against taking on a role that would be too time- consuming or technical. regardless, members say something has to be done to win back the public after a damning letter from d-o-r about its investigation of the county's penny tax. with richland county's transportation penny tax under investigationon- and under a lot of scrutiny -- should this citizen watchdog group have a bigger role in being a watchdog? that was the main question the group called the transportation penny advisory committee, or tpac, considered in this meeting -- its first meeting since the news broke that the south carolina department of revenue is auditing the penny tax program for potential misuse and illegal activity. "i thought the results were very good. i was very impressed with the tpac's efforts in moving forward so that we can get this audit issue behind us and to get some public credibility resumed." in this meeting, chairman hayes

kososki that d-o-r still has multiple ongoing investigations, the reason the state agency didn't attend with an update. he also asked the members, county leaders, and the few councilmen in the room if any of them knew about any illegal activity with the penny but didn't get a response. county administrator tony mcdonald assured the panel that measures are in place to spend the tax money responsibly. however, the members voted unanimously for an annual independent audit, separate from the d-o-r's "that's one of the things that the tpac can do. they can call for it yearly, and when you have a program of this size, an independent audit is just the right thing to do." now, the watchdog group will just have to decide what kind of increased role it or a very detailed one proposed by councilman seth rose. transportation director rob perry says that's a decision this group of everyday citizens will have to decide. "i welcome anything to bring about the public

back and look at all these projects. richland county will be the county that did it the right way." they'll meet on february 12th for a work session to start figuring out how much oversight they want -- and the process to make it work. by the way, a concerned citizen told me he likes rose's motions a bit better, since they are more specific and detailed. he actually thought the meeting tonight was "hogwash." he said no one seemed to show enough concern that the penny program is under state investigation. he also wants to see county officials take more of the blame. now for a check of your first alert forecast. cool again tonight--but another day of warm sun is on the way tomorrow. meteorologist ben tanner has more. lows tonight will drop into the lower/middle 30s. expect a fabulous tuesday with highs in the mid/upper 70s. a slow moving cold front arrives wednesday into

rain totals possible through thursday morning. friday through sunday will be sunny to partly cloudy with highs in the mid/upper 60s.s a murder suspect wanted in texas is dead tonight after a shootout with law enforcement in columbia. it happened in the parking lot of the byron road apartments, near dorn v.a. medical center investigators say a fugitive task force led by mid/upper 70s. a slow moving cold front arrives wednesday into thursday with 1/2" it happened in the parking lot of the byron road apartments, near dorn v.a. medical center investigators say a fugitive task force led by u-s marshals along with sled and the columbia police department were trying to

on the man. as they approached the suv, they say the suspect started shooting at them and they shot back. "the preliminary information that we have indicates that the suspect is accused of opening fire first and officers assigned to the task force returning fire. obviously it's not our place to determine who actually shot that suspect. that's really something that the richland county sheriff's department will have to determine." the man was shot and killed. department is leading the investigation. tonight, we're seeing what happened during a holdup that turned into a deadly shooting in a columbia barber shop. on friday night, police say two armed men wearing masks came into the "next up barber and beauty" on fort jackson boulevard and demanded money. then police report that two of the victims pulled out guns of their own and started shooting at both men. one of them was killed.

all unfold. "it was hollering and screaming and stuff like that, little kids were in here." i thought he definitely was going to shoot me in the back of my head. he told me to get down, so i got down on my knees and put my hands up and he said get down again and smacked me on the back of my head." investigators report both of the victims who fired their guns had valid concealed weapons permits. one of the two robbers got away, and is still on the run. if you have any information that can help investigators, call crimestoppers at 1-888- crime-sc. police in gastonia, north carolina have ononman locked up after a shooting outside a mall. according to investigators, the suspected shooter was involved in car theft, and led police on a chase before shooting at one of them. authorities say the officer was not hurt. the chase ended when the suspect jumped off a 25 foot retaining wall. he was taken to the hospital in

a texas grand jury has cleared planned parenthood of wrongdoing over a series of controversial undercover videos. instead, it has indicted the two anti-abortion activists behind them. according to the harris county, texas district attorney, one of the activists was indicted on a felony charge of tampering with a governmentalal record and a misdemeanor count related to purchasing human organs. another activist was also indicted on a charge of tempering with a government record. the two belonged to the center for medical ogress. that's the troup that released videos which purportedly show planned parenthood officials brokering in body parts from abortions. florida state university has a deal in the case of rape accusations against former star quarterback jameis winston. fsu's president says the school has reached a settlement in a lawsuit by the alleged victim. florida state will pay 950 thousand dollars...including 700 thousand dollars for her lawyer the woman says the university

