family. how richland county is spending its transportation penny tax is still under the microscope -- and under a lot of scrutiny too. last month, state officials found "multiple instances of illegal activity by individuals and/or companies associated with the penny program." now, a county council member is proposing a solution and talking to our chad mills. member is proposing a solution and talking to our chad mills. councilman seth rose says something must be done to restore to public's trust, because right now, he says it's still in shamblele it was a shocking letter to richland county councilman seth rose. "i was deeply concerned when i first saw the letter, and i immediately started looking at ways to take the bull by the horns." he's talking about this letter that was sent from the department of revenue to richland county early last month. in it, the d-o-r says it discovered discrepancies and possible illegal activity related to the county's penny tax for

an audit that rose says shakes public confidence in the county. "there's no question. my trust in the program's been shaken after reading the letter." so rose has e-mailed three motions to the county clerk. one would change the way council approves purchase orders related to the penny tax. another would payback funds spent from the penny tax account on an initiative to involve more small businesses in the process. "penny revenues should only go to moving dirt, repaving roads, funding the bus system, greenways, and walkways. that's where the penny revenue should go to." finally, and most notably, rose's plan calls for getting regular citizens more involved in oversight. it would revamp a citizens' advisory committee and give it more teeth. members would be able to flag issues they discover, the committee would prepare audits, and

ex-officio member of the county council's transportation ad-hoc committee. "being an ex-officio member would allow the chairperson to not only have a vote on a recommendation that comes out from there, but it would also allow them to be in all conversations and privileged to all documents." the penny tax already has a citizen-based advisory committee, but hayes mizell, the chairman, says it isn't working. "at present, whatever we have to say doesn't carry much weight." mizell says his committee doesn't have a staff, an office, or even a phone and serves a "symbolic" purpose -- the reason he's supporting rose's motions. "i think it's a very constructive, positive motion, and i hope county council will give it serious consideration." and councilman rose does expect pushback after it's placed on next week's agenda. by the way, he does believe it's still important to recruit small businesses to

he says money spent doing that should come from the general fund. expect lows tonight in the lower/middle 20s with clear skies. highs will struggle into the mid/upper 40s both tuesday and wednesday with sunny to partly cloudy skies. the next chance for rain arrives friday.

to apply for mid/upper 40s both tuesday and wednesday with sunny to partly cloudy skies. the next chance for rain arrives friday. wis's allie spillyards met with both agencies to find out what you can still do. with just one hour left before registration closes, the message from fema and the sba is to get your

if you're applying for fema, get online now at disasterassistance.gov. for now all you need is proof of home ownership and insurance information. there will be more paperwork down the road, but for now all you need to focus on is getting the registration done. with sba, you'll need the same information you would if you were applying for a loan through your bank, but if you can't find some of the forms like your tax return, just get online and get the process started. an agent can help you fill in the blanks later -- but if you don't apply tonight, you'll miss out. "i do want to encourage anyone who's holding an sba loan application who's trying to decide to go ahead and apply anyway. you can turn the loan down. you do not have to accept the loan. it keeps the doors open." so the key is if you haven't applied for fema, this is your final chance. we're told the disaster recovery center will remain open indefinitely to help people complete the registration process and to answer any questions they

longer be able to start new applications. for phone numbers, websites and a list of disaster recovery centers, you can visit our website wis tv dot com. in columbia, allie spillyards, wis news 10. investigators in orangeburg county expect more answers tomorrow in the case of a person found dead at the scene of a house fire. firefighters found the victim around 3:30 this morning at a house on old number 6 highway in elloree. the coroner's office is working to identify the person and sled is investigating the fire. an autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow morning. in columbia, one man is now facing charges for a christmas eve crash now that a passenger in his car has died. columbia police say piere ray was driving on two notch road on december 24th when he lost control of his car, hit a curb, and crashed into several metal poles and a brick wall. james lightbourne was riding in the car at the

