Photo by Laura Padgett.

Good morning, Washington. After yesterday’s record-breaking heat, today we fall back from infernally hot to simply uncomfortably hot. Huzzah! Over the weekend, we’ll be holding steady at awkwardly swampy, while early next week sees a return to springtime pleasant. But the jokes really on us: this is only the prequel to the summer to come. Sigh.

Commuting by Water Off to a Slow Start: If you lived in Southwest and worked in Georgetown, would you take a boat across the Potomac to get to the office? Not many people would, it seems. The Post reports on the slow attempts to set up a water taxi in the District to ferry commuters across local waterways as a means to avoid normal day-to-day traffic. One company entered the market hoping for the best, but the $8 cost and 30-minute one-way trip from Southwest to the Georgetown Harbor didn’t attract many commuters. Regardless, officials in Virginia, Maryland and the District are still looking for ways to use the Potomac as a means to get people around, whether for work or simply for pleasure. One ambitious plan considering in 2009 would ferry people back and forth between Woodbridge and the District — though $30 million in capital improvements are needed to even get the idea off the ground.

The Jack Johnson Commemorative Legacy Book Can Be Yours For Free!: If these ever get out of the warehouse they’re stored in, you too could own an ironic piece of Prince George’s County history. The Post writes that before his November 2010 arrest, disgraced former County Executive Jack Johnson used public funds to print up 275,000 copies of a glossy 28-page booklet touting his eight-year tenure. Those booklets are now sitting in a warehouse, likely headed for the shredder, since, well, Johnson’s career won’t be remembered for much more than his arrest and admission of guilt for corruption. Printing the booklets cost the county $226,000, but at least it’ll save on the estimated $275,000 it would cost to mail them to every household.

Vincent Orange Offers Up His Services: On the very same day that Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr. (D-Ward 5) gave up his spot atop the D.C. Council’s Economic Development Committee, the obvious question became who would take over. If it were up to Councilmember Vincent Orange (D-At Large), Vincent Orange would take over. The Washington Times reports on Orange’s bid to claim the committee’s chairmanship, one he made clear with a press release sent out the same night that Thomas relinquished his spot. Orange argues that he experience in government — he served two terms on the council representing Ward 5 — would serve him well on the committee; detractors argue that Orange made a mistake by throwing his name into the ring so quickly. For the time being, the committee’s responsibilities will be assumed by the whole council, but it will be up to Council Chair Kwame Brown to pick a permanent replacement after the summer recess.

Briefly Noted: Comcast and strip club owner topped donations to Harry Thomas, Jr.’s questionable non-profit … Maryland couple face charges of forced labor and domestic servitude … Obama escapes D.C. heat, heads to Camp David … Water main breaks in Northwest.

This Day in DCist: On this day in 2010, former DCist editor Sommer Mathis said her goodbyes and Ted Leonsis had something to say about…ketchup. Back in 2009, Screen on the Green was saved and two people were shot, one fatally, at the Holocaust Museum.