heartbreak in the early hours of the new year. two people killed when a car full of young people runs off the road. welcome to news 4 on this first day of 2012. i'm aaron gilchrist. three other people were injured in that car crash. this all unfolded in bethesda on jones bridge road near lancaster drive. tonight, neighbors say it is a dangerous stretch of road, and now they're calling for action. news 4's darcy spencer joins us live from there with the latest. darcy? >> reporter: aaron, yes, residents are saying this is, in fact, a dangerous stretch. and so far, montgomery county

police have not released the identities of the two young people who died in this crash. a short while ago, a young man came here to the scene to pay his respects. he says he knows one of the people who died in the crash, a friend lost at the start of the new year. it was a sudden and violent crash involving only one vehicle, this chevy trailblazer. the suv recked on jones bridge road in bethesda around 3:00 new year's morning, killing two passengers who were in the front and backseat. >> oh, it was a huge smash. i thought my neighbor's roof was falling down because of the new construction. there was class and just a huge smash. and after that, nothing but siren es. >> reporter: police say the trailblazer, which had temp tags, was traveling west on jones bridge road, approaching lancaster drive. that's when the suv drove over a sidewalk, smashed through a fence, then hit a tree. five adults were in the trailblazer, a man and a woman were pronounced dead at the scene. thomas quinn says he knew the man who died. >> even if i didn't know the

person, you know, it's just -- i've been through this situation so many times and i don't wish this upon anybody. >> reporter: the 22-year-old driver was taken to shock trauma in baltimore with serious injuries. the other two passengers, 18 and 19-year-old men, were taken to a hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries. montgomery county police are still trying to figure out what caused the crash. residents say this is a dangerous stretch of road. >> this road can be a dangerous road. the curves do not look treacherous, and so they're deceiving. and the drivers sometimes are caught unaware. >> reporter: residents tell us that there have been a number of fatal crashes here along jones bridge road over the last several years. at least one resident now saying the county needs to take a look at this road to see what safety improvements can be made. reporting live in bethesda, darcy spencer, news 4. aaron, back to you. >> darcy, thank you. a married couple in their 70s in the hospital tonight after a car ran into them.

police say the car went off the road this morning in kensington and hit the pair on the sidewalk. this happened along summit avenue near prospect street. the two pedestrians were taken to an area hospital with serious injuries. the driver also taken to the hospital and is expected to be okay. turning now to decision 2012 tonight. candidates working down to the wire in iowa, trying to shore up support before tuesday's caucuses. nbc's steve handelsman joins us live now from des moines. steve, we're watching rick santorum gain better positioning. >> reporter: yet another person in the top tier, aaron. isn't it amazing? this year's iowa caucuses. good evening from des moines. many iowa evangelical republicans remain undecided. if they move to santorum, he could win these caucuses. ♪ at the evangelical covenant church in des moines this morning was tara hatock who

wants to vote tuesday for her kind of christian. >> religion and politics aren't really separate. >> reporter: she's happy rick santorum is surging. >> i'm going to take a closer look and just see what he is really, truly about. >> reporter: santorum put faith in front on his tireless trek through iowa. >> you can't have a strong economy just a strong economic plan unless you have strong families and strong moral values in this country. >> reporter: the new "des moines register" poll puts santorum third, but if you just count gop voters polled friday, he's nearly tired with mitt romney at the top. texas libertarian ron paul has a shot at winning, which he says proves he's no fringe candidate. >> if i'm leading in the polls, that means i'm electable. i've been elected 12 times in texas by people who've got to know me. >> reporter: mitt romney leads in most late polls, but those surveys show his backers are less enthusiastic, more likely to stay home or switch. >> two out of every five caucusgoers could still change their mind between now and caucus day.

