Photo by el swifterino

Good morning, Washington. As we reported yesterday, it turns out that the train control system track circuit that appears to have played a role in last week’s fatal Red Line Crash was actually replaced by WMATA maintenance staff only five days before the accident. Not just that, but data also showed that the track circuit periodically lost its ability to detect trains in the period between when it was replaced, on June 17, and the crash on June 22. Well now WJLA says it has two anonymous sources who say that Metro technicians knew that the circuit was malfunctioning days before the accident, and that they allegedly reported the problem to their supervisors. What action was taken, if any, after those supposed reports were made? WMATA had no comment, citing the ongoing investigation.

Tax Office Sent Mistaken Refunds: It just wouldn’t be summer in D.C. if there wasn’t a new problem to report coming out of the Office of Tax and Revenue. WTOP’s Mark Segraves first had the story yesterday, and now the Post follows up: a bunch of income tax refunds were mistakenly sent to residents who actually owed taxes, not the other way around. And how did the mistake first get discovered? At-large D.C. Council member David Catania’s partner, Brian, received one of the checks. How many such checks were mailed out? And how many were cashed? No one seems to know just yet.

Cabbie Caps in the News: The Examiner and the Post have got more stories up about how Ward 1’s Jim Graham has introduced legislation that would place a cap on the number of taxicab drivers licensed in the city. Of note: Graham doesn’t have a specific plan in mind on how to do this, he’s more or less just opening the topic up for debate. He’s suggested D.C. adopt either a medallion system, like ones used in New York City and Chicago, or a certification system.

Briefly Noted: Mom of girls found in freezer heads to court … Man found killed in the 2300 block of Hartford Street SE … Man fatally shot in the Langley Park area of PG County … Los Angeles outfit might take over one low performing D.C. public high school.

This Day in DCist: Last year, the Council endorsed the notion of placing a pro-voting rights sign on Nationals Park. The year before that, we paid a visit to the local “Kwik-E-Mart.”