Good morning, Washington. Today’s weather should start out sunny and beautiful, but the afternoon might bring some thunderstorms. But we’ve got it easy. Hurricane Rita continues to bear down on Texas and Louisiana, and although it now looks like Houston and Galveston will be spared from the worst of the storm, Rita’s recent change in direction could be bad news for area refineries and a still-vulnerable New Orleans. The D.C. area is preparing for…

Don’t get used to those decreasing gas prices just yet — Hurricane Rita’s tear through the Gulf of Mexico and into Texas may well set off another round of jumps that may put Hurricane Katrina’s $3 a gallon to shame. News reports find that Rita — which has already forced refineries in the Galveston, Texas area to shut down — could push gas prices beyond the $5 mark nationally, meaning that the District, one…