later today as a news conference and of course 9news now will be there and have the response for you. what caused a car accident that killed two young women and seriously injured a third is still not known at this point. we brought you the story yesterday morning as breaking news, an suv ran off the road in silver spring yesterday morning. parts of the car flew into a tree even into power lines. the driver, 22-year-old jenice richards, a passenger, tamara johnson both died at the scene. 18-year-old yes lean james was the -- selene james was the only survivor of the crash. her sister says she knows what happened but she's having a hard time. >> one minute like where's tamara i want to see her? she's in a lot of pain but she should be okay. >> police are still looking for the cause of the crash on the north city boulevard. the driver of a pickup is at fault for the accident that killed him and sent 11 bus passengers to the hospital.

police say the pickup truck and the metro bus childed on rockville -- collided on rockville pike wednesday afternoon and 49-year-old naconda airdoor crossed the median and died in the wreck. they're asking witnesses to call them so they can continue the investigation. a grand jury has indicted curtis lopez for the october murders of his estranged wife and her 11-year-old son. montgomery county police shallops went to -- say lopez went to jane mcclain's apartment and stabbed her. he used a baseball bat to crush the boy's skull. also making news now, the 9- year-old girl gilled in indiana -- killed in indiana lived in hagerstown, maryland this year. police say aliahna lemmon was killed by the man in fort wayne. washington county school officials say she went to winter street elementary school

from january through june. grief counselors were brought in for the students there. the suspect told police he repeatedly hit the girl in the head with the brick and then dismembered her body and put her remains in the freezer. the woman really needed rescuing in california after becoming pinned by her own car. police say they got a call about a vehicle into a building at a mobile home park and when they got there they found a woman between her car and a mobile home. witnesses say she got out of the car while it was still in drive at the top of the hill. it started to roll and she was dragged and then eventually pinned. the woman was taken to the hospital and subsequently charged with dui. an attorney from reston is taking it upon himself to get newt gingrich on the ballot for virginia's republican primary in march. gingrich didn't get the 10,000 signatures needed to get on the list of republicans running for president in the commonwealth. so now, jonathan mosley has

filed a suit saying many gingrich signatures were improperly excluded. he is acting independently of the gingrich campaign he says. meanwhile texas governor rick perry has lost his first round in his bid to get his name added to the ballot. yesterday a federal judge declined perry's request for an emergency order requiring his name be on the ballot. perry argues commonwealth's primary ballot requirements are overly burdensome and unconstitutional. the judge is going to hear more arguments in the case on january 13th but that's after the ballots will be printed. as the clock ticks closer to the iowa caucuses, gop candidates are busy trying to shore up last support there. duarte geraldino has more on what the candidates are doing to get ready. >> reporter: mitt romney's campaign bus pulled into a packed warehouse in iowa trying to rev up voters. on stage the former governor attacked president obama suggesting he was out of touch with struggling americans, even

comparing him to famous french queen. >> i watched the president, he says it could have been worse. that goes down there with let them eat cake. >> reporter: romney and ron paul currently lead the polls in iowa but their rivals are trying to cut into the momentum. >> this is just simply false and you don't have to settle. >> reporter: former pennsylvania senator rick santorum is hoping to capitalize on his growing support which has other contenders taking notice. >> which republican running for president voted for the bridge to nowhere earmark? >> rick santorum? >> correct. >> reporter: rick perry released this radio ad slamming santorum. michele bachmann is denying rumors her campaign is in disarray after losing two key staffers. thursday, she lost her political director a day after iowa campaign chairman ken sorenson defected joining ron paul's team. bachmann showed reporters her

phone. >> clearly this is something that they generated and it shows again that we have powerful momentum. >> reporter: both sorenson and the poll campaign deny the allegations. >> that was duarte geraldino reporting there. probably a big fight over texass in maryland. governor o'malley will not shy away from proposing even the popular tax hikes he's been talking about. the governor gave a sneak peek of what to expect in 2012. some type of increase in the state's gas tax which has not changed since 1992. >> there's no way to build $100 million bridge for $10 million. there's no innovation in the arsenal that allows that to happen. >> the idea they're going to be able to afford additional taxes in this time of economic struggle is wrong. >> another possible tax hike up for debate, on grocery bags as well as an increase in sewage fees, also known as the flush tax.

