Good morning, Washington. The final Friday of July handed the District its latest heat record to boast (though breaking these feels less and less noteworthy as the blazing summer rages on). A temperature of 104 was recorded at Reagan National Airport yesterday afternoon, which blew past a record of 99 set in 1993, and it looks like July 2011 is going to be the hottest month ever in the District. D.C. kicked off the month in the 90s, and barring a freak weather event that’s where we’ll finish it. Only six July days have featured high temperatures below 90. Fortunately, this weekend delivers a breeze with today nearly 10 degrees cooler than yesterday.
>> The Capital Weather Gang takes a moment to draw parallels between February 2010’s “Snowmaggedon” and this summer’s “Sweat Ceiling.”
>> Despite briefly lifting its drinking ban last week, it was a “no” from Metro Friday on whether riders could drink water on the transit system. Sensible or unethical?
>> I’m incredulous at how many weekends I’ve been obligated to report on the debt ceiling. The Senate voted against Speaker John Boehner’s debt limit package Friday night, just two hours after the House narrowly passed it. Are we now looking toward finding a compromise that can truly win the support of the House, Senate and the White House? (On a side note, Apple now has more cash lying around than the U.S. Treasury.) To bring it home, DCist reminds us what a potential federal default could mean for the District, and Councilmember Tommy Wells says we may be voteless but we’re not voiceless.
>> In sports, it was a tough comeback for pitcher Chien-Ming Wang in his first major league appearance in two years with the Washington Nationals suffering an 8-5 loss to the New York Mets Friday night; five players needed IV’s after the first day of Redskins training camp; and a 28-year-old Frederick High School graduate hopes to land a spot on the 2012 U.S. Olympic team as a Greco-Roman heavyweight.
>> Metro track work this weekend sounds even more dire than usual.
>> Peter Gwynn is one of 206 D.C. public school teachers who were fired this month for poor performance under the IMPACT evaluation system, but Gwynn believes he was terminated because of his blog, Mr. Teachbad, where he wrote that lazy students should “piss off.” Perhaps.
>> Cleo Powell will become the first black woman to serve on Virginia’s Supreme Court. She was elected by unanimous votes in the House and the Senate on Friday.
>> The lane closings on the northbound span of the 14th Street Bridge are about to end after two years of construction. Now we begin a three-month pile-driving project at Reagan National Airport which could mean overnight noise and vibration for people who live along the Potomac River.
>> U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says it warned the University of Northern Virginia that it planned to withdraw its authorization to admit foreign students. It’s unclear why the action was taken.
>> The Washington Examiner offers some context around Montgomery County’s proposed curfew that would ban teens after midnight, reporting that crime reports show most crimes committed by youth in Silver Spring occur in the afternoon and evening.
>> Obama’s Twitter fail.
>> Should we risk it?
>> Your dose of Saturday cute.