>> reporter: and at covenant church, some, like ryan parly admit, they're turned off by romney's faith. >> well, he's mormon. he hasn't claimed to be a christian. he's claimed to be a mormon. >> reporter: but in two more days, mitt romney or ron paul or rick santorum will call themselves a winner. in fact, all three might, if they're tightly bunched at the top after tuesday night's caucuses. live from des moines, i'm steve handelsman, news 4. aaron, back to you. >> all right, steve, thank you. starting today, you'll have to pay a little extra, a quarter, to be exact, if you take the dulles toll road. the new rate is $1.50 at the main toll plaza. the increase tolls are helping to pay for the metro to dulles. in montgomery county, if you get paper or plastic, it's going to cost you. a new five cent bag tax starts today. it's expected to generate $1 million today, which county officials say will partially go to water and litter cleanup. you can avoid the charges by

bringing your own reusable bags. new year, same skins. they're playing for pride against the eagles today, but the redskins season ended with another disappointing loss. and we can be grateful, hakem, that we don't have to say that anymore. >> at least this year -- at least this season. we hope not next year. here's an astounding statistic here. redskins finished last in the division for the fourth straight year. that's a franchise worst. sorry for being the bearer of bad news. redskins' head coach mike shanahan says there's no doubt in his mind that he'll be back next season. unfortunately, what shanahan and the redskins accomplished this season, or lack thereof, leaves plenty of doubt. here are the facts. in two years as redskins' head coach, jim zorn won 12 games. shanahan, 11 games. today the redskins wrapped up their season in philadelphia and shanahan and the redskins down early against michael vick and the eagles. pick it up in the second quarter. vick throws it out to chad hall.

chad hall's 5'8", 187 pounds, but he's strong. still pushes his way in for the touchdown. deangelo hall and terry reilly can't make the tackle. eagles up 10-0. chad hall needing a boost to celebrate in the stands. third quarter, rex grossman dumps it to roy helu and the rookie makes a play. he's limping, but limping all the way into the end zone. 47-yard touchdown for him. skins trail 10-7. here we go. but fourth quarter, eagles have a 13-10 lead and they start to pull away. vick, deep for desean jackson. it's a 62-yard scoring strike. the redskins lose 34-10, and with a 5-11 record, it's shanahan's worst record as a head coach. >> we were doing some good things, but we didn't show any points. that's what you've got to do. you've got to get points. you know, we had a chance to have that first touchdown, with the drop pass, a chance to get a couple field goals or at least a touchdown there at the end, and we got no points instead of, you

know, 14 or 17, and you can't go on the road and win games like that. >> coming up in sports, we'll go inside the locker. dan hellie in philadelphia will take a better look at some of the follies from today's game. the penalties and dropped passes and missed tackles as well. >> thanks, hakem. still to come tonight, a thief makes an unusual wardrobe choice for robbing a restaurant. a service member arrested. what he's accused of trying to bring on an airplane. and oh, baby. meet the little girl that might be our area's first baby of the new year. kim? >> what a cutie-pie! we'll have to bundle her up, because a big chill is coming. in fact, it's the coldest air of the season on the way. we'll tell you whe

tonight detectives are looking at footage from security cameras trying to find the arsonist behind dozens of fires in los angeles. at least 39 fires have been set since thursday. most of them began as car fires before spreading to nearby buildings. investigators believe the arsons are the work of one person or group. so far, they don't have any suspects. a man arrested for trying to get explosives through airport security was an active member of the u.s. military. the fbi arrested and charged 30-year-old trey scott atwater with trying to bring explosives on to an airplane. atwater was stopped at midland international airport in texas at about 9:00 a.m. yesterday. he's being held at the midland county jail until his arraignment on tuesday. police in fairfax looking

for a particularly well-dressed bandit. they say he robbed a restaurant while wearing a grey tuxedo. officers say that thief went into the denny's on fairfax boulevard this morning and held the manager at gunpoint. they say he took money from the safe and then ran out of the restaurant through a back door. nobody was hurt. still ahead tonight, a woman in our area celebrates her 100th birthday and she looks good doing it. her secret to staying happy. and kim's back to tell us about a major change coming tonight. you'll want to stick around for a forecast. [ male announcer ] it's a rule of nature.

you don't decide when vegetables reach the peak of perfection. the vegetables do. at green giant, we pick vegetables only when they're perfect. then freeze them fast so they're are as nutritious as fresh. [ green giant ] ho ho ho. ♪ green giant fantastic! pro-gresso ] they fit! okay-y... okay??? i've been eating progresso and now my favorite old jeans...fit. okay is there a woman i can talk to? [ male announcer ] progresso. 40 soups 100 calories or less.

