3 it's another day filled with wet weather across the midlands... bas showers roll through the area again this morning...good morning and thanks for waking up with us on news19 this morning... i'm mary sturgill..let's check in with meterologist... efren aftane... to see just how long this will last... and if the sun will 3 ever come out again? efren... 3 3

3 3 the deadline to apply for individual assistance fema has been extended again...you now have until monday january 4th to apply. it originally was the third... but because that falls on a sunday... fema officials will be accepting registrations through monday. president obama has declared all midlands counties a federal disaster... which means the entire midlands is eligible for individual assistance.the money would

by insurance. if you have already registered--you don't need to *re-apply. 3 faith based plans on sunday if you still 3 need to register... we have the link on our website wltx dot com... under the flood recovery tab. 3 many homeowners felt like they were overlooked when it came to volunteer help during the flood... but news 19's... loren thomas... shows us what hundreds of people from around the nation are doing... to help rebuild damaged homes. 3

thank you so much."johana martinez and her children were in their home when the roof collapsed from flood damage. nat: hammeringnow volunteers from all over the nation are rebuilding together...helping to put back the peices so that homeowners can find their new normal."i'm a single mother. there's a lot of damage so i'm thinking i can't do it by myself so i want to say thank you." "there's a lot of families and homeowners who didn't realize that their home was damaged. "jim powell with home works along with 400 volunteers came together for a three-day home blitz."we brought a community task force together comprised of the united way of the midlands, the city, county officials, other organizations that we partner with and we said hey do you know where there are needs that are not being met. for this three day event we want to serve those who haven't received help in other ways."12 homes are being repaired. "once i get my new house, i won't know how to act."for david stewart, he had significant mold buildup in his ceilings from roof damage and had been living in his home since the flood."i know it's kind of crazy staying in a house with mold, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do."stewart is now staying with friends while his home gets gutted and repaired. "what we had to do to this house was demo some of the ceilings and some of the walls to get the mold out and then today what we're doing is mold remediation."conner percy and johnathan falk are just two of the many volunteers. "we saw that it was a house in need, that may not have had a lot of other options. we had the right skill-set and the right people around us we could affect some change."....giving of their time to help these families get back on their feet. in columbia loren

3 3 home works and the st. bernard project raised more than 300,000 dollars for the home- build. if you are interested in being a volunteer on their next project,... check out this story on wltx. com. 3 the boil water advisory that was scheduled in west columbia has actually been postponed... due to weather. the city tells us... that the

will start this saturday.water lines for some residents will be turned off from from 9 am until 8 pmthe city says this is to complete a relocation project near leaphart road... and mineral springs road.to find out if you're address is on the list... head over to wltx dot com... and just click on this story. 3 3 great news to follow up on a story we brought you this weekend.the columbia couple that had been searching for their stolen handicap van says... they now have it back. they say columbia city police and a sled team.... found it around 5 o'clock last night robert mccurdy... a quadriplegic... has used the specially tailored van to get to work every day. he and his wife debbie... say they're happy it's back in their hands in decent condition.... with only a few parts missing. a torn wire from the van... lead them to believe that a buzzer connected to the wheelchair lock was going off... which made the thieves abandon the van altogether. police say they found it in an apartment neighborhood off of broad river road.

looking for three suspects in connection to an attempted murder.they are 21- year-old... henry dingle ... 20-year-old... kevin dwayne smith... and 18-year-old... william spann.police say they responded to a shots fired call on frazier street... before 4pm yesterday. once there... they found two vehicles that had been in a collison... but no one was found at the scene. they think it was done deliberately. investigators think the three are involved in this... and maybe other cases.all three are believed to be armed and dangerous.if you have information that could help you are asked to call crimestoppers at 1-triple 8- crime-s-c. 3 a bond hearing has not been set yet... for the man suspected of killing a holly hill woman... and dumping her body in a swamp... 45-year-old... harold pratt... appeared in an orangeburg county courthouse yesterday. deputies say pratt... and the victim... 38-year old... loretta bunch... were involved in an argument before bunch disappeared around christmas. investigators found bunch's body in a waterway off of

charged with murder. 3 3 we are just a day away from columbia's famously hot new year's celebration grammy award winning artist... lauryn hill... is headlining this years event. famously hot new years is on main and gervais in downtown columbia... and is freebut of course just like last year... you can watch it from the comfort of your own home... as news 19 will broadcast the event live from 11pm to 12-30 am. down to the celebration...you might want to bring a canned good with you. it's all for usc's flood relief program. the university will have volunteers at all the entrances to the party... collecting non-perishable food donations for harvest hope ... and monetary donations for the one s-c flood relief fund. there's still time for peope to signup to be volunteers ... we have all the details on our website w-l-t-x dot com. 3 we here at news19 are

