Photo by jagosaurus.

Good morning, Washington. It has finally arrived, the day when yours truly officially moves from being a guy who writes about baseball cards and pedestrian safety on Saturdays and Sundays to a professional blogger. I’ve got to offer a massive thank you to Kriston Capps, Martin Austermuhle, Amanda Mattos, Heather Goss, Jamie Liu, and every other DCist staff member who stepped in over the last two-plus weeks so that I’d be able to start things on a high note. Without them, it would have been a dry transitional phase.

I’m sure most of our dedicated readers are expecting a long, drawn out introduction — but eh, it’s just not my style. Let’s get down to work, shall we?

How Hot Was It?: We’re reading headlines like “Spontaneous combustion blamed for deck fire,” that’s how hot. Yesterday was another record-breaking day of heat, while today will mark the tenth consecutive day of temperatures in the nineties. We’re told by reliable sources that a much needed cool down is on its way, so hang in there.

Good News on HIV/AIDS: National HIV Testing Day is upon us, so how about some promising statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention? The CDC reports that newly diagnosed AIDS cases in the District decreased from 164 cases per 100,000 people in 2004 to 107 in 2008. Additionally, the amount of the population that has been tested for HIV increased four percent from 2005 to 2007.

We’ve Come A Long Way, Baby: JDLand, which covers the bevy of neighborhoods near Nationals Park, maps 64 violent deaths which occurred in the blog’s stomping ground between the years of 1987 and 2004. JD editorializes: “It turns me into an old codger to say it, but it’s really true: those of you who didn’t live in the DC area in the late 1980s and 1990s really have no concept of what Washington and its residents went through in those years.” That’s true. But once you wrap your head around the fact that JD’s admittedly incomplete data only represents about one percent of the homicides that happened in D.C. over that seventeen-year time frame, we’ve obviously been doing something right around here the last few years.

Briefly Noted: Some Sunday morning Metro riders weren’t subject to higher rates due to software glitch…Big Chair Coffee applies for liquor license…Shih Tzu puppy wins Best of Show at 17th Annual Pride of Pets Dog Show…Arlington native is the new Miss Virginia…Manute Bol funeral, open to press and public, to be held Tuesday morning at National Cathedral.

This Day in DCist: Ah, the vehicles of mayoral candidates: in 2007, Vince Gray had his car towed by the U.S. Park Police, while in 2006, we wondered when the Smart Car — Mayor Fenty’s auto of choice — would be making its way to Washington.