Photo by Chris DiGiamo.

Good morning, Washington. Yup, it’s still incredibly hot out there. No, that’s not going to change anytime soon. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, to the news!

Taxi Trouble: On the heels of the Post’s report that revealed campaign finance improprieties committed by Mayor Vince Gray’s mayoral campaign, it’s only natural for other media outlets to get in on the fun. The Examiner keeps the train rolling, finding that the Gray campaign didn’t report hundreds of free taxi rides it provided to voters on both election days last fall. According to Freeman Klopott, the rides — which would have cost about $6,000 according to the D.C. Professional Taxicab Drivers Association — are nowhere to be found on the campaign’s financial documents, even though they should have been reported as in-kind donations. Gray again pled ignorance when Klopott asked him about the taxi rides. “Come on, man, I can’t track all of that,” the Mayor said. (For more Gray/taxi fun, check out this City Paper item in which D.C. Professional Taxicab Drivers Association President Nathan Price refutes the Mayor’s assertion that one meeting of the association wasn’t a fundraiser; there was even “a big check they’d gotten from Staples” presented, Price claims.)

Fires At Watergate, 16th Street Apartment Buildings: Several people, including one firefighter, were injured in a fire that broke out on the tenth floor of the Watergate apartment building last night. The flames were contained in one apartment, but two alarms were called in as smoke filled the building’s corridors. A fire also forced an evacuation of an apartment building at 3620 16th Street NW last night.

Rediscover Being Thrown Under The Bus: Some very not nice things being said — anonymously, natch — about Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells by his colleagues on the D.C. Council in this Loose Lips column. “He does not command a lot of respect from councilmembers,” says one. “He’s full of shit sometimes,” says another. Wells is also called “kind of flaky,” “goofy,” “not reliable,” and described as having been “in a slow, downward spiral ever since he got here.” Wells doesn’t seem to care, though. “The feelings of the councilmembers are far less important to me than the feelings of the residents of Ward 6,” he told Alan Suderman.

Briefly Noted: Occasional DCist contributor Chris Klimek examines whether the Fringe Festival has gotten too expensive…Tuesday evening shooting in Columbia Heights believed to be a drive-by…America Eats chef leaves to take job as director of culinary strategy for Capital City Market project…WaPo likes the decision to build Dulles station above-ground…Centreville man shot and killed by police after he refused to drop shotgun…TSA tired of looking at naked people…”You don’t know what that’s like until you hear your stomach ‘grind’ food.”…Welcome home, Atlantis.

This Day in DCist: Last year, a battle between ANC5C and Big Bear Cafe was heating up, we offered up some Restaurant Week recommendations, and people were scaling the escalator facings at the Bethesda Metro station.