IN CASE YOU MISSED IT---"Councilmember Barry: What Did Sharon Bowen Actually Do?"

Morning all. First, local legendary singer Eddie Daye passed away late last week. Our own music blog has posted a sweet tribute to the man and his talents. He was 78. Key graph: "While those online and crate-digging fans may cherish copies of his obscure singles (some of which have been reissued on cd), I will just keep my memories of those fun late nights out seeing him sing bluesy soul and my conversations with him about his musical career and his take on 50 plus years of r’n’b history."

SUMMER FINALLY COMES TO D.C.: The heat is upon us; today, temps are expected to climb into the triple digits. WTOP reports that the District is opening up several cooling centers and extending hours at area pools. WJLA and NBC4 also has a story on the heat wave. AP has another story, this one one the opening up of a new aquatic center in Tenleytown.

A MUST READ FROM COLBY KING: On Saturday, Colbert King published an eye-opening column on disorderly conduct arrests by D.C. Police officers. Citing records from the Office of Police Complaints, King produces a few stunning accounts of police abusing "disorderly conduct" charges against District residents. One of the many key graphs: "Residents are arrested in D.C. for disorderly conduct in large numbers: nearly 5,000 in 2007, more than 4,200 in 2008 and 4,469 this year as of Aug. 5. Many are probably arrested for good reasons: noise violations, blocking public spaces, etc. But, as in the Gates arrest, some busts never make it to court."

FENTY'S DRIVING RECORD: WaPo cites several sources critical of Mayor Fenty's insistence on driving himself to various ribbon cuttings, press conferences, etc. Nikita Stewart notes in her lengthy piece that no other big city mayor drives themselves around. Key quote: "I think it's curious that he's driving himself," said D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), chairman of the Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary. "Why not have the security detail . . . when you have an accident like this past week?" Outside experts from other cities say security should be a top priority, and we're not paying Fenty to drive around, we're paying him to make decisions and think critically about the city's needs---we don't want him spending his time worrying about getting across town.

AFTER THE JUMP: More revelations on the Metro front, Jonetta sticks up for AG Peter Nickles, and much, much more.

HAWK ONE: The ubiquitous private security firm is trying to save its District contracts, the Examiner's Michael Neibauer reports. Expect some kind of media blitz by Hawk One managers to save their contracts. A bit of news in this story: "Ward 6 D.C. Councilman Tommy Wells, a former school board member, said he wanted to consider hiring security officers as employees of the city government, rather than as private contractors."

METRO PROBLEMS: Here's some quick links. WaPo continues to be all over this story. The crash system failed in June during a near crash: "The crash-avoidance system suspected of failing in the recent deadly accident on Metro's Red Line malfunctioned three months earlier, when a rush-hour train on Capitol Hill came 'dangerously close' to another train and halted only after the operator hit the emergency brake, newly obtained records show." AP follows up. Metro's oversight panel has little sway, WaPo reports. Key graph: "The committee has no direct regulatory authority over safety and cannot order Metro to make changes. It has no employees of its own and no dedicated office, phone or Web site. It borrows space for its monthly meetings, which officials said no member of the public has ever attended." WaPo also reports that a Metro worker died Sunday after being struck by a piece of track equipment.

Jonetta Rose Barras stands up for AG Peter Nickles. This is one of the more phoned-in columns I've seen in a while. Key graph: "He has aggressively defended the city against lawsuits, saving taxpayers tons of money. He has protected citizens against corporations and individuals who have attempted to rip them off or deny them their rights. His office battled CareFirst over its alleged failure to invest profits in the health care of low-income people. He jacked up slum landlords and private companies scamming black churches. He pushed for improvements in Child and Family Services and, with the council, defended the city’s gun control laws." Nickles may or may not have pushed for improvements with CFSA---but he has most certainly pushed to get CFSA out of its court oversight as the agency continues to fail to meet its benchmarks.

