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A morning roundup of news, opinion, and links from Washington City Paper and around the District. Send tips and ideas to citydesk@washingtoncitypaper.com.

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It’s the Monday after a holiday week, but at least the oppressive heat has been replaced with oppressive damp. Plus, the cupcake craze has reached its final apex with Sprinkles in Georgetown opening a 24-hour cupcake ATM.

LEADING THE MORNING NEWS:

  • On the other hand, Metro remains terrible, with a disabled train at Pentagon City and packed Blue Line cars. [@wmata]
  • But Metro isn’t so bad that Post advice columnist Carolyn Hax doesn’t tell a guy concerned about his pregnant wife using the system to get over it. [Post]
  • D.C. could return to plan to start charging disabled drivers for city parking. [Examiner]

RECENT CITY PAPER STORIES TO HELP YOU MAKE SENSE OF YOUR DAY:

I’ll Show You What’s My Fantasy: City Paper staff talk their dream city politicians, including Ian MacKaye and Satan. Most likely to run on a law-and-order platform: Marion Barry, Vampire Hunter.

CentiPBR: After getting hit with a cease-and-desist for its name, the upcoming arcade-themed H Street bar formerly known as Barcade is asking for new name suggestions. The person behind the winning submission will receive $150 in tokens. So far Frozen Topics commenters have come up empty, although Super Bario Brothers isn’t bad.

Spooky Art: The Adamson Gallery’s new exhibit, “Wild Things,” might as well be called “Dead Things,” writes Louis Jacobson.

Where There’s Smoke, There’s a Fire Sale: Embattled campaign finance kingpin Jeffrey Thompson has been selling off his properties. Most notable: a hair salon, and land that he intended to use for a catering company.

LINKDUMP BELOW!

LOOSE LIPS DAILY POLITICS LINKS, by LL columnist Alan Suderman (tips? lips@washingtoncitypaper.com)

  • Ward 6 Councilmarytr Saint Tommy Wells unofficially kicks off mayoral campaign Friday, says he supports Mayor Vince Gray‘s agenda 100 percent [Post]
  • Police Chief Cathy Lanier gets a national star turn [Governing]
  • Barras: Mary Cheh has become “CEO of Grudge Central” [Examiner]
  • Anti-corporate donations initiative gets 30,000 sigs [DCPublicTrust]
  • Mark Segraves concerned that D.C. taxi riders will see too much of Tom Sherwood [Times]
  • D.C. looking to give huge tax brakes to super rich tech investors [Examiner]
  • D.C. Lotto thinks people are too lazy to scratch off scratch-offs [Examiner]
  • Test erasure investigation was bogus [Post]
  • Georgetown is the worst [Post]
  • Adrian Fenty, still not running [Informer]
  • Why Pershing Parks blows [HC]
  • Mendo, the new education czar [Post]

ARTS LINKS, by Jonathan Fischer (tips? artsdesk@washingtoncitypaper.com)

  • Chris Richards: Indie rock’s embrace of the handsome but shallow Twin Shadow exposes its sexual double standard. [Post]
  • “THIS IS OUR TIME” and other cries of glee in this America Hearts/Olivia Mancini & the Mates tour diary [DCist]
  • Leadership at UVA and the Corcoran should be retrained or replaced. [Philip Kennicott]
  • More Kennicott: How the Corcoran let its identity fray [Post]
  • These United States explains itself. [BYT]
  • Apparently the new VeraCruz gallery at Florida and Vermont Avenues has moved its inspiration from Panama and Mexico to Brazil. [Post]

FOOD LINKS, by Young & Hungry editor Jessica Sidman (tips? hungry@washingtoncitypaper.com)

  • Lots of restaurant openings and closings: Is this the golden era or age of terror for D.C. dining? [WAMU]
  • What to expect of the Italian restaurant coming to 14th Street NW from the Acqua Al 2 crew [Washingtonian]
  • A dozen killer sushi happy hours [Eater]
  • Former Addie’s chef Nate Waugaman joins Tallula and EatBar in Arlington. [Post]
  • Tokyo in the City food truck, serving Japanese and Korean bento boxes, coming soon. [Food Truck Fiesta]
  • All Souls in Shaw aims for Halloween opening [PoP]
  • Rasika staff gets asked about the pronunciation of its name 10 to 15 times a day. [The Plate]
  • Burger 7 coming to Lee Highway [ARLnow]
  • Restaurant owner dies two hours after serving President Barack Obama breakfast. [HuffPost]