Photo of the Mrs. District of Columbia/Mrs. Maryland pageant on June 25 in Frederick, Md. by IntangibleArts

• Drivers in Washington, D.C. average one accident every 5.4 years, giving them the most dangerous collective driving record in the country. [AP via WUSA]
• On the Brookland neighborhood email list, one resident shares how a D.C. 311 operator suggested she develop some CSI-inspired detective skills to figure out how to return a found purse to its owner — because if the caller “turned in the handbag to the police, she didn’t know what might happen to it.” [via City Desk]
• Looks like the city’s Summer Youth jobs program was able to pay its workers for the first time this week without any problems. Payroll for the program has been mired in problems for several years. [D.C. Wire]
• “Can we catalyze neighborhood retail, or are nightlife destinations like U Street, Adams Morgan, or Gallery Place, big-box meccas like Columbia Heights, or major mall-like chain-store centers like Georgetown or Friendship Heights the only viable options for urban neighborhoods?” [Greater Greater Washington]
• Some wannabe car thieves punched a pregnant woman in the stomach in Anne Arundel County, Md. today. Stay classy, guys. It’s unclear how the woman is doing after the attack. [WaPo]
• Happy 40th anniversary of the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty! [The New Republic]
• Oh, and happy Canada Day, too! “Canada Day celebrates not Canadian independence, but the passage of the British North America Act of 1867, which established the Canadian Confederation by uniting four separate British colonies — the Province of Canada, the Province of New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia — into a single consolidated political entity.” [Matthew Yglesias]