life" blood drive today. it's taking place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at salsarita in lexington on sunset boulevard. all donors will receive a salsarita lunch coupon and a red cross long-sleeved shirt. this is the third year for the blood drive. 3 law enforcement wants to encourage you to think before getting behind the wheel if you plan on drinking on news year's eve.there will be multiple check points around the midlands.trooper david jones says it's important to line up a designated driver before the big night.... as alcohol related crashes are the cause of *most of the fatalities in south carolina. 3 we're gonna have troopers in place, we're going to have law plan to go out and have a few prepared to go to jail. it's that simple. we're going to have law enforcement in place and we want to end 2015 with no more fatalities. 3 this year there have been 942 fatalities on south carolina roads. 3 thousand are gearing up for the new year's celebration in

city. check out how the organizer of the are preparing to ring in 2016.yesterday several people threw confetti from the hard rock cafe marquess... as part ot the annual confetti test.on the day of the big ball drop... there will be one ton of confetti actually released in times square. 3 and speaking of new york city...if you want to celebrate the new year at the olive garden in times square-- you'll have to shell out 400 bucks..*per person!it's all about location -- but that's *a lot* of dough -- and it doesn't even include breadsticks!olive garden's new year's eve party *does* include a dj, open bar and buffet meal.and those hoping to watch the ball drop --well-- you're out of luck -- the view is *limited.* 3 and speaking of food... lizard's thicket will be open on new year's day. they'll be serving up the traditional meal of collard greens... black eyes peas and pork chops. and coming up a little

at 6am... they'll be here to explain just what the meal represents. again that's coming up in our 6 oclock hour. 3 still ahead... here in the midlands we know how devestating a flood can be.... we'll show you how this weeks

3 millions of people in 13 states along the rising mississippi river are bracing for historic and dangerous floods...following days of downpours. the unusual weather pattern hit missouri hard -- submerging portions of the state underwater. don champion has the latest 3 from new york

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3 for half a day... a digital freeway sign in california wasn't giving drivers directions.instead- it was stumping for republican presidential canddiate... donald trump.nikki worden shot video of the electronic freeway sign that read... "inland empire supports donald trump. merry xmas" ... and posted it on facebook.it went viral.police say someone hacked the system. they are looking into extra security measures... to make sure the signs are more protected. 3 some people jokingly call this grocery store"whole paycheck." and now whole foods has announced it will pay a settlement over allegations... it overcharged customers in new york city. in june... city officials announced they'd tested dozens of pre-packaged foods... such as chicken tenders and shrimp... and found mislabeled weights on all of them. whole foods says it will pay the city half a million dollars... as well as... conduct regular product audits. 3 at this intersection you get a buck for smiling dude. god bless you! the

carl ramsey and he held a sign that said mile and il give you a buck. camera followed him in colorado as he handed out at least a dozen dollar bills. something he said... he just felt like doing. 3 i not knocking homeless people or down and out please don think that. but we e always asked at intersections when you see a cardboard sign for money. i thought it would be kind of fun to give money away now3 he gave our sister station kusa... a letter... and asked them not to open it until he left. the letter said that he wasn really carl ramsey. carl was a high school friend of his... who loved making people smile. he died after graduation about 40 years ago. this man said the small gesture... was a way to keep carl spirit alive. 3 in washington state... a family heard something out of the ordinary when their son opened up one of his toy's

sound3 this was the sound coming from the toy jet --- the thorpe's bought for their three-year-old son. not a jet engine noise--- but instead -- an islamic prayer. 3 i don't want to say scary, because i do respect other religions, but it's not the right situation to have it on a children's toy."3 the family said they bought the present on amazon... from a company named wol vol. the company says the manufacturer mistakenly shipped them a bad batch of toys. 3 the library of congress announced earlier this week... the annual list of movies it will be adding to the national film registry.among the 25 films added... the shawshank redemption... ghostbusters... and top gun.a panel chooses the movies they deem worthy of preservation for their cultural... historic... or artistic importance. these additions bring the number of films in the national registry

titles.and coming up... in our next half hour... the richland library is here to talk about their top trending.... and best-of... movies... books... and music... and we want to know what *your* favorite book... cd... or dvd... of the year was... just tweet at us at wltx to let us know! 3 coming up on news 19 this morning... k-9 units put their lives on the line... just like other police officers... how a new bill proposed at the statehouse plans to protect

coming up in 3 and thanks for waking up with news 19 this morning...im mary sturgill..many of you are waking up to the sound of rain once again this morning... meteorologist... efran efante 3 joins us now... efran... 3 3 3