new year, new life. it appears this little girl is metro d.c.'s first baby of 2012. she came into the world at southern maryland hospital center in clinton. as news 4's derrick ward reports, it's a first for the hospital too. [ baby crying ] >> reporter: she doesn't have a name yet, but she's got a title. our area's first baby of the year. she checked in at 12:12 a.m., weighing just a tad over 8 pounds, 10 ounces, and she was expected this month, just not this early. >> otherwise i would not have gone to the trade museum. >> reporter: the family, greg, irsha and their two other sons were spending the day at baltimore trade museum when they first got their inkling that their little bundle of joy might be on the first track. >> when i was running around the house getting ready, she said,

if we don't leave now, the baby's going to come here. she threatened me at least once or twice with that. >> reporter: but this time, there was no joking. this wasn't a false alarm. >> you can just kind of tell. it just doesn't stop. >> reporter: the ride from baltimore probably never seemed so long, but they made it in plenty of time. for the doctor, it was a first as well. she'd never delivered a new year's baby before and didn't think she would this year. >> i thought it was possible, but i actually thought she was going to deliver last night. >> we're very, very excited and very happy that the first baby of 2012 was born here at southern maryland hospital center. >> reporter: but not as excited and happy and surprised as the proud new parents. >> i still was kind of in denial all the way up until we got to the hospital. >> reporter: this is a first first birth for the folks here at southern maryland hospital. of course, it won't be their last. last year alone, they delivered more than 2,000 babies. in maryland, derrick ward, news 4. another special birthday celebration on this first day of 2012.

eugeneia reid turned 100 years old today. her family came together in largo, maryland, today to celebrate. she's the second oldest of six children, and says, obviously, a lot has changed in 100 years, but the secret to staying happy is taking the good with the bad. >> there's a whole lot of difference. everything is different. but -- well, all i've got to do just go along with the swing. >> mrs. reid's grandchildren say they love to hear all the stories about the good old days that nobody else can remember. >> wow. my grandmother turns 102 this april. can you believe that? >> wow, congratulations to her. that's great. >> they do the story. you can't get that stuff out of books. you've got to go to grand mom and granddad with that. ready to bundle up? did you bring your parka tonight? >> yes. >> you'll need it on the way home. let's get started. great to have you with us.

happy new year. today's high temperature, new year's day, we made it up to 60 degrees. now, that's not the official high. the official high has yet to come in. walking around tinley town with the animals and everybody in tow, going shopping, moving, coming, shaking. it was beautiful. it was like a spring afternoon. forget about the beginning of january. 60 was hit. we started the day at 38. are you ready for winter? i hope you are, because it is incoming within a matter of hours. current temperatures show 50s. a little hard to believe, but trust me. a winter blast is coming in across ohio. and it will be here during the overnight. temperatures sinking from 55 down to 45, and there are a few showers around. the temperatures will really start to drop around 8:00. we have one round of showers, pretty much passed to the east and drying out. look at what is coming at us from the west. see this white stuff? this is going to be upslope snow for our western ski resorts in western maryland. 8 to 12 inches with a winter storm warning in garrett county and western allegheny.

sub-zero windchills on monday and tuesday. if you are going to go skiing, you will need to layer up. i don't know how you enjoy skeepiskeep i in that type of weather, but enjoy the weather. around here, we'll get the cold, but probably not much in the way of snow other than maybe a passing flurry late tonight. this cold blast means gusty winds, even on tuesday. this reinforcing shot of cold air. tuesday will be the coldest day this week. wait until you see how it shakes up on the seven-day outlook with windchills way down into the teens. in the meantime, by tomorrow morning, turning windy and colder. 27 to 33. the afternoon holds more clouds and sun. 35 to 41. sunset, 4:57. and as we plan ahead the next seven, we'll keep it rather dry. just windy and cold. that's a high of 32 on tuesday, aaron. lows tuesday night will go down to around 19, and that's in the city. colder in the suburbs. i'll extend this a little farther out so you can at least have a glimmer of hope for 50s again. i put them back on the map for

you. hopefully by next saturday, we'll be back up around 55. the coldest air of our winter season finally comes here. tuesday is the day you've got to watch out for. if you're heading west, you'll be driving through snow tonight on 68 and 219. please be careful if you haven't made your way out. >> thank you, kim. >> you bet. coming up in sports tonight, while philadelphia has cheeseste cheesest[ monica ] i'm away on a movie shoot and it hasn't been going exactly as planned.

cut. cut! [ monica ] i thought we'd be on location for 3 days -- it's been 3 weeks. so i had to pick up some more things. good thing i've got the citi simplicity card. i don't get hit with a fee if i'm late with a payment... which is good because on this job, no! bigger! [ monica ] i may not be home for a while. [ male announcer ] the new citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries.

