watching. i'm charles molineaux. columbia mayor steve benjamin is calling for a new and improved city in the new year. tonight, benjamin set a positive tone after a year of hardships in his annual state of the city address. and he called for some innovative ways to recover after last year's flood. "i saw a world-class city become a city full of heroes, and i want to take this moment to say thank you." our chad mills was there tonight. the mayor started by acknowleding that his critics sometimes attack him for being too hasty about changing the city. he answered with a lot of numbers, and told the listeners that he's helped drop 2010 and help bring in $1.3 billion in downtown development since 2014. he also had a lot to say about flood.

stand here tonight and without hesitation or qualification declare that the state of our city is strong. it is strong." in his annual state of the city address, mayor steve benjamin had high praise for the first responders who worked tirelessly after october's historic, deadly flood -- a disaster he compared to the burning of columbia a century-and-a-half ago by general william tecumseh sherman. "over 11 trillion gallons of water fall from the sky." the mayor called for rebuilding but in an innovative and imaginative way: repaired bridges and roads that are friendly to bikes and pedestrians, a natural buffer along gills creek that'll prevent future catasthrophic flooding, and abandoned homes turned into greenspace. then, he revealed recovery measures already in the works. "i'm proud to announce that we're launching this week the small business disaster relief fund, providing critical assistance to small businesses struggling to recover from the october flood not covered by fema or private insurance."

bull street development, columbia common, is on-time and on-budget and the new minor league team is still set for its inaugural game on april 14th. he also voiced support of fiscal responsibility and addressed a recent state supreme court ruling that found the city was improperly transfering money from its water and sewer fund to other departments. "we've cut over $3.4 million in transfers from our water and sewer fund and invested over $420 million in maintenance and improvement to our water and sewer infrastructure." he revoiced his goal of making the city shelther a no-kill one. and he made the call for more officers and honored the department for adopting body cameras. "this message gave some real signals of hope." but councilman ed mcdowell says pondering how the city will pay for all the flood relief still keeps him up at night. "as the poem goes, 'the woods are long, dark, and deep. we've got promises to keep. miles to go before

the city is still waiting to find out how much money to federal government will dish out to help with flood recovery. a couple more points from the address-- the mayor said he'll work to double the number of summer jobs available to kids. he said he's also working on a youth literacy program that would put books in 100 barbershops across the city. he also made the call, again, to tear down gonzales gardens. time now to get a look at your overnight forecast. for that, we turn to meteorologist ben tanner in the weather center. expect mostly cloudy skies tonight with lows near 50 degrees. scattered showers are in the forecast wednesday as a front slowly moves into the state and highs in the mid 50s. showers will diminish thursday

skies...highs near 50 degrees. friday through sunday will be gorgeous behind the front with highs in the 60s and lower 70s. showers are in the forecast wednesday as a front slowly moves into the state and highs wildlife refuge came to a violent end today. one of the occupiers is dead after a traffic stop by oregon state police and the fbi

shots were reportedly fired when fbi and oregon state police converged on the malheur national wildlife refuge. authorities say brothers ammon and ryan bundy, who led the occupation, along with three others were arrested during the traffic stop. another man was arrested in a nearby town. the group occupied the land for more than three weeks protesting the imprisonment of property owners in a dispute with federal wildlife officials. a new jersey man has been identified as the man killed trying to hold up a columbia barber shop before being attacked by his would-be victims. the richland county coroner says 35-year-old adeyemi hannibal died after he was shot at the "next up barber and beauty" last friday. surveillance video from the store captured the whole thing when police say twoof the victims got out their own guns and shot at the robbers. the coroner says hannibal later died at the hospital. police say one other man, who has not been identified, is still on the run. they're asking anyone with

a bill making its way through the state house is aiming to specify citizens' rights to film or photograph police without the threat of arrest. the measure proposed by senator gerald malloy was approved today by the senate judiciary the bill is in response to the shooting death of walter scott by a north charleston policeman which was caught on camera by a bystander. although, in most cases people have the right to film police in public--malloy says his proposal protects bystanders from arrest or intimidation if they're filming from a public place. senators are also hoping to cut down the length of the legislative session. a bill to shorten session by one month was unanimously approved by the senate judiciary committee today. instead of adjourning in june, the proposal calls for session to end in may. the bill would also require the house and senate to write their budget plans from the

additional flood grants by fema will mean some south carolinians originally denied help following october's floods will receive about 10 million dollars in aid. a fema spokesman says the funding comes from the agency's individuals and households program for people in presidentially-declared disaster areas. eligibilili is based on damages that fema has verified. fema says as of yesterday, it has approved 84 million dollars in grants for flood victims. on the campaign trail tonight-- the next republican debate will be missing the party's frontrunning candidate. tonight, donald trump's campaign says he will not participate in the debate on thursday hosted by fox news and moderated by megyn kelly. in his decision, trump said he is not a fan of kelly and that he is instead considering holding a separate event that would raise money for veterans. with less than a week away from the iowa caucuses, trump says he doesn't think it will hurt

