Photo by MAK Imagery

Good morning, Washington. Are you worried about local bridges? Maybe you should be. TBD reports that 12 percent of the District’s 244 bridges are considered “structurally deficient,” making us the worst jurisdiction in the region on this measure. Problematic bridges include the Key Bridge and 14th Street Bridge, though the latter is slowly being rehabbed. Earlier this week, though, DDOT program director Ronaldo “Nick” Nicholson told WTOP that “relative to the rest of the country, [Washington’s bridges] are in good shape” and there isn’t a bridge in the District that’s at a “dangerous level.”

Council Investigation into Gray Hiring Practices Continues: Today, the D.C. Council will hold a third hearing on the shady hiring practices by the administration of Mayor Vince Gray, reports the Examiner. But because a number of potential witnesses have either said they would plead the Fifth (former Gray campaign aide Howard Brooks) or haven’t yet been serve a subpoena to appear (oh Sulaimon Brown, come out from wherever you’re hiding), the only person that will be grilled today will be former Human Resources director Judy Banks. It’s her second time facing Councilmember Mary Cheh’s (D-Ward 3) inquiring committee, but this time she’ll have to correct the record on the role she played in hiring Brandon Webb, the son of former Department of Employment Services Director Rochelle Webb.

Swain Fired Because of Gray Campaign Promise: I don’t often delve into taxicab politics, simply because I don’t know much about them, other than they can be really complicated and really testy. But today, both the Post and City Paper try to explain why Mayor Gray fired D.C. Taxicab Commissioner Leon Swain this week, and the reason seems simple — Gray promised cab drivers, who supported him during last year’s contested mayoral campaign, that he would. (There’s also an alternate theory that he was pink-slipped because of his role on the United Medical Center board, which Gray wanted to undo so he could sell the publicly held Southeast hospital.)

Renters With Vouchers Often Discriminated Against: The Post notes that a report has found that 45 percent of renters that have federal housing vouchers are discriminated against while seeking a place to live in the District, a violation of the D.C. Human Rights Act. The City Paper’s Lydia DePillis additionally reports that while that’s bad — and overwhelmingly affects African American renters — it’s actually an improvement from 2005, when the rate of discrimination stood at 61 percent.

Briefly Noted: Events being planned around August 28 inauguration of MLK Memorial … Mandatory royal wedding mention … Fourth D.C. juvenile escapee caught … D.C. forum will focus on sexual assault.

This Day in DCist: On this day in 2010, the D.C. Council debated imposing a tax on soft drinks and we got a first look at Ray’s the Steaks East River. In 2009, pretty much all of Cleveland Park was woken up at 5:30 a.m. courtesy of an alarm at UDC.