Photo by philliefan99.

Good morning, Washington. Let’s talk poker, shall we? The D.C. Council will be doing just that today, allowing the public the chance to air grievances over a new intranet gaming system which became law in April and is scheduled to roll out later this year. Of course, it’s widely expected that the complaints lodged by the public will have less to do with the concept of state-promoted gambling and more to do with the ethical concerns swirling around the body: many are wondering about Michael A. Brown’s connections to the contractor slated to operate the games, the potential use of public spaces for gambling purposes, and how the measure was actually passed into law. (The gaming was slid into the city’s budget at the last minute; Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans admitted to the Post that the Council “didn’t even know it was in there.”) The Council will convene its hearing at 10 a.m. — you can stream it live here, if you’re interested.

Your Tax Dollars At Work: Another day, another piece of negative news about the Caribbean Festival. The Examiner reports that the festival, despite owing the city over $300,000, was given another $30,000 from a community event fund of taxpayer money. The fund was often used by former mayor Adrian Fenty to waive fees assessed to large events during his tenure; Gray, of course, promised to cut out such executive earmarks during last fall’s mayoral campaign.

Cops Under Investigation For Beating: Two D.C. police officers are currently under investigation due to their role in a violent, off-duty beating which took place outside the Lotus nightclub at 1420 K Street NW. According to WUSA9, the officers, both vice cops in the First District, reportedly beat the man to the point where he lost an eye — they could potentially been charged with felony mayhem, and at least one has already been taken off the beat.

Be Kind To Your Virginia Commuter Today: Reports are that I-66 was some kind of parking lot this morning — one look at the charred truck involved in the accident, and its easy to understand why.

Briefly Noted: D.C. AG: ban on recordings at D.C. Taxicab Commission “not consistent with…good government or good common sense”…Related: should the DCTC just be abolished?…New IMF head is a bit of a local…Man dies after being tasered by police in Montgomery County…Reservist suspected in military shootings kicked out of Marines…Jim Graham questions the “diligence” of MPD…Fancy planned West End hotel now going to be a plain ol’ Hilton…

This Day in DCist: Last year, three defendants were found not guilty of obstruction of justice in the death of Robert Wone, the Summer Youth Employment Program got off to a rough start and we held our first-ever DCist Mayoral Dance-Off Straw Poll.