but some state lawmakers in annapolis told us in these tough economic times it is hard to find any public support for any tax increase. well, taxes may not be as popular but giving sure is and giving from the heart definitely is. many local charities are seeing a rush in donations these days. in fact the goodwill store on glebe road in arlington is the busiest in the metro area. each dollar donated. 29 cents goes back to the -- 92 cents goes back to the organization. and having trouble adding up how to write this off off? here are some gains -- this stuff off? here are some guidelines by goodwill -- and for a full list of other items that might not have been on this list, go to wusa9.com, we have it there for you. something everyone will probably have an opinion about.

the best and worst traffic and i'm guessing where some of the places are, that's coming up at 4:40. plus, metro is under fire for who hired to -- it hired to clean up its image and they're accused of uncontrolled spending. first though olga breese is here and got what's going on outside your door when we return. keep it here. specialist sweet, sending best wishes and happy christmas and kwanzaa and all that good stuff to my family out in maryland. my mom, my brother, my sister- in-law all my other siblings. love you guys see you soon.

time now is 4:39. we have clear skies be cool temperatures on this friday morning. we will see a bit of sunshine through about midday until late early afternoon when temperatures push into the lower and middle range 50s. then the clouds move in later on tonight.

and it won't be quite as chilly overnight tonight adds some milder temperatures are on the way for the holiday weekend. monika? we're going to go into virginia. no issues to report on 66 or 395 inside the beltway as you can see very light this morning. traveling in through alexandria, and up toward the 14th street bridge. a route 7 at bailey's crossroads in charles street, watch out for ongoing accident activity there. and it's on the westbound side. coming up in my next report, another look around the area at 4:47. triple a mid-atlantic is out with the annual list of the best and worst in d. c. area traffic issues in 2011. now among the best, emergency legislation ends expired tags' arrests in the district. new traffic safety laws in maryland, a survey that found fewer distracted drivers on the beltway. the opening of the icc, i didn't think that would be on the list. is it really? and the continuation of major road construction projects such as the northern virginia hot lanes. and now to the worst.

gas prices reach record numbers. also report found d. c. has the highest percentage of hit and run crashes in the nation. wow. carmageddon, you remember, i remember. i was stuck in that do you remember? the january winter storm that hit right in the middle of the afternoon. stranding drivers on roads all across the area. a deadlock in transportation funding and finally, continued questions about the accuracy and fairness of maryland speed cameras. >> amen to that. >> i'd be so glad if those that i got were recalled. taken back. >> i helped finance part of the maryland transportation budget. >> $40 every time. >> don't pay it it goes up. it wasn't me. thanks monika. time now for the first your money check this morning. jessica doyle is joining us live. here are the headlines so far. one cell company isn't making going green so appealing. plus, the word of the year when it comes to the economy.

alexis christoforous has more on both of the topics. >> reporter: verizon will charge customers a $2 fee if they pay their bill over the phone or online with a credit card. the new convenience fee goes into effect january 15th and not apply to electronic check payments or automatic credit card payments. experts say verizon is trying to push customers to sign up for its free automatic payment program. well, moments after the news broke, customers logged on to twitter and facebook to voice their anger over the new fee. volatilely was the word of the year on wall street certainly. the dow closed up or down triple digits more than 100 times but 2011 won't be the most volatile year on record. that belongs to 2008. the dow jumped 135 points thursday and the nasdaq jumped 24 and the dow is up about 6%, the nasdaq is down nearly 1.5%. mortgage rates are up slightly this week after

reaching record lows. freddie mac says the average rate on a 30 year fixed loan is 3.95%. that's up from 3.91% last week but this year is one of the worst ever for home sales. next year could be better. more than 5% of house holds plan to buy a home in the next six months. that's your money watch. for more, just head over the cbsmoneywatch.com. in new york, i'm alexis christoforous. well, speaking of watching money this person was watching money for quite a while. holding on to a winning lottery ricket and it was set -- ticket and it was set to expire. but the person came forth in time. the winning ticket was sold last december at a des moines, iowa gas station worth $16.5 million. the winnings had to be claimed by yesterday 4:00 p.m. or they would have been gone, expired gone back into the pot. the owner redeemed the ticket two hours before the deadline. still ahead this morning, brushing your teeth can help you avoid the illness and details are coming up on that

at 4:56. plus, plans for a 9/11 museum come to a complete stop. and at 4:52. what's being blamed for the holdup. we'll be right back. i am specialist bets over in kuwait. i'd like to send a happy thanksgiving and christmas to my brother and sister over in maryland. i love you all and i'm very thankful.

