Manual Operation of Metro Trains to Continue for Years; Bay Bridge Toll Likely Going Way Up: Morning Links

Herky-Jerky Metro Rides Not Going Anywhere: Metrorail trains have been operating in manual mode ever since the Red Line crash in 2009, leading to the rougher starts and stops to which riders have since grown accustomed. And that isn't going to change any time soon: WMATA deputy general manager Dave Kubicek told the Washington Examiner that manual operations 'will continue for a number of years because the agency still needs to swap out "well over half" of the safety modules of the type that faltered in the 2009 train crash.' [Examiner]

Smokers Causing Problems at DC Dog Park?: At the dog park at 11th and Park NW in Columbia Heights, smokers leaving their butts behind have prompted someone to post signs threatening to have the park shut down if nicotine-addicted dog owners don't start cleaning up their act. As it turns out, though, the signs appear to have been posted by a mysterious someone who has no real authority over the park. [WUSA9]

Peruvian Voters to Descend on Falls Church: Thousands of Peruvian nationals living in the Mid-Atlantic region are expected at a high school in Falls Church this weekend, where they will be able to cast ballots in their country's presidential election. There could be traffic issues as a result. [AP via WTOP]

Tolls in Maryland Likely Going Up: Times are tight in Maryland as they are all across the country, and officials in the state are now talking seriously about big increases in tolls. Under a new proposal from the Maryland Transportation Authority, the toll on the Bay Bridge, for example, would go from $2.50 to $5 on Oct. 1 and to $8 in July 2013. [Washington Times]

Navigatorgate: The Gift That Keeps on Giving: The SUV-related foibles of DC Council Chairman Kwame "Fully Loaded" Brown continue apace! Loose Lips has turned up new e-mails that appear to prove that Brown had in fact been seeking that now infamous black-on-black Navigator because "he wanted a Navigator just like the mayor's." [Washington City Paper]

Bodies of Woman and Infant Found in Prince George's: Prince George's County Police believe they may have found the bodies of 20-year-old Wynetta Wright and her 11-month-old daughter, who had been reported missing, in a park in Temple Hills, Maryland. Authorities have yet to make a positive ID and are investigating the deaths as suspicious. [NBC4]

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