Good morning, Washington. Yesterday we started the Morning Roundup by noting the early stages of what seems likely to be the end of Sen. Larry Craig’s political career. Today we have cheerier news: the resumption of another senator’s work. Sen. Tim Johnson is back on the job after suffering a brain hemorrhage eight months ago. D.C. Has A Budget Surplus: NBC4 has the goods. Apparently the city collected about $100 million more in tax…

Continuing our brief series on the new and shiny members of the art community, we move from the chaotic to the highly structured, with recent Maryland Institute College of Art, MFA recipient Courtney Jordan. Smitten with art and mostly self-taught, Jordan’s paintings and ink drawings breathe new life into the architecture we’ve stopped seeing for all its designed beauty. Having grown up in New York, she’s drawn to bridges and industrial creations. Irvine Contemporary was…

Though the galleries are usually slow in the summer, we still get the occasional rainstorm during the drought. And what better weekend to take a walk outside and sooth your overheated body than this one, which looks to be the blessed fever break from our soul-crushing heat wave? When you’re ready to hit the cool(er) Friday evening air, many of the city’s galleries will be open and waiting with heaven-sent A/C and thirst quenching libations….