arrested in surfside beach. he's 71-year-old... james edward coe.coe has been on the run for almost *30 years. records show... coe had escaped a north carolina prison on june 23, 1986.he was convicted in april 1984... on two counts of receiving stolen goods in forsyth and stokes county. coe would have been released in november of1989.he was arrested sunday... for stealing jewelry from a flea market.he was denied bond and will be extradited to north carolina. 3 a new bill at the statehouse would give harsher penalties for harming or killing a dog or horse used by law enforcement.the bill is called fargo's and hyco's law ... and it comes after several animals in law enforecement were killed.you may remember fargo... he was a richland county k-9... who died after being shot by a robbery suspect in 2011. the bill would raise the fine... up to 20-thousand dollars... and

the cost of replacing the expensive animals.it would also come with mandatory minimum sentence of 2 years. under the current law ... the offense is a misdemeanor... with a penalty of 1 to 5 years in jail ... or a fine of 500 to 1000 dollars. 3 new details this morning in the case where more than 100 animals had to be taken from a north charleston home.an incident report... says the smell of urine inside the house... was so strong that a deputy found it almost impossible to breathe.that same report also said there was feces scattered around the house.no charges have been filed so far ... but the c-e-o of the charleston animal society... wants the owner of the animals to be prosecuted.... so she can be forced to undergo treatment... and be banned from owning animals. 3 to withhold veterinary care

than 3 100 animals removed... it's now one of the largest animal rescues... in charleston county.the shelter says the animals will be ready for adoption in about a week.they will be posted on the group's website... and people can also donate to help them. 3 rising mississippi river... are bracing for historic and dangerous floods... following days of downpours.the rare winter deluge hit missouri hard -- submerging portions of the state underwater. forecasters say the mississippi and other major rivers... will likely crest at record levels... beginning thursday. 3 the so-called "affluenza" teen and his mother....are expected to be deported to the u-s from mexico later today. ethan and tonya couch were arrested in puerto vallarta, mexico monday - two weeks

meeting with his probation officer.ethan couch made headlines back in 2013... when he was sentenced to just 10 years' probation - following a drunk driving crash that killed four people. 3 tensions remain high in ohio after a grand jury failed to indict two officers in the fatal shooting of 12- year-old... tamir rice. protesters marched in downtown cleveland yesterday for several hours ...calling for justice.timothy loehmann and his partner remain on restricted duty following the fatal incident... but could face possible civil rights charges. 3 3 former new york governor... george pataki is dropping out of the presidential race.he made the announcement last night... in front of his supporters.pataki made national headlines while governing new york... during the september 11-th attacks.he originally announced his run in maythe former governor has never made it onto a main debate stage... and has had

3 on to a couple of g-o-p candidates still in the race. the front runner donald trump will be back in the palmetto state today.he'll be in hilton head hosting a meet and greet at the westin.it starts at 11 a-m and is free to the public. 3 and former florida governor jeb bush is hosting a meet and greet of his own tonight in the midlands. it's at hudson smokehouse bbq on sunset boulevard and it starts at 6:30. 3 3 the elgin light christmas show has been bringing holiday cheer to folks in the midlands for 18 years.this year...the creator...paul towns has been a little slower putting up the 40 thousand lights... because of his own battle with cancer. but that hasn't stopped him from raising money for kids to go to camp chemo.last night was the last show of the year...news 19's... janae frazier... takes us there.

3 still to come... 3 a we wind down 2015... we take a look the most popular media of the year...richland library is here to talk about what were the hot items... checked out this year. 3 then a little later in sports... reggie anderson will explain why three clemson football players are suspended

3 as 2015 begins 3 to wind down... richland library is looking back at what was trending over the last year.emily stoll with the now to talk about what what hot this year. adult books-1. go set a watchman harper lee2. the burning room michael connelly3. last one home debbie macomberchildren's books 1. buzz boy and fly guy tedd arnold2. where the wild things are maurice sendakbook dr. seussmusic1. in the lonely 2. kidz bop. 26 3. kidz bop. 241. the maze runner combo pack2. tammy3. no good deed 3 3 3 3 3 now it time again for our pet of the sampson is a surely get when he looks you to bring permanent he playful, and has begun to learn commands like this bundle of joy already has been neutered, has all of his shots and is already microchipped. male sheppard mix 3 3 3 3

3 emergency 3 room doctors at temple university hospital ...say a new federal guideline has significantly reduced prescription rates for opioids. doctors say the guildline is sparking more discussions with patients. 3 a new veterans affairs study... finds that suicide attacks and roadside bombs... may trigger more post traumatic stress... than conventional warfare.the research shows higher p-t-s-d rates in men who served during the insurgency phase of the

tactics were used. 3 a woman in california has a disease so rare... that her doctor's told her ...she's only one of 70 patients in the world. but the 21 year old has beaten the odds.... and now some good samaritans have given her life-changing gift...

3 coming up on news 19... it seems every other week or so... there is a new scam... the better business bureau is on top of it for us... and in the next half hour... why they say the names may be