but before then, trump will take a break from iowa to make a campaign stop here in the midlands. tomorrow, he will be holding a rally at harmon tree farm in gilbert. the washington post is reporting that former state senator jake knotts will endorse trump for president at the event. knotts made national headlines several years ago when he referred to then gubernatorial candidate nikki haley as a "raghead." tomorrow's rally will be at 7...doors open at 5. with just days before the iowa caucuses, trump and his closes challenger, t t cruz are focusing their attacks on each other. and as sunlen serfaty reports, they aren't holding anything back. --reporter pkg-as follows-- ted cruz's final pitch framed as dire warning, sounding the alarm among conservatives. presidential candidate "if donald wins iowa, he right now has a substantial lead in new hampshire, if he went on to win new hampshire as well, there is a very good chance he could be unstoppable and be our nominee." ted cruz now casting himself as the underdog. in a private meeting with evangelical pastors, making his final pitch

himself.....but about how he is the best chance to stopoponald trump. presidential candidate "so even if you're thinking about another candidate, the simple reality is there's only one campaign that can beat trump in this state." that stark characterization of the race underscores the pressure and urgency of the moment cruz is feeling in iowa. presidential candidate "we've said no state is a must win for us. we are all-in in iowa. we're all-in in new hampshire. we're all-in in south carolina, and we're all-in in nevada. i believe we will compete and do t-v ad today, trying to label trump as a phoney conservative... presidential candidate "i lived in new york city, in manhattan all my life, so my views are a little bit different than if i lived in iowa." ...using trump's own words against him. "would president trump ban partial birth abortion?" presidential candidate "no. look, i am pro- choice in every respect." a new poll from the hawkeye

between trump and cruz. but nationally, trump holding his biggest lead of the race yet. a new cnn/orc poll showing no one within 20 points. this comes as donald trump goes on the war path, bringing a scorched-earth strategy against ted cruz in iowa. presidential candidate "my new battle is with a gentleman named ted cruz, because you gotta speak the truth. you've got to speak the truth. the canadian, the man from canada." unloading on cruz at every opportunity. sidential candidatee "ted cruz lies. he's a liar. that's why nobody likes him. that's why his senate people wont endorse him. he stands on the senate floor and can't make a deal. he looks like a jerk." trumpmalso renewing his feud with fox news' megyn kelly, just two days before she's set to moderate the next republican debate. presidential candidate "megyn kelly's really biased against me. she knows that. i know that. everybody knows that. do you really think she can be

that's sunlen serfaty reporting. for the democratic candidates--the race between the two front runners is tightening. hillary clinton is maintaining her double hillary clinton is maintaining her double digit lead over bernie sanders among women in a new nbc news/survey monkey poll. meanwhile, young voters seem to be supporting sanders over clinton. experts say another factor in play could be the candidate lagging behind--martin o'malley-- who is polling on average around 5 percent. "if he takes a very strong stance in support of one over the other it is possible that given the closeness of the race between those two that that five percent if most of them go in one direction that could have an impact on the caucus next week." in a town hall last night -- clinton continued to talk about her experience and how a clinton presidency would be a continuation of the obama legacy. sanders defined what he calls democratic socialism--which he says is creating a government that works

of people on the top. here in south carolina, if you have not registered to vote in the democratic primary--tomorrow is the last day to do so. you can register on the south carolina election commission website at sc votes dot org. the deadline to register to vote in the r rublican primary has already passed. coming up on the news at 11-- the so-called "affluenza teenager" will head home to face justice after all. plus, it was an escape right out of a movie...now investigators are working to track down three dangerous fugitives who busted out of a california prison. the texas teen who used an

in mexico. 18-year-old ethan couch fled to mexico late last year after a video surfaced which appeared to show him around alcohol--a violation of his probation. couch killed four people while driving drunk in 2013. his lawyers successfully argued at the time that his privileged lifestyle prevented him from knowing right from wrong. authorities say couch could be

as early as this week. healthcare workers in flint, michigan are conducting hundreds of checks on children who may have been exposed to lead in the city's water system. the testing is being done for free and is offered to children 6 and under. lead poisoning can be crippling to mental development in young children. since a state of emergency was declared in flint three weeks ago, thousands of bottles of water and water filters have been delivered to people there. a government-appointed panel of experts is laying out preventative guidelines for depression in new mothers. the u.s. preventative services task force says women should be screened for depression both during pregnancy and after giving birth. this is after growing evidence that many cases of post-partum depression actually begin during pregnancy. an estimated one in seven new moms experiences some form of sadness or other symptoms of depression. three escaped prisoners are on the loose after a

police say the men are accused of violent crimes--and are offering a 200 thousand dollar reward for any information that can help capture them. we get more details tonight from mary moloney. the alleged crimes are horrifying. murder -- attempted murder -- and torture. three inmates awaiting trial accused of those crimes -- on the run -- after escaping from this jail. the orange county sheriff calls the escape sophisticated. he says the men cut through metal -- crawled in plumbing tunnels -- and cut steel. once on the roof -- the sheriff says the men used braided sheets -- and rappelled about four or five stories down the side of the maximum security jail. guards determined the men were gone more than 12 hours later. leading some to wonder if the fugitives had help. : "the sheriff is extremely troubled by the length of time it took to determine that the three inmates, housed in a maximum security jail, were unaccounted for." "immediate steps have been taken to address that specific concern." prosecutors say hossein nayeri -- attacked a man four years ago -- doused him