police say lighbourne died yesterday at the hospital. ray is charged with felony dui resulting in death and possession of marijuana. police say ray was speeding right before the crash. he's still in the hospital. investigators are asking for your help to find out who killed a motorcyclist over the weekend. yesterday morning, the highway patrol found 36- year-old adrian silva crashed on longreen parkway near churchland drive. he was dead at the scene and responders discovered he had been shot. now they're asking you to call crimestoppers at 1- 888-crime-sc if you have any information. a boil water advisory for a portion of west columbia is expected to be lifted wednesday...but for the time being--people still need to boil their water. over the weekend, a water line servicing the leaphart road area was relocated due to a road widening project near mineral springs road. water service in that area was cut off saturday and yesterday. city officials say originally,

only supposed to be shut off on saturday but crews ran into several problems. again, the area remains under a "boil water" advisory tonight. coming up after the break-- president obama has his own plan and local law enforcement is calling for a peaceful end to a group's occupation of federal lands. tomorrow morning, president

in the country...through executive order. this evening, the white house says the first of those changes include strengthening and clarifying background check laws already on the books. the president is also proposing putting more money into research for smarter gun technology to reduce the risk of accidental shootings...and a 500 million dollar investment to improve mental health care.

taking action he says congress won't ... president obama announced he'll use his executive powers to tighten america's gun laws. "it's not going to keep every gun out of the hands of criminals. it will will potentially save lives." clarifying which gun sellers are required to conduct background checks ... and adding more federal workers to process those checks ... the white house says those are just a few changes on the way. republicans are wary. presidential candidate :40-:45 "we don't beat the bad guys by taking away our guns; we beat the bad guys by using our guns." presidential candidate :46-:54 "the president has not even attempted to point to a single mass shooting these actions he proposes would have prevented, because there isn't one. at a gun show near atlanta ... this dealer suggests the government ought to focus on the mentally ill. "that's to me where the money

help the people that need help." but this longtime gun owner says she doesn't oppose more checks on gun buyers ... "unfortunately we need things in place now - because people have just gotten out of control." from president obama - a bold audio outcue: "brian mooar, nbc news, washington." the sheriff in harney county, oregon says the anti-government protests at a

taken an "unfortunate turn." sheriff david ward says he wants to talk directly to the members of the group now occupying malheur national wildlife refuge. the group's original goal was to keep two local ranchers dwight and steven hammond from going to prison for burning brush on federal land. but now the two have turned themselves in...and the sheriff is calling for a peaceful end to the conflict. "this event has significantly impacted our community. our goal is to work together and restore calm and regular services for the people of that community." the hammond's relatives say the protesers don't speak for them. they say they will seek clemency from president obama. the feds are now suing automaker volkswagen over a scandal which allowed the company to cheat on emission stataards tests. the justice department and the environmental protection agency filed the suit. the feds say saying the scheme

emit pollution well above the federal standards. the suit alleges volkswagen installed software on nearly 600 thousand still ahead after the break--we're looking at a cold week ahead in your full forecast. plus--as the panthers head to the playoffs...the city of charlotte is getting ready for an influx of fired up

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highs will struggle into the mid/upper 40s both tuesday and wednesday with sunny to partly cloudy skies. the next chance for rain arrives friday. panthers head coach ron rivera

mid/upper 40s both tuesday and wednesday with sunny to partly cloudy skies. the next chance for rain arrives friday. mid/upper 40s both tuesday and wednesday with sunny to partly cloudy skies.

it's become a nationwide hit on netflix-- mid/upper 40s both tuesday and wednesday with sunny to partly cloudy skies. the next chance for rain arrives

obama to pardon a convicted killer featured in the documentary series "making a murderer." the documentary focuses on the murder trial and conviction of steven avery and his nephew. a jury found the two guilty of killing a woman in wisconsin back in 2005. both men ararserving life sentences...but insist they're innocent. the series raises many questions about the validity of the evidence used to convict them. nearly 175 thousand people have signed a change dot org petition...and nearly 20 thousand others have signed a separate pardon petition on white house dot gov. panthers head coach ron rivera says he has high hopes for the post season as the team heads into the playoffs in a few weeks. after the panthers clinched the home field advantage in yesterday's win

game will need deep pockets steve crump has more from charlotte. wear and tear on battered turf plus heavy rain in recent days brought the urgent need for repairs. fixing the field at bank of america stadium remains a major priority at the place the panthers call home. "the nice thing is we'll have a whole extra week for the field to be fixed. i know they're gonna go ahread and lay the sod down. i think they're doing that right now." check out the websites connected to major hotels in center city, and it's easy to see that most rooms the night before the january 17th play off game at home are gone. one exception with limited space we found was the dunhill hotel where the asking price for a single room is nearly 600 dollars. sucess of the panther's is offering a shrewd lesson in economics. "it says we need more hotel rooms, and luckily we've got 21 hundred hotel rooms that are either under construction or planned."