respond to her allegations. she's also suing winston winston says he's innocent and fsu cleared him of any wrongdoing in its own investigation. winston was never criminally charged. prosecutors said the woman's story didn't add up and there wasn't enough evidence. after this weekend's blizzard blanketed much of the east coast--one big question remains. where to put all that snow? at least 34 people have died in the storm some of them trying to dig themselves out. we get more from mary moloney. --reporter pkg-as follows-- millions are digging bulldozing and plowing the snow away. the deadly winter storm caused crashes and roof collapses. new york is bouncing back quickly... : "things are not entirely back to normal but a lot of the city is operating well." but it's a different story in washington... where the mayor warns the district will be dealing with snow all week. : "whilelee have made some progress, there is

d-c schools remain closed and federal buildings are shut down the house of representatives canceled votes for the whole week. meanwhile air travelers are feeling the pain as airports slowly return to life. 12-thousand flights have been canceled, including about 18- hundred monday. "i've had 8 cancellations, but they've been rolling the cancellations over, so i'm thrilled to be getting out and heading back to new orleans." i'm mary moloney reporting. a big deadline is approaching for those who need health insurance. we are just under one week away from the deadline to sign up for coverage through the federal insurance marketplace. the enrollment period ends this sunday, january 31st. if you don't sign up for coverage you could face a fine. the palmetto project says they are providing experts to help you get enrolled at locations around the state. here in the midlands, you can stop by brookland baptist church in west columbia this week from noon until midnight through sunday. for more information, we've posted a link to the big red 10 under the homepage at wistv dot

we'll soon get an update on columbia mayor steve benjamin's vision for the capital city in the new year. tomorrow--mayor benjamin will deliver the state of the city address at city hall. the address will be at 6 pm. up next, it's the final push for the candidates trying to win over voters in the first election showdown. with just one week left, time is running out for hillary clinton to pull off a win one week from tonight, voters in

st votes of the 2016 presidential election. while donald trump is expanding his lead in iowa--the race remains much closer on the democratic side. brianna keilar reports on how the candidates are making their final pitches --reporter pkg-as follows-- presidential candidate "let's build on what we have."

with our campaign." tonight, just one week before the iowa caucuses -- hillary clinton and bernie sanders make their closing arguments. clinton's: she has the experience to be president presidential candidate "the truth is i need your help. i am out there making the case that i have the experience, the judgment and the vision and plans to really move our country forward." sanders closing argument: he has the enthusiasm to win. "when people who have turned their back on the political process, know that now is the time, they're gonna have to stand up, fight back, and get involved in the political process. that is our campaign. we are the campaign that can defeat right wing republicans in november." with the race in iowa a dead heat -- clinton getting a boost with an endorsement from the des moines register editorial board. president obama - waiting to endorse

noticeably talking up clinton in a politico interview. "i've gotten to know hillary really well. and she is a good, smart, tough person who cares deeply about this country. and she has been in the public eye for a long time and in a culture in which new is always better. that's a disadvantage to her." a potentially huge shake-up -- a source tells c-n-n former new york city mayor michael bloomberg is seriously considering an independent bid - willing to spend up to a billion dollars of his own money. "the public at the moment thinks that government is not working." the source says he'll decide by early march. both democratic candidates downplaying their concerns about a bloomberg run - sanders saying especially if the general election race shapes up to bebeim, donald trump and bloomberg. presidential candidate "the american people don't want to see our nation move toward an oligarchy where billionaires control the political process. i think

presidential candidate "the way i read what he said is if i didn't get the nomination he might consider it. that's brianna keilar reporting in iowa, the latest cnn- orc poll has sanders leading clinton 51 percent to 43 percent. former maryland governor martin o'malley is far behind the top contenders at just 4 percent. if you want to vote in next month's democratic primarar the deadline to register is just two days away. if you haven't already done so, this wednesday is the last day to get registered in south carolina. the deadline to register to vote in the republican primary has already passed. the date for that primary is feferuary 20th. february 27th is the date of the democratic primary in our state. lows tonight will drop into the lower/middle 30s. expect a fabulous tuesday with

mid/upper 70s. a slow moving cold front arrives wednesday into thursday with 1/2" rrn totals possible ththugh thursday morning. friday through sunday will be sunny to partly cloudy with highs in the mid/upper 60s.s the carolina panthers are one game away from mid/upper 70s. a slow moving cold front arrives wednesday into thursday with 1/2" rain totals possible through thursday morning. friday through sunday will be sunny to partly cloudy with highs in the mid/upper

the carolina panthers are one game away from mid/upper 70s. a slow moving cold front arrives wednesday into thursday with 1/2" rain totals possible through thursday morning. friday through sunday will be sunny to partly cloudy with highs in the mid/upper 60s.s the carolina panthers are one game away from bringing home the biggest prize mid/upper 70s. a slow moving cold front arrives wednesday into

