Good morning, Washington. Last night we got caught up in the news that it appeared many members of Congress had received letters from someone claiming responsibility for the bombing Thursday of a Times Square Army recruiting center, but the AP is now reporting that the letters were just an “incredibly unbelievable coincidence”. The FBI apparently tracked down the man who sent the letters, which contained photos of a man standing in front of the recruitment center before it was bombed and was sent to about 100 members of Congress. Turns out the letter sender is just an anti-war activist who may have sent the letters to congratulate Democrats on gaining a majority in 2006.

Radios in New Metro Cars Don’t Work: It seems Metro’s brand new railcars were installed with radios that are not compatible with the agency’s network. The Post reports that train operators in the new cars have been relying on handheld radios to communicate with the system’s control center. That means that there are 158 cars currently running that must use portable radios, and another 26 cars waiting to be deployed with the same issue. The newspaper quotes a Green line operator as saying the situation is quite dangerous, given the unreliability of the handheld radios. Metro’s rail chief, Dave Kubicek, blamed the problem on the $73 million radio system that Metro bought from Motorola in 2000.

Streetcars Hit Snag: We’ve been eagerly awaiting plans to bring streetcars back to areas of the city like H Street NE, but those plans may have run into a serious problem. The Examiner reports that overhead power lines for streetcars would violate federal laws designed to protect historic and scenic views of D.C. streets. DDOT told the paper that a decision on whether to go with overhead lines or some kind of propulsion system for streetcars is still 2 years away.

Briefly Noted: Arlington woman dies in house fire … NPR CEO Ken Stern resigns … Prince George’s Hospital Center to be taken over by a county-state authority.

This Day in DCist: In 2007, Mayor Fenty named Dennis Rubin as his new Fire Chief. In 2006, we got excited about the prospect of remodeled Safeway grocery stores. And in 2005, yet more mercury had been discovered at Cardozo High School.

Photo by iceman_882