so we start thinking about next year for the redskins. >> yeah. >> and all the possibilities with draft picks -- >> you see, you're half -- >> glass half full. >> empty. whatever you want to call it. >> glass half full. >> the positive is brewing. the final episode of the redskins season finished up. and here's a synopsis of what happened in their final game, dumb penalties, missed tackles, and turnovers. and of course, turnovers are a weekly occurrence. the redskins extend their streak to 30 straight games with at least one turnover and finish the season with a 5-11 record. hey, there's always next year. >> let's go and dominate these boys, man! because we can! dominate on three! one, two, three! dominate! >> that'll get you fired up, so will this, unfortunately in bade. on first quarter, third and nine, rex grossman going deep, but he drops the ball. right through his arms, and it

was a sign of things to come. grossman completed just 22 of his 45 passes. second quarter, grossman fakes the haundoff, looking deep for anthony armstrong, but the ball is underthrown. the ball is picked off by nate allen. grossman, 12 straight games with an interception. probably not coming back next season. didn't have to say that, but, probably. redskins' next possession, it's blocked. derek landry pushes over tyler plumbus, gets his hand in there. the fifth blocked pick against gano this season. michael vick to chad hall, he's 5'8", 187 pounds, but he's tough. pushes over deangelo hall and perry reilly. his second career touchdown for hall, and then eagles take a 10-0 lead. vick, he's loving it. and chad hall, he needed a little help to get into the stands to celebrate. good for him, though. under a minute to go in the half. vick makes a play here.

not so fast. brian orakpo makes a play. sacked by the big number 98 and that forces a fumble. reilly recovers. huge hit by orakpo, his ninth hit of the season. but unfortunately, he injuries his left arm on the play and did not return. redskins looking to capitalize on the turnover. here we go on first and goal. rex looking for santana moss here, but it's incomplete. moss thinks he's held on the play, not happy. takes off his helmet, was called for an unsportsmanlike penalty. that would prove costly. after a completion, redskins trying to get the field goal unit on in time, but look to the left of upright. no time on the clock. it was a headset issue and the skins get no points and trail 10-0 at the half. third quarter, things get a little better. grossman dumps it off to roy helu, the rookie turning upfield and there he goes. limping all the way, but limping into the end zone. 47-yard touchdown. skins trail 10-7.

and donte stallworth makes a mistake and gets a 15-yard penalty for this celebration, shining roy helu's shoes. not real smart. eagles up 13-10 and they pull away. vick deep for desean jackson and he's got him. 62-yard touchdown. the eagles go on to win it 34-10 and finish the season on a four-game win streak. dan hellie has more on the redskins from philadelphia. >> reporter: nothing happy about this new year for the redskins. this game was actually competitive most of the way, and then devolved into their worst loss of the season. the 5-11 record, the worst of mike shanahan's coaching career. and for the players, plenty of frustration to go around. >> it happened fast, you know. it happened fast. you just look up and you don't know how to stop it. you don't know how to stop it, man. everything was going right, everything we were doing well, defensively, started to fall apart real quick. we've got a long off-season to think about it. and hopefully these last two games, we can use them as motivation to have a great

off-season and, you know, we've got to take the next step. we expect to. and anything less than being competitive and a playoff team next year is a failure. >> complete frustration and disappointment. nowhere will we expected to do, you know, last year was a very dominant team, and we weren't very good at all. so it was very frustrating. we've got to find a way to go back and prove, man, everybody has to work over the off-season and be accountable and be ready to go when we come back. >> just learn from our experience. we were in a lot of games and we've got to find a way to finish. easily could have won another four or five games if we knew how to finish. >> reporter: it's finally official. the redskins wrap up their third straight losing season and their fourth place last-place finish in the nfc east. from philadelphia, dan hellie, news 4 sports. >> one programming note here on nbc 4, the winter classic, the winter classic that was

scheduled for tomorrow at 1:00 between the flyers and rangers has been moved until 3:00 because of weather. you can still see the game here on nbc 4. >> sounds good. >> and big game tonight. >> giants, cowboys. that decides the tuiti s the di. this is about as big as it gets. >> we'll have the cell phones ready to take pictures. he's a screamer, definitely. that is the news for now. "nightly news" is coming up next. see you after the cowboys/giants game. have a good night. >> good night.