Some hyperlocal (but very interesting imho) news for us Shaw denizens: There's an application for a dog park on a vacant, city-owned piece of land across from Howard Theatre. The site has mostly been full of trash for months, this would be a huge change: dpr.dc.gov/page/north-sha…

The Recall Allen committee says it came up well short of its goal for petition signatures to trigger a special election. They’re asking for it to be on the ballot anyway (good luck with that). So after tens of thousands in spending, this efforts ends with a whimper.

Between the recall committee and the outside spending group supporting it, Allen's opponents spent about $26 per petition signature they garnered. It wasn't nearly enough. Full details on today's big development: washingtoncitypaper.com/article/746479…

New: Bowser's Colonial Village home is getting $525k in taxpayer-funded improvements. The city says these are security upgrades but plans show many seemingly unrelated renovations. The line is pretty blurry here, especially with big donors doing the work: washingtoncitypaper.com/article/746504…

Truly remarkable claims made here by ex-DCHA head Brenda Donald, who basically argues that White’s tough questions about her big bonus payment amounted to on-the-job harassment. Mitch Ryals has the details:

I neglected to mention that I’m on vacation in London (accompanying some Swifties on their Eras Tour journey), and it seems the universe has a funny sense of timing. I’ll be back to discuss The News with all of you later this week…

New: Amidst all the other news out there, Anita Bonds has been mounting a pressure campaign on elections officials to kill Initiative 83. She’s hassled BOE employees over recent decisions, held up appointees and even is contemplating expanding the board: washingtoncitypaper.com/article/746782…

New: Ex-SBOE Rep. Markus Batchelor (who also briefly ran for the Ward 8 Council seat this year) tells me he's "seriously considering" a write-in bid too.

New: A popular DC Instagram account claims Allieu Kamara, the head of the nonprofit at the center of the Trayon White bribery allegations, was assaulted at restaurant in Maryland (likely over assumptions he informed on White). Three different Ward 8 sources confirm this is him.

I hear that the Bowser admin is asking organizations that run out-of-school-time programs to alert them if they work with 2 firms at the center of the Trayon White scandal—Life Deeds and District Services Management—as well as three others without apparent connections to it...

New: Trayon White may be innocent until proven guilty, but Ward 8 politicos are already contemplating a post-Tray future. The maneuvering’s already started for write-in campaigns, a 2025 special election and much more. Here’s the latest: washingtoncitypaper.com/article/747591…

"Things are going to get very weird in Ward 8 over the next few months. A politician who looked pretty much unbeatable as recently as a week ago has become a political pariah. And that presents a huge opportunity," via Alex Koma. washingtoncitypaper.com/article/747591…

Some Initiative 83 news: The D.C. appeals court denied the Board of Elections' push to throw out the D.C. Dems' lawsuit challenging I-83. They're planning oral arguments in October. That could be a big problem for the BOE, which is set to start sending out ballots Sept. 30...

New: Just as Trayon White was allegedly taking bribes from an FBI informant, he was also loaning his re-election campaign $13k. His 2024 campaign needed the cash, as it's $29k in debt. It's more campaign finance problems for the embattled lawmaker: washingtoncitypaper.com/article/747802…

It’s true! Join us for the latest on what’s going on in Ward 8…

After a few quiet days, White is also re-posting messages from supporters/advertising an event I've been hearing about: "Prayers for Redemption for Councilman Trayon White" at Union Temple Baptist Church feat. influential Rev. Willie Wilson + his daughter, Rev. Anika Wilson-Brown