rooms with soaring rates. tickets for the big game are being hawked for as much as five thousand dollars. " we think this is football. this is more than football. this is city building. the nfl is an incredibly powerful engine." "we're all gonna have our opinions sitting here behind a microphone." phone lines were loaded at the wfnz dog house. that's where former panther frank garcia sized up the plus side of having home field advantage. "it's security. it's confidence. itit having your familiar surroundings. it's having your fans. that's steve crump reporting. the panthers play at home on january 17th...their opponent has not yet been announced. a 93-year-old man in missouri is showing he still has what it takes to be a competitor--and he's setting his sights on rio. bill guilfoil has been playing daily rounds of tale tennis for

in february, guilfoil wililleave behind the green courts at his raquet club for greensbroro, north carolina where he'll try to qualify for the 2016 summer olympics in brazil. ilfoil will likely b bthe oldest athlete when he goes to the olympic trials. the summer olympic games will begin this august. the usc men's basketball team gets ready for some tougher competition..... the gamecocks tip-off sec play tomorrow night..... we'll hear from head coach frank martin..... plus..the alabama crimson tide prepares to face clemson and their talented quarterback deshaun watson....sports is next!!! will the alabama crimson tide be

days after the paris attacks, senators came together for a top-secret briefing on the terrorist threat... marco rubio was missing - fundraising in california instead. two weeks later, terrorists struck again in san bernardino... and where was marco?

over the last 3 years, rubio has missed important national security hearings and missed more total votes than any other senator. politics first: that's the rubio way. right to rise usa

stop clemson quarterback deshaun watson? they'll have to at least be able to slow down the tigers' talented sophomore qb if they want to claim the national championship a week from tonight. watson put on quite a show in last week's semifinal win over oklahoma. deshaun passed for just 187 yards and one touchdown.....but he ran for 145 yards and another score to lead clemson to a 37 to 17 win over the sooners. alabama worked out today in tuscaloosa. the crimson tide defenders will spend plenty of time over the next few days talking about mr. watson. jonathan allen: from a little bit i've seen deshaun watson is a very athletic quarterback. he reminds us of josh dobbs from tennessee so we'll go look at that game and see how we handled things then. we have to do a good job of containing him and get a lot of pressure on him. dabo:deshaun watson, he's the best player in the country. it's just that simple. you know, people can have their own opipions or whatever, but there ain't a better one than no. 4. this guy is special in every regard.

on defensive end shaq lawson. he left the semifinal game against oklahoma with a knee injury. dabo says lawson was able to practice today..and he's optimistic he'll be able to play in the big game. we'll be in clemson tomorrow to talk to dabo and the players. they will fly to arizona friday to continue preparations for monday's national championship game. usc football coach will muschamp fills another position on his coaching staff. he officially announces the hiring of kurt roper as the gamecocks' co- offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. roper worked with muschamp at florida for one season in 2014 as the gators offensive coach. roper spent this past season with the nfl's cleveland browns as a senior offensive assistant coach. the usc men's basketball team remains 20th in the coaches poll....they jump to 22nd in the a-p poll. carolina improved to 13 and oh with a tough 86-76 win over memphis saturday night. it was a very physical

of 68 fouls called. usc coach frank martin says his freshmen were a little freaked out...but it's good preparation for the sec schedule..which starts tomorrow at auburn. i mentioned in front of the team and the older guys like...yoh...we've got 18 more just like thisis then at least one postseason game.there's not other day left where we can go out there and

announcer: you taught him how to hit a baseball. how to hit a receiver. theetrike zone. the net. you taught him how to hit the upper corner. you even taught him how to hit the open man. but how much time have you spent teaching him... what not to hit? >> steve: from studio 6b in