goodness gracious, thank goodness it's friday. thanks for waking up with us this morning. 37 degrees and not quite really freezing but it getting your attention. >> i like it when we stay out of the 20s. enough of that come january and even come next week actually. some arctic air is on the way. right now though is looking very much on the sunny side this morning. we have clear skies overnight. that means our day planner is going to stay fairly calm as we move through the first half of today. but, by noontime and maybe about 1:00, 2:00, we'll see the clouds start to roll on in so we're calling it officially partly sunny for today adds temperatures move out -- as temperatures move out of the 40s and into the 50s this afternoon. then by 3:00, 4:00 the mainly cloudy skies coming on back and the overnight lows back down into the 40s for us again today. the sunny forecast won't last

too much longer. a great start to today but we will bring in that cloud cover later on in the afternoon. which means that we're tracking those south and southwesterly wind flows bringing in some moisture. not any significant rain chances for us but the temperatures will be mild for the next couple of days and then behind this nice mild system, we've got some arctic air knocking on the door and it will come sliding through early on next week. satellite and radar has been quiet for most of the overnight and early morning hours. we're in the clear right now in the metro area. but there are some clouds off to the west that are moving on in our direction. and will overtake us later on this afternoon futurecast keeps it quiet. we will pause this at a couple of points for you starting off at 5:00 this afternoon you'll see more clouds than sun. overnight tonight, very late night. we might see a little sprinkle move in toward the metro area. but most of this should stay north and west. then, going into your new year's eve saturday, we look pretty sunny for most of the day tomorrow. going out tomorrow night it

will be mostly clear and cooling temperatures arnold midnight. bundle up. then around sunday mildest air of the week coming on through. things are looking good at least for the next two and a half days. for today, highs to 54, 55 degrees for reagan national airport. up in the lower 50s in northern portions of maryland and virginia 60 degrees by the afternoon. overnight lows tonight are going to be quite comfortable. we're only going to hit those lower range and middle 40s. but we'll definitely see a change in the forecast over the next four days. next two days not too bad. middle 50s for today. pushing those middle to upper 60s on saturday afternoon. and sunday we could see sunny skies and a high of 58. now that means that things will eventually come to a close. the transition day for us is going to be on monday. that's when the winds will crank up. 20, 25-mile-per-hour winds out of the northwest. bringing our temperatures down into the 40s.

and behind that, it opens the door for that arctic air we're going to see 30s towards the end of the week. monika? overall right now things aren't looking too bad especially on the beltway. you will see a couple of minor construction spots especially on the west side of town. but otherwise things are looking good. you're good to go on all the interstates and the beltway. here's what it looks like inside the beltway. no problems on 395 or 66. a car into a pole in bailey's crossroads on route 7 charles street. know that on the westbound side of route 7 but otherwise not affecting 395 at all inside the beltway. a live look in springfield, on the northbound side of i-95 looking great from the occoquan river to here. we'll take a last live look if you're planning to head over on the inbound side of i-66 nice and quiet here near route 50. looking good from centreville all the way past this point and into vienna and the beltway. coming up in my next report, more of the same at 4:55.

mike? thanks monika. after several disasters metro wanted to clean up its image including that disaster that 2009 red line crash that was deadly. so the company paid a top marketing executive to help get them in a better public place. as delia goncalves reports, an internal investigation found a waste of money, and questionable hiring practices. >> reporter: the inspector general describes a money train of sorts at metro that didn't go to making repairs but hiring a topnotch marketing exec to clean up its edgage. >> a lot of money being wasted on things that really are meaningless. >> reporter: the washington times revealed the names. saying sara p. wilson, a former metro manager hired her former colleague, marc caposino to transform metro's image for $140,000 salary.

