🎃 Happy October!

🌤️ Today's weather: Mostly sunny, with a high of 85 and a low of 65.

🎂 Happy birthday to our member Mary Ann Bleeke!

Today’s newsletter is 760 words — a 3-minute read.

The average D.C. resident bikes 40 miles every year — ranking 13th among big U.S. cities, per data from StreetLight.

Why it matters: Two recent fights — over President Trump's East Potomac golf course makeover and Connecticut Avenue bike lanes — are putting D.C.'s long-running debate over bike access back in the spotlight.

Driving the news: While a final design hasn't been put out, Trump was seen carrying a rendering of the new East Potomac links that appeared to wipe out the popular 3-mile perimeter loop.

• That's worrying cyclists, runners and other locals like Davey Hearn, the Olympian canoeist who was accused of vandalizing the Reflecting Pool. Hearn will headline a protest against the East Potomac plan on Sunday, Washingtonian reports.
• "Davey will speak to us about the importance of standing up for our rights and celebrating these great spaces," says Kalli Krumpos of the Washington Area Bicyclists Association.

Zoom out: The East Potomac fight comes as cycling advocates renew their push for more protected bike lanes across the city.

• Dozens of cyclists jammed up traffic on Connecticut Avenue during Wednesday morning's rush hour, calling for the city to revive a scrapped bike lane project.
• D.C. studied adding bike lanes to Connecticut Avenue for over three years, before killing off the idea in 2024. Those opposed: Some shops and restaurants who worried about a loss of parking for customers and 2,700 residents who signed a petition.

What we're watching: The next mayor will inherit the debate.

• Likely-next mayor Janeese Lewis George's picks for key posts — transportation director, namely — could determine whether projects like the Connecticut Avenue bike lanes get another look, even if they can't control what happens on federal land like East Potomac Park.

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A Federal Reserve watchdog found no criminal wrongdoing by former chair Jerome Powell in its investigation of the central bank's expensive headquarters renovation, according to a report released yesterday.

Why it matters: The findings effectively clear Powell after the Justice Department opened an unprecedented criminal investigation into then-Fed chair, which became public in January.

What they're saying: "At no point during our evaluation did we find reasonable grounds to believe that a violation of federal criminal law had occurred requiring a referral to the U.S. Attorney General," the Office of Inspector General wrote in the report.

• The watchdog added that it "did not identify administrative misconduct during our evaluation."

Yes, but: While the report clears Powell, it faults Fed management and oversight of the project as construction costs more than doubled to $2.5 billion.

• The Fed "did not take numerous actions available to it that could have better controlled costs and mitigated some of the significant construction cost increases," the report says.

Flashback: The renovation became a flashpoint in President Trump's broader campaign against Powell and the Fed.

• Trump toured the construction site with Powell in July 2025 and publicly challenged him over the project's soaring costs.

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🦟 President Trump is going after D.C.'s mosquitos, ordering Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to "develop and implement a campaign" that would cut their population by 90% and the number of ticks by half. The timeline would be two years, using "commonsense, non-chemical, technology-enabled measures." (WaPo)

Ⓜ️ Council members still want Metro to consider building a new, second station to serve the RFK Stadium redevelopment. General manager Randy Clarke says it's not feasible, but council member Charles Allen wants it to be given more consideration. (CityCast)

💰 The tab for keeping the National Guard fed? The Defense Department spent $49 million on meals since October 2025 for troops deployed in D.C., per contracts, and could spend $20 million more through the end of the year. (Washington Sun)

🥗 Sweetgreen's co-CEO joined a panel at the MAHA Summit headlined by RFK Jr. and JD Vance, saying the movement's focus on "real food" is already in the D.C.-born company's DNA. But the salad chain — whose customer base may not share MAHA's broader politics — says healthy eating shouldn't be partisan. (Washingtonian)

A time capsule was buried on the Monument grounds on Tuesday, commemorating U.S.-U.K. ties.

• Inside the titanium box: Letters from King Charles III and President Trump, and soil from George Washington's Mount Vernon.

It'll be opened 250 years later, in 2276.

We're back from the retreat in Atlanta!

Today's newsletter was edited by Alexa Mencia Orozco.