-- cut off his genitals -- - d dumped him in the desert. jonathan tieu is charged with murder and attempted murder. investigators say he and fellow escapee bac tien duong are affiliated with vietnamese gangs -- all have pled not guilty. now police say the rap sheets of these three escaped inmates will only get longer -- if they aren't caught soon. : "these three are extremely dangerous felons and need to be apprehended and brought back into custody immediately." i'm mary moloney reporting. expect mostly cloudy skies

scattered showers are in the forecast wednesday as a front slowly moves into the state and highs in the mid 50s. showers will diminish thursday with partly to mostly cloudy

50 degrees. friday through sunday will be gorgeous behind the front with highs in the 60s and lower 70s. a richland two school counselor is headed to washington d.c. to represent the palmetto tonight with lows near 50 degrees. scattered showers are in the forecast wednesday as a front slowly moves into the state and highs in the mid 50s. showers will diminish thursday with partly to mostly cloudy skies...highs near 50 degrees. friday through sunday will be

front with highs in the 60s and lower 70s. a richland two school counselor is headed to washington d.c. to represent the palmetto showers are in the forecast wednesday as a front slowly moves into the state and highs in the mid 50s. showers will diminish thursday with partly to mostly cloudy skies...highs near 50 degrees. friday through sunday will be gorgeous behind the front with highs in the 60s and lower 70s. a richland two school counselor is headed to washington d.c. to represent the palmetto counselor is headed to washington d.c. to represent the palmetto state

leroy york loves his job of interacting with students as the director of counseling at kelly mill middle school in blythewood. that's why a coworker nominated him as south carolina's middle school counselor of the year. thursday he'll join top counselors from the other 49 states, meet the president and first lady and celebrate at a black tie gala. "when i first started out in education 17 years ago, one of my aspirations was to be a school counselor. started off as a teacher and then went to counseling, so to actually get to the point where i'm acknowledged as a state representative for the career of my choice, that's really big for me." to see york and the others be recognized, you can watch the white house stream live on wis tv dot com at 11 a.m. on thursday. today south carolina law enforcement -- kicked their fundraising campaign for the annual law enforcement torch run for

south carolina. this morning at the statehouse officers from around the state gathered on the north steps to unveil their fundraising goal for 2016. last year -- state law enforcement were able to raise 775-thousand dollars for special olympics. there are more than 22- thousand special olympic athletes in the state. the carolina panthers say it's ok if they don't get respect it's been a winning formula this season....i'll explain.... and the usc men receive a big night from michael carrera....as they collar the mississippi state bulldogs...sports is next!!! senior michael carrera leads the

usc men bounce back from their second loss of the season. the gamecocks take down the

bulldogs for their 18th win of the season. south carolina home for two games this week after playing three of their last four on the road. first half...pj dozier with the steal....he gets it to carrera for the dunk....usc up by five. dozier makes another play here..scores the layup...draws the foul...three point play gives carolina a nine point lead.... and the lead will be nine at the break as carrera beats the buzzer for two....43-34 gamecocks. second half...the bulldogs start barking....i.j. ready with a three pointer...the lead is two...55-53...just under ten minutes left. carrera....responds...th e block on one end....he finishes with three blocks and 15 rebounds.....on the other end he drills a three pointer....60 to 53 gamecocks...... check out this fake by carrera...he fools a pair of bulldogs and scores.....carrera finishes with a career high 34 points..... the gamecocks win it 84 to 74....they improve to 18 and two overall...five and two

i'm ecstatic for michael..cause he works so hard and he cares about our team and this program like it's his family and i'm estatic for his willingness to lead and to take on the responsibility of doing what good players do. playing the role of the underdog has benefitted the carolina panthers. all season long...there've been questions...are the panthers as good as their record? is cam newton an elite nfl quarterback? now after compiling a 17 and one record, winning the nfc championship and advancing to the superbowl....can anyone with a straight face refer to the cats as underdogs? the panthers have been on an emotional high all season. they've played with a burning passion...because they've felt disrespected. no matter what they've accomplished ..the underdog mentality has served them well....so why stop now!?

seasons ago was becoming relevant.to do things that we've done in the past and not be recognized for it that's kind of a kick in the gut because these guys work as hard as anybody and so becoming relevant was important. forward as we continue to work on these things becoming a better football team. there's still a lot of work for us left to do..we've got to