Photo by yomaullman.

Good morning, Washington. It looks like we’re in for a teensy bit of a break from the oppressive heat today, with temperatures only slated to hit the mid-90s. With the heat so high, it’s easy to get depressed by stories like this one: James Russell, a homeless man in Northeast — intending to create a city basketball league for young men — had “dozens” of players pay him $50, then vanished after the first day. Shafting poor families and young adults out of money? Man, that’s low. The worst part is that the speeches Russell gave to the participants are now just another empty promise for young people who have probably heard more than their fair share of such things. The Post actually tracked down Russell in New Jersey, where he listed a barrage of hollow excuses for absconding with the cash; and other league volunteers are working to keep the kids playing, so that’s something. But the kids are reluctant to come back. Can you blame them?

Vince Gray, Scofflaw?: Mike DeBonis and Michael Laris report mayoral candidate Vincent Gray went more than seven years without appropriately addressing a traffic citation he received back in 2002. Gray got the ticket after he used the right shoulder to try and get around a traffic jam while on his way to FedEx Field for the Redskins’ December 29, 2002 game against the Cowboys. At the time of the citation, Gray did not hold public office. Gray’s campaign is stating that “he thought he had paid the ticket,” but an unfulfilled order for Gray to show up in Prince George’s County court in March 2003 could have resulted in a suspended license. Luckily for Gray, the District DMV “did not have information on file” about the 2002 ticket.

Council Asks Gandhi To Breach Banneker Settlement: Alan Suderman reports that Councilmembers Phil Mendelson, Kwame Brown, Harry Thomas Jr., Mary Cheh and Michael Brown have asked D.C. Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi not to pay Banneker Ventures a $550,000 settlement. The Council cancelled the Omar Karim-owned company’s parks and recreation contracts after it surfaced that they had been awarded without Council approval. Attorney General Peter Nickles, who negotiated the settlement, is accusing the Council of playing politics. (Well, duh.) Suderman notes that it’s not even clear that Gandhi has the power to break the deal or not.

Scotty, I Need More Power: Pepco is asking customers to try and conserve electricity, as it struggles to restore power to residents in Northeast D.C. that have been without it for three days. Pepco is reporting in excess of 3,200 outages in Washington, in addition to more than 1,700 in Montgomery County. Major repair work on an underground cable at 12th Street and Linden Place NE is ongoing. You can do your part by setting your thermostat at no less than 78 degrees, closing curtains and blinds and cutting back on appliance use.

Briefly Noted: These College Park residents just want to be counted, dammit…Shots fired at D.C. police, suspect flees into Prince George’s County…Yeardly Love death officially ruled a homicide…Everything you would ever want to know about the man who knows everything about tourist buses…D.C. tutoring group with ties to Church of Scientology paid federal funds to tutor DCPS students…Marion Barry: Mayor, Councilmember, Wrestling Maneuver?

This Day in DCist: Last year, the City Paper’s servers broke after everyone wanted to listen to the leaked voicemail messages that Marion Barry left for ex-girlfriend Donna Watts-Brighthaupt.