rain totals possible through thursday morning. friday through sunday will be sunny to partly cloudy with highs in the mid/upper 60s.s the carolina panthers are one game away from bringing home the biggest prize in football. in less than two weeks the

he was rated a+ by the nra. not for his promises, but for defending the second amendment... he's a man of deep faith, who fought time and again for the right to life. he laid out a plan to destroy isis months before paris. he'll strengthen our border and use conservative principles to put washington's broken fiscal house back in order. jeb bush. he's the conservative you can trust, to fight for our beliefs. right to rise usa is responsible

cap on an incredible season. after last night's win over team bring home the trophy in a few weeks. amazing plays during the nfc championship game gave fans plenty to cheer and stay up for sunday night. nat: 1:07 crowd screams ashton carter, charlotte : 2:55 i just saw them get the trophies 6-year-old ashton watched the game with his dad. ashton is a super super panther fan now, he has a full panther room, his room is all panthers and he did his birthday party here so he's a super fan and he understood why this panthers game was special

because panthers are my favorite team and i like them going to the super bowl but 6-year-old ethan. what does it mean they won, where do they go next? i don't remember it doesn't matter what your age, nat: :17 one two three, hey the nfc championship win is worth celebrating. and the coach is thankful for the fans and all their noise at the home stadium. he hopes a smaller contigent will bring it to california. ron rivera: 28:03 i'm really grateful that they've supported us. and for those that do make the trip, i hope they're loud, i really do. not since 2004, has the team been in this position. matthew woods: 8:01 everybody's real excited, so it's really neat to experience tauras carter: 3:41 it's just exciting, the whole town is buzzing. i mean everybody is excited it home that's pamela escobar reporting. meanwhile, fans at one north carolina church are hoping for a little divine intervention come super bowl

poplar tent presbyterian church in concord has become a hit with drivers, after church officials began posting panther pride mesesges. it all started days before the panthers divisional round game against seattle...then again when the cardinals came to charlotte. now--they're working on their latest play on words for the panthers' super bowl matchup with denver. i start getting text messages i start getting facebook messages don't keep us s iting... what are you going to write... god has no favorites but the sign lady does... go panthers... and fans looking to go cheer their team on in california--are going to have to pay big for the big game. the average resale price of a ticket to the panthers-broncos game is now more than 51- hundred dollars according to ticket price tracker, seatgeek. a pair of club seats near mid-field already have sold for more than 12- thousand dollars each, making them the most expensive seats sold so far. for more information, go to wistv.com and click the

this is homecoming week for the usc men's basketball team . the guys are happy to return to colonial life arena.... and the carolina panthers are preparing for the ultimate nfl road trip....they're headed to the super bowl...sports is next!!! this is homecoming week for the

basketball team. the gamecocks have a pair of home games....tomorrow against mississippi state...and saturday when they'll entertain alabama. the gamecocks have played three of their last four on the road. carolina has struggled away from home. they went one and two in those three road games. and they had to go to overtime to get that one victory against ole miss. the gamecocks started the season

this week they drop out of the a-p poll. they're 22nd in the coaches rankings. head coach frank martin hopes the team can crank it up again as they return to colonial life arena. frank:hopefully being at home alllows us to kind of get in front of our fans and play the way we've played at home up to this point. not from a won-loss standpoint but from an energy and enthusiasm standpoint. michael:being away from home is a little bit hard. just coming back home is going to make us feel better about ourselves. i think it's going to make our games a little bit...make us feel better. the gamecocks and mississippi state will tip-off tuesday at seven pm....you can watch the game on the sec network. the countdown is on for the carolina panthers to superbowl 50. the countdown is also on for the recovery of linebacker thomas davis.

his broken right forearm....but he is expected to play in the super bowl. davis broke his arm in the second quarter of sunday's nfc championship game while attempting to make a tackle. davis said after the game he was fully confident he would be ready to go for the super bowl...february 7th in santa clara, california against the denver broncos. there was a pretty nice celebration last night at bank of america stadium after the panthers finished off the arizona cardinals 49 to 15. the panthers are making their second super bowl appearance. they lost to the patriots in two thousand four. the cats have a sparkling 17 and one record. cam newton says they have one more step to take. long time feels like..but we've still got a long way to go you know. i'm excited, i'm excited. i said it then and i'll say it now, it's a process. it wasn't going to be...let's say instant grits, quick grits....it's going to be a process like long cooked collard greens. i think those collard greens are brewing right now..you can smell it from a far

(donkey sound) (elephant sound) there's a big difference between making noise, (tapping sound) and making sense. (elephant sound) (donkey sound) when it comes to social security, we need more than lip service. our next president needs a real plan to keep social security strong. (elephant noise)