MAYOR'S SCHEDULE:

10:30 a.m. Remarks
Alice Deal Middle School Ribbon Cutting
Location: 3185 Fort Drive, NW

2:00 p.m. Remarks
Bruce Monroe Elementary School Demolition
Location: 3012 Georgia Avenue, NW

6:30 p.m. Remarks
2014 Gay Games Kickoff Rally
Location: Stead Field
1625 P Street, NW

Washington's hottest period so far this year is expected to start Sunday, and it could last three or four days, according to forecasts....

"If you thought we might make it through summer without a heat wave, think again," wrote Jason Samenow on The Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang blog.

Heat waves, whether tolerated or deplored, have been recognized through the years as salient facts of Washington's summers.

But so far this year, the longest stretches of temperatures of 90 degrees or more have been a mere two days. Only on July 16 did the mercury at National reach as high as 96, and only twice have there been as many as two consecutive 90-or-above days.

And speaking of the Post, really good story about Metro kinda covering up a breakdown on the tracks that preceded by a few months the fatal June 22 crash. The gist of this story is that Metro's vaunted electronic system that's supposed to keep trains from crashing into one another broke down in early March. Thanks to the alertness of a Metro train operator, a crash was averted.

Not only didn't Metro tell the public about this incident, it didn't tell the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), according to the Post. Debbie Hersman's gonna be pissed!

The Legg Mason tournament ended yesterday. No more needs to be said about it.

Yet the nice, mild weather is worth noting not just because people will be able to go biking and sailing and drinking.

It could be among the most newsworthy weather developments in the history of the Smithsonian Institution.

Check this out: This run of lower-than-average high temperatures could mark the first time in a really long time that the Folklife Festival, that annual radiator of an event on the National Mall, finishes without a heat wave.

Let's assume that the forecast is correct, that the mercury doesn't hit 90 for the remaining four days of the festival. Consider, too, that over its five days in June, the festival just barely tipped into 90s territory, depending on what numbers you look at.

Could this be an instance of collusion between the Smithsonian and the heavens? "We certainly love that we have had great weather this year---really nice sunny days and a little bit of rain but no major storms," says Becky Haberacker, a festival spokesperson.

Recent good luck notwithstanding, it's well-documented that the festival comes at exactly the wrong time of year. "Washington's weather is not always cooperating during the Folklife Festival," reads an excerpt from the nearly 100-page "after-event" report on the 2008 festival, which featured NASA. In that same report, 52 percent of surveyed festivalgoers answered "weather" when asked what was the "worst thing" about the event.

Not a stretch to suppose that those respondents were filling out their questionnaires on, like June 26, 2008; or June 27, 2008; or June 28, 2008. During that three-day expanse of festivaldom, high temps were 94, 94, and 92, respectively. Not to be outdone, the 2007 festival had five days of 90-degree misery, with a highlight of 97 on the festival's last day.

So it goes, on into the weather archives. You have to go back to 2000 to find a festival that performed as well on the thermometer as the current one. With the exception of one 90-degree day, that festival stayed squarely in the mid- and low-80s. Perhaps it was that year's theme: "Tibetan Culture Beyond the Land of Snows."

Whatever the history, this'll probably be a slow weekend for the people working at the festival's first-aid area. "We do have people visit the first-aid tent because it gets hot and people forget to drink enough water," says Haberacker.

MSNBC.com's local news page reported:

The National Weather Service forecasts the temperature in the Washington region to reach 96 degrees with the heat index expected to approach 100 degrees.

Monday has been named a code orange air quality day, which means high temperatures combined with high humidity may create a dangerous situation for children, the elderly and those who suffer from chronic heart or respiratory conditions.

Unfortunately, I didn't read the article until I got to work today, meaning that I suffered the 15-minute walk to Adams Morgan in a pair of "just out of the dryer (and a bit too tight)" jeans. I don't know what I was thinking. I'm hoping they'll stretch to the comfortable fit I'm used to by the end of the day, but since things tend to expand when they get hot, I might need the Jaws of Life to get these suckers off tonight.