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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Good morning sweet readers! LL is on high alert today; his mother-in-law is coming to town. Just everybody stay calm, okay?! The news:

Investigate This: The Washington Times‘ Jeffery Anderson wins the morning with this report about Attorney General Peter Nickles asking the city’s inspector general to investigate how a “firm with questionable credentials and limited experience took a majority share in the city’s $38 million lottery contract. Citing recent reports in The Washington Times, Mr. Nickles pointed to contracting irregularities, including the addition of local firm Veterans Services Corp. (VSC) to the lottery pact after the city awarded it to Greek gambling giant Intralot. … Mr. Nickles indirectly attacked D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray, saying that the council ‘failed to hold a hearing on any of the proposal packages’ submitted by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty after a previous contract award to Intralot. Mr. Gray and others thought a local firm that partnered with Intralot was too close to Mr. Fenty. VSC, Intralot’s eventual local partner, is headed by a man with ties to several council members, including Mr. Gray.” Anderson has raised plenty of questions about the contract in recent weeks; be sure and check out the related articles linked on the right sidebar. Nickles has been saying since June that he’s looking into the contracts, which seemed somewhat questionable given his political loyalties, so passing it off to the IG is probably a good move. Fenty brought up the Times’ lottery contract work last week during a debate with Gray, as a counterpunch to Gray’s charges of cronyism in the Fenty administration.

AFTER THE JUMP: Fenty vs. Post; Sucker job; Bad Speech…

Fenty and the Post: The Post has posted a video of an interview between the mayor and editorial writer Jo-Ann Armao, where Fenty again takes the blame for not getting word out about his good deeds (umm, sound familiar?).  Fenty stresses that he’s doing a good job, which is noticable in part by how unnoticeable D.C.’s problems are compared to the past, when “you could see a glaring problem in D.C. government—from trash pick up, to potholes to road repairs to schools being broken down—anywhere you drive in the city.” If he gets a next term, Fenty said he’d continue to focus on education, “infuse energy” into fixing public housing, and work with the guvs in Maryland and Virginia on Metro. Not in the 9-minute interview, probably much to the Gray camp’s consternation: Any talk of those pesky park contracts.

Wanted, Sucker for Thankless Job: The D.C. Board of Elections & Ethics is hiring after Chairman Errol Arthur quit, reports Freeman Klopott of the Examiner. “The timing of his leaving the board couldn’t be worse. Arthur’s last day will be Aug. 2, just weeks before the primary that will likely determine the District’s next mayor. The three-member board has been running with only two members since February 2009, and if a replacement can’t be found quickly, there won’t be a board in place to verify the primary votes. In other words, it’ll be as if the primary never happened, officials said.” (Since LL is new to the beat anyway, why not just start the whole thing over in September?)

Watch What You Say, Not How You Drive: Metro has suspended a veteran employee after she made offensive remarks at a graduation class for bus drivers, reports Kytja Weir in the Examiner. “Ora Crutchfield made statements against elderly people, young black men and Asians during the April 30 graduation ceremony, according to a Metro investigative report obtained by The Washington Examiner. Such events are typically attended by graduates’ friends and family members — of all ages and backgrounds.”

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!: “Mobile speed cameras were posted to a dozen new sites last week, mostly in Southeast Washington, in a move critics say puts the District on track to net $41 million from tickets,” reports Kafia Hosh in the Post.

Jonetta sure does hate the D.C. Council [Examiner]

Area unemployment falls; could it be all those top secret dudes? [WBJ]

Does anyone ride these things? [WTOP]

Mayor’s schedule: Kelsey Temple, 10:45 a.m.