Good morning. This is the NOTUS Metro newsletter for Sept. 3, 2026. You can get it in your inbox every day by signing up here — it’s free!
THE LATEST
Are you going to get a ballot in the mail for November’s D.C. elections?
Under normal circumstances, the answer would be simple: Yes. Since the pandemic, the D.C. Board of Elections has been mailing every registered voter a ballot ahead of every election, and voters seem to have embraced voting from home. In the June primary, 63% of voters opted to use a mail ballot instead of heading to a polling place.
Trending
But President Donald Trump’s push to make voting by mail harder has injected fresh uncertainty into November’s elections. He’s ordered the U.S. Postal Service to increase its scrutiny and handling of mail ballots, prompting warnings and litigation from some groups that say the plan will create chaos — and potentially disenfranchise many voters.
“Until we hear otherwise, we’re proceeding as we otherwise would,” says Monica Evans, the director of the D.C. elections board. She tells NOTUS that continued uncertainty as to whether Trump’s plan will come to fruition won’t interrupt the work her office has to do to mail out more than 450,000 ballots to D.C. voters at the end of September.
“Being in elections, we’re used to being flexible,” she adds. “Sadly, it’s one of the things the powers that be don’t understand: There’s lead time to anything, so you can’t waive a magic wand and do something. There are some processes you can’t just undo.” Evans says D.C. has already paid a vendor to handle mail ballots for November; should Trump upend those plans, the city cannot recoup that money.
The main concern from some quarters is that USPS just wouldn’t be able to do what it’s been charged with, including creating master lists of voters who are permitted to get mail ballots. Evans shares that worry. “I have no earthly idea how USPS is equipped with maintaining accurate registration data that is real-time and current,” she says.
For now, all Evans can hope for is a final answer on how November’s elections will be conducted. “Things are changing almost daily,” she says. “Every morning I am checking my email to see where we are.”
FROM THE DISTRICT
The Kennedy Center has removed a famous outdoor sculpture from its grounds, the latest in a series of changes made as part of Trump’s takeover of the storied arts institution, NOTUS’ Avani Kalra reports.
Ward 8 council member Trayon White is speaking out ahead of his upcoming trial on federal bribery charges. “I feel really good and encouraged about my trial. I’m in good spirits. … I trust my legal team,” he said in a video posted on his Instagram account.
White also encouraged D.C. residents to answer jury summonses, arguing that while the District is plurality Black, those numbers aren’t reflected on city juries. “I can’t do this without getting the opportunity to have a jury of my peers. I’m not going to say that all Black people support me, all non-Black people do or don’t,” he said. “I want to make sure those in my community ... take this very seriously.”
D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb is suing a prominent and well-connected local developer over what he says are “shocking” conditions at a residential building in Northeast. Schwalb is asking a court to order the developer, Buwa Binitie, to make immediate repairs at Delta Pearl on Florida Avenue Northwest and offer restitution to residents.
A sports-centric game plan: In a news conference Wednesday, Mayor Muriel Bowser and Destination D.C. — the city’s official marketing organization — said they expect a crowded slate of major sporting events will breathe new life into the District over the next year, NOTUS’ Shamira Muhammad reports. The city will host the NFL draft in April, and officials expect around 1 million visitors. The District will also host the National Women’s Soccer League final in November and men’s college hockey Frozen Four in the spring.
The hope is that these events will create business and jobs. Bowser said expecting a one-for-one return of federal jobs was “foolhardy.” “So all of our focus in attracting jobs is on the private sector, be it sports, hospitality, tech, across higher ed, hospitals, across all industries,” she said. “We’re recruiting.”
FROM VIRGINIA
A federal judge has temporarily blocked Virginia’s new limits on local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities until a legal challenge is settled, WTOP reports.
FROM MARYLAND
Are you fur real? The Maryland Renaissance Festival has banned furries from attendance this year, City Cast D.C. reports. The anthropomorphic costumes were making people uncomfortable, organizers said — and they’re ahistorical anyways.
TALK TO TOM
Tom Sietsema is back answering your questions about the D.C. dining scene. Submit your questions here.
My husband and I are going out to celebrate our 10th anniversary — without our two kids, for the first time in ages. Can you recommend some grown-up restaurants?
High on your list should be empire builder Stephen Starr’s tribute to old-school fine dining, the dashing, multistory Occidental near the White House, where servers in white jackets navigate the dining rooms, ferrying elegant pigs in a blanket, playful crab-stuffed avocado, fine steaks, and such oldies but goodies as ham with pineapple rings and pheasant under glass. Dessert is practically mandatory, especially anything prepared table-side and featuring fire.
For Italian, look into the bustling L’Ardente, home to such whimsical dishes as the 40-layer lasagna and a menu that hews to owner David Deshaies’ “simple but elegant” mantra; for French, I adore the tiny Lutèce in Georgetown, which uses the old name for Paris and offers some of the most artful cooking this side of The Inn at Little Washington. If you want something that puts you on a trip to Tokyo, Omakase @ Barracks Row seats guests at a long marble counter, behind which the star of the show, chef Ricky Wang, creates wonders from raw fish while a service director narrates the performance.
In the full Q&A: Eating invasive species, planning a high school reunion and finding caviar that won’t break the bank.
SPORTS
The Commanders have finally found some relief from the injury bug. Starters K’Lavon Chaisson, Nick Allegretti and Bill Croskey-Merritt all returned to practice this week after extended absences. Linebacker Odafe Oweh will return to practice next week, which means every presumed starter will be back in the fold ahead of a Week 1 meeting with the Eagles.
“I’m excited for the group to get together,” coach Dan Quinn said Wednesday. “It’s challenging, for sure, because there’s timing that goes with it. There’s movements, but it’s nice to see that.”
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The newsletter was produced by Jaden Amos, Michael Errigo and Nikie Johnson. Kennedy Center photo by Mark Schiefelbein/AP. Talk to Tom photo by Kainaz Amaria/NOTUS.
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