Kennedy Center, but there's also been leadership turmoil and staff upheaval at D.C.'s Arena Stage in Southwest. Good story in @notus.com: www.notus.org/metro/arena-...

It’s official: A campaign to ban the sale of foie gras in D.C. has submitted some 45,000 signatures to the elections board to get the initiative on the November ballot. The signatures will now be reviewed; some 28,000 are needed for ballot access.

D.C.'s official 311 app broke, so an enterprising resident decided to build his own. City officials are less than entertained by the renegade app, while civic hackers say D.C. could learn a little something from them: www.notus.org/metro/washin...

My early morning bike ride started hazy, and as I wrapped up I decided to check the air quality map. Not looking great…

NEWS: Wellpoint D.C., one of the three providers of Medicaid services in D.C., will be leaving the city as of August 1. It serves roughly 50k of the 250k Medicaid enrollees in D.C. It's contract, awarded in 2022, was set to run through 2028.

I rarely open random PR pitches that are emailed to me, but this one absolutely caught me eye: "What the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool can teach homeowners about pool care." Well done, PR person.

🚨 Attention D.C.! @notus.com launches a daily local newsletter July 20, authored by @maustermuhle.bsky.social and me. Sign up and be the first to enterprising local news and sports stories you won't get anywhere else, and, ofc, for @tomsietsema.bsky.social's recs. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

HEY, YOU. Are you into D.C. news? Then sign up for the @notus.com local newsletter, which we're going to start sending out on July 20. It'll be fun and informative; we'll have hard news, sports, quirks and curiosities, and much more. SIGN UP HERE: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

A tidbit: The proponents of the ballot initiative that would ban the sale of foie gras in D.C. tell me they have collected 43,000 signatures to get it on the November ballot. As long as 28,728 of those are valid, they should be in the clear. Background: www.notus.org/metro/foie-g...

Interesting: At a D.C. Council hearing on transportation planning for the new Commanders stadium, @cmcharlesallen.bsky.social says that @mayorbowser.dc.gov's office did not allow Brian Hanlon, the government's point person on the stadium development, to attend. Allen calls it "deeply disappointing."

World Cup emotional swings: Crushed to see the Netherlands lose so badly, excited to see Norway advance but sad it’s at the expense of Ivory Coast, pumped for France, desperate to see Brazil destroyed, and, most importantly, ready to see Switzerland WIN IT ALL. 🇨🇭💪

NEWS: D.C.’s CFO says the city’s revenue picture is unchanged from February, which is probably as good news as anyone could expect right now. Revenue “appears to be steady,” but: “Almost all key District economic indicators have turned negative.”

This morning at its monthly breakfast the D.C. Council seems very split on how to proceed on a bill from @cmcharlesallen.bsky.social to rein in secondary market ticket-selling platforms like StubHub. Allen initially proposed a price cap on those sales, but @brianneknadeau.bsky.social has removed it.

Interesting: Because of the extreme heat expected later this week, D.C. officials say they will be opening some recreation centers on Friday and Saturday (when they would usually be closed because of the holiday) to be used as cooling centers.

The entire draft master plan is here: ourrfk.dc.gov/page/rfk-cam...

NEWS: D.C. has unveiled its master plan for the retail, residential, and recreational development that will happen around the $3.7 billion Commanders stadium at the RFK site. Up to 6,000 homes, 1,200 hotel rooms, acres of parkland, and more: www.notus.org/metro/rfk-st...

HOLY PARAGUAY WHAT JUST HAPPENED

My 12-year-old to me, just now: “You’re chronically offline.” Not sure if to be offended or proud.

Lil reminder that @notus.com launches our local newsletter in just a few weeks! Sign up here for great reporting (like this) that you won't find anywhere else. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Interesting: D.C. will soon start looking for a new lottery operator under a five-year, $130 million contract. The current lottery is being managed by Greek gaming company Intralot, which had plenty of headaches when it also got the chance to run a sports-betting app.

D.C. law says an agency director can only serve in an interim capacity for six months; if they serve beyond that timeframe, they can't be paid as the director. But the law has been ignored for years, and in some cases D.C. agencies haven't had permanent directors for a long time.

Metro has been cracking down on fare evasion in the transit system, but thousands of the tickets it has handed out in D.C. are regularly being tossed out of court. That's making some wonder if D.C.'s law is essentially toothless. In @notus.com: www.notus.org/metro/dc-met...

In a post, President Trump says he will meet with @janeese4dc.bsky.social to warn her that he will “not let [D.C.] be destroyed by a communist adherent.” He also says she supports “so many… Capital destroying ‘things’” like cashless bail, defunding the police, and more.

Interesting: Events D.C. is selling the rights to the estimated 65,000 seats in the new Commanders stadium to the team for a max price of $975 million (but it could be lower). The team will them be able to sell personal seat licenses to fans to cover construction costs.

UPDATE: Sorry to be the bearer of tough news, but D.C. is moving to close the loophole of sorts that a local attorney managed to use to successfully challenge a speeding ticket he got. Read on for the nerdy details.

Interesting: D.C. will pay an undisclosed settlement to resident Sam O'Hara, who was handcuffed by MPD for playing the "Imperial March" tune from Star Wars while walking behind National Guard troops in the city last September, per the ACLU of D.C. O'Hara was detained for 20 minutes.

What are the chances that my AC craps out just as we’re in peak arguing-on-social-media-about-Europe’s-lack-of-AC, and I’m also a European native living in the U.S.?

Interesting: A federal judge has struck down a D.C. law that prohibited therapists from outside the city from doing online consultations with D.C. clients, saying it's a violation of the First Amendment. ij.org/press-releas...