Photo by Rukasu1

>> Councilmember Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) is in. A future mayoral race, that is. The Washington Times reports that the Evans has confirmed that he’ll run for the city’s top spot in the next election, whether it’s a special election forced by Mayor Vince Gray’s resignation or the regularly scheduled 2014 contest. Among other possible contenders, only Councilmember Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) has said he wants to run; Councilmember Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4) hasn’t yet said, and on Friday Councilmember David Catania (I-At Large) took himself out of the running.

>> Though we had a wet weekend, it wasn’t enough to make up for the rain we haven’t had this summer. WTOP writes that much like much of the country, the region has experienced less rainfall this summer than it should—we’re close to seven inches short, all told. We’re not fully in a drought yet, though, since the strong storms that have rolled through consistently have managed to keep us above that level.

>> D.C.’s system for checking which residents qualify for unemployment benefits and which don’t could be better, reports the Examiner. A recent report from the D.C. Inspector General found that the D.C. Department of Employment Services isn’t doing as thorough a job as it should checking to see that residents getting unemployment benefits should actually be getting them.

Briefly Noted: D.C. taxi repair shop manager killed … D.C. opens $200,000 office in Shanghai to attract Chinese investment to city … Streetscape work on Columbia Pike to begin in August … Cuban crocodiles born at National Zoo … 11 D.C. libraries offer free meals to encourage reading.

This Day in DCist: On this in 2011, we were blessed with red pandas. In 2010, plenty of D.C. residents were looking for loan counseling.