Photo by cacophony76

It looks like we’ve got at least one more day of high temperatures and high humidity before a few days of weather that doesn’t make you curse being alive. I’m particularly invested in a few low humidity days — I’ve got no A/C in my third floor room, and sweating myself to sleep every night has long gotten old. It’s moments like these that I understand why many diplomats were given hardship pay to serve in Washington in the era before cooled air existed.

Girls at District Schools Urged to Get HPV Vaccine: The Post reports that girls entering the sixth grade in District schools are being encouraged to get a vaccine against HPV, which can cause cervical cancer. The vaccine, which was approved by the FDA in 2006, remains controversial, with some opponents arguing that it has not been tested enough and others claiming that it would encourage schoolgirls to have sex earlier. In both the District and Virginia, parents can opt out of having their daughters vaccinated; the District abandoned a plan to make the vaccine mandatory a few years ago.

Metro Hires Law Firm for Suits Stemming From Crash: Metro has hired a prominent law firm to replace their in-house counsel in defending against lawsuits stemming from the June crash on the Red Line that killed nine people, writes WTOP. Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker, LLP will be responsible for handling the seven lawsuits that have been filed so far and any further suits to come.

District to Offer Money to New Residents: If living in a fun urban environment isn’t your sort of thing, maybe $3,000 will help you change your mind. The Examiner reports that the District is kicking off a pilot program that will offer $3,000 to District workers for moving into the city. The program, called “Live Near Your Work,” will start with a $90,000 grant from federal stimulus funds for 30 District workers. Blogger and DCist friend Richard Layman offered a thought on the program: “To me, I just wish people were logical and didn’t need financial inducement to make intelligent decisions.”

Briefly Noted: You know, not everyone needs to use Twitter … King’s Dominion to get biggest, fastest roller-coaster on East coast … Newport News jail might house Gitmo detainees.

This Day in DCist On this day in 2008, Michelle Rhee announced that D.C. public school students could get paid for doing well in school. In 2007, the ANSWER Coalition filed suit against the District after being charged to remove posters from city utility boxes.