Photo by ekelly80

Good morning, Washington, and Happy New Year! On this chilly first weekday of 2012 the area will remain quiet as the federal government and most schools remain closed, Metro runs on a Sunday schedule and the District’s over-active parking enforcement officials take the day off. We’ll be posting at a lighter clip today, and returning to full strength tomorrow.

D.C. Gets First Homicide of 2012: Though the District ended 2011 with fewer killings than at any point in 50 years, the city’s criminals spared no time in adding a body to the 2012 tally. Homicide Watch reports that a Northeast man was found dead on the last day of 2011, but is being considered the first homicide of 2012 since the District’s Chief Medical Examiner did not rule on the cause of death until New Year’s Day. In related news, the Post reports that five people were stabbed in the District on New Year’s Eve and into New Year’s Day. None of the stabbings proved to be fatal.

MoCo Gets Bag Fee: Two years after the District started charging five cents for every plastic bag, Montgomery County instituted its own bag fee yesterday. Of course, as the Post writes, the implementation has caught many by surprise, and both stores and shoppers are working to adapt. County officials expect the fee — five cents for every bag at almost every retail outlet — to raise $1 million a year, which will be used for water quality programs.

Redskins End Season With Loss: The Washington Redskins closed out their season yesterday with a 34-10 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, ending the year with five wins and 11 losses. That’s clearly less than the optimism we demonstrated at the start of the season — we hoped they’d go at least 8-8. Still, fans can take solace in the fact that team owner Dan Snyder is just a great guy. Oh, wait.

Briefly Noted: They finally got Omar … Baltimore also saw a drop in homicides in 2011, hitting 196 murders … Police to play basketball to raise money for fallen comrades … The Cooch backs off on changes to Virginia ballot-access law … Maryland couple hit by car on sidewalk … Powerball ticket price set to rise to $2 … Dulles Toll Road gets more expensive … Lost hiker saved from Gambrill State Park.

This Day in DCist: On this day in 2011, we looked back at the United Brick Corporation Complex and a group of atheists protested a prayer service associated with Mayor Vince Gray’s inaugural celebration. In 2010, taxes on cigarettes in the District went up again, putting the city eighth highest in the nation. In 2009, we found out that President Obama’s inauguration would coincide with Leather Fest.