$20,000 relocation costs, and another $10,000 signing bonus. >> it kind of disturbs me. i'm out here working for a living and you know breaking my back every day trying to scratch enough money together to keep my home and you've got these kinds of perks and things going on. >> reporter: the whistle blower says he was fired in retaliation. wilson couldn't be reached for comment but she said in ore own statement quote -- >> can you see those -- those campaigns? >> reporter: i spoke to caposino who's currently out of state. he tells me on the phone quote -- caposino says the work is still being used at metro but the current spokesperson denies that claim. the ig report says the only proof of work? a single banner that has since been removed from metro

headquarters. the price tag on that one banner in $50,000. >> if they get it done people will not need the campaign. >> that was delia goncalves reporting there. caposino, that former marketing executive says the $50,000 price tag for the banner is an exaggeration. he's currently working in public relations in the office of the state superintendent. work on a planned museum at the world trade center has come to a halt because of a money dispute. the foundation overseeing the memorial has been fighting with the port authority in new york and in new jersey over who's responsible for paying for millions of dollars in infrastructure upgrades. new york mayor bloomberg says there's no chance the museum is going to open on time. it was scheduled to open next september 11th. time for a look at the question of the morning now --

put your guess on our facebook page. we'd love to hear from you. we'll reveal the answer in our 6:00 hour. ♪

the course of four . [ woman ] it was a family business back then, and it still feels like a family business now. the only people who knew about us were those in new england, that moment that we got our first web order... ♪ ...we could tell we were on the verge of something magical. all of a sudden it just felt like things were changing. we can use this to advertise to bakers everywhere. [ man ] browns summit, north carolina. crescent city, california. we had a package go to kathmandu once. the web has been the reason this entire section of the warehouse exists today. we were becoming more than this little flour company in vermont. [ woman ] we're all going after one common goal, which is to spread the joy of baking throughout the whole world. ♪ ♪ ♪

and welcome back at 4:55. we have mainly clear skies and that means some cold temperatures. 29 in great falls, about 35 in arlington and your day planner today features some sunshine to start. but as we get through midday and late afternoon we'll start to pull in the clouds and definitely see our temperatures warming up nicely today. making it to the middle range 50s. monika? well, if you're planning to head on to 270 southbound side, here's what it looks like at shady grove road. no problems to report coming in from frederick, all lanes are open. no construction to worry about all the way down to the point

where the lanes divide. looking good as well on the west side of town across the bridge and into tyson's corner. mike? if you enjoy steak and burgers, you might want to cut back a little bit. researchers in texas of all places where they got lots of steaks found that people who ate a lot of red meat were nearly 20% more likely to be diagnosed with cancer. previous studies found chemicals released when the red meat is grilled or barbecued can increase the risk of getting the disease. scientists are close to zeroing in on genes that cause pancreatic cancer in some patients. researchers at johns hopkins school of medicine say mutations in a gene called atm may be related. doctors hope this will lead to early screening tests for patients with strong family history of the disease. and did you ever hear this? brushing your teeth can keep you from getting pneumonia. a study showed that a buildup of bacteria in the mouth can

lead to inflammation in the lungs and eventually pneumonia. this is the first study to link oral hygiene with a respiratory illness. a daytime icon is trying her hand at prime time and some movies in 2012. bigad shaban has this eye on entertainment. >> reporter: long time queen of daytime tv is going back on the air to conquer sunday night. oprah winfrey has a new show called "oprah's next chapter." the show will debut this sunday, new year's day the first anniversary of the network. critics say ratings have suffered from a lack of on air appearances by its name sake. >> bell is a part of our family now. >> the "twilight" saga may not twinkle as brightly next year with young movie goers. according to yahoo, the final

film is not the most talked about movie of 2012. instead it's "the hunger games." >> i volunteer as tribute. >> reporter: the movie is based on the popular novel series by suzanne collins and takes you inside a postapocalyptic world where a group of teens are randomly selected to compete in a battle to the death. it opens in march. and opening in theaters today is the film that's already getting oscar buzz for its star. meryl streep who plays margaret thatcher. >> i have done battle every single day of my life. >> reporter: "the iron lady" is the story of britain first and only female prime minister through the cold war to her ongoing battle with dementia. the role already earned her a golden globe nomination. and that's your eye on entertainment. bigad shaban, cbs news, hollywood. >> we're doing this and i think

it's really neat. every year, major holidays like new year's and christmas fall on a different day of the week and schools and businesses have to try to shift their schedules accordingly. happens every year right? well, one astrophysicist says it doesn't have to be that complicates. proposing making a calendar where each month, 12 month period is exactly the same as the year before. instead of leap year, there will be five weeks in december every five to six years. the economist first made the suggestion back in 2004 and under the plan christmas would always fall on a sunday and halloween would always be on a monday. >> a monday? oh no. >> critics say most people like having holidays moving around from time to time. >> i like having my birthday on a friday from time to time. >> you don't want to take a day off to stay out late and celebrate and whatever. >> i'm not for it. >> it's going to be a rd