windchill's in it is a dismal start to the new year on wall street. stocks are down sharply at early trading. down over 400 points this morning. the gamecocks have set an sec record. a historic unbeaten start to the season. more on those stories in a moment. first, frigid temperatures are expected overnight. thank you for joining us for news19 at noon. i'm darci strickland. meteorologist efren afante joins us now with a quick look at the forecast. >> we started off on the chilly side this morning. even with a lot of sunshine, we have not warmed up much. it is only 43 in winnsboro. forty-seven in saint matthews. lexington, 48. columbia, we are at 48 degrees. it feels like 42. a lot of sunshine. the wind out of the north at 15 miles per hour. if you are not sitting down, you might want to sit down for this. it will be a beautiful day today. a high of 51 degrees.

we could be looking at gusts up to dirty miles per hour. overnight tonight, not as windy.y. but a hard freeze expected. a low of 40 -- 24. a windchill of 17. tomorrow, a lot of sunshine again. a high of 43. wind out of the northeast at five up to 10 miles per hour. looking at the seven-day forecast and when we will see returning back to warming temperatures in a few minutes. an important reminder for those of you who have not signed up for individual assistance through fema. today is your last day to register. and return disaster loan applications to the small business administration. so far, 97,000 people statewide have applied for limited fema. grants have been awarded. apply until 6:00 p.m. to visit a local office. and until 10:00 p.m. to call the fema hotline. congressman joe wilson is laying out his agenda for the coming legislative session.

he spoke to reporters this mornininat his west columbia office. he says he will focus on creating jobs and economic growth. he also says he will work to reduce regulations on businesses and will promote the military and veterans. wilson also spoke about strengthening cybersecurity. he has served as the second district are presented since 2001. meanwhile jesse jackson says he wants to see a big turnout during in next month's democratic presidential primary in the socket -- in south carolina. he spoke at a church yesterday during a service commemorating 1863. he told the congregation that the road to the white house leads through south carolina. he said that while 1.2 million african-americans are eligible to vote in the state, only 900,000 are signed up. the democratic primary will be held the very 27th. a state judge is hearing a speedy trial request om attorneys s r michael slager, the former charleston police

officer charged with murder in the shooting death of walter scott last april. prosecutors say a trial should earliest. michael slager's attorneys says they will be ready for the trial this spring. a video showed him firing his weapon eight times at scott, as he ran from a traffic stop. two men are behind bars in connection to a stabbing over the weekend in richland county. they are 29-year-old andrew gathers and 38-year-old marlon gathers. richland deputies have released a third person who was taken into custody. all charges have been dropped. jarvis hurst has had charges dropped against him. this happened on broad river deputies say the victim suffered multiple stab wounds. he was discovered at a nearby gas station. authorities say he was taken to condition is unknown at this time.

also in richland county, deputies are investigating a murder that happened on long grain parkway in churchland drive early yesterday morning. deputies say they responded to what appeared to be a motorcycle accident. but when first responders checked on the driver, they found that the victim had been shot. in the upper body. any information that can help investigators -- anyone is asked to call crime stoppers. the usc women's basketball team rallied arkansas yesterday to continue the perfect record. both the men and women are undefeated so far this season. combine, they have a record of 26.0. that is the best combine starts in sec history. yesterday the women's dominated in the first sec game of the season beating the razorbacks 85-32. tina roy led the team with a reer-high 21 points off of seven, three-pointers. meanwhile, the men wrapped up the nonconference play saturday

with a victory over their opponent. the team will start the sec season tomorrow night away at auburn. we spoke with coach martin this morning. we will have his comments on the program's historic start to the season when you join us tonight for news19. the clemson tigers are gearing up for the national champ injured game. the team will face alabama one week from today. and the glendale -- at glendale, arizona. clemson earnest but -- on a spot with a performance. our sports director reggie anderson will be in arizona all week looking ahead to the big game. a happy new year on wall street. stocks have been sharply lower in early trading. the dow was down by more than 400 points about a half-hour into the trading day.

index wind at 7%, forcing an emergency trading suspension. adding to jitters today are middle east tension which pushed up oil prices. meanwhile, the u.s. and allies are calling on saudi arabia and iran to avoid escalating tensions that could further destabilize the middle east. saudi arabia severed diplomatic ties with iran after protesters ransacked the kingdom embassy last weekend. after the execution of a prominent shiite muslim cleric. dozens about qaeda suspects were killed in the largest mass execution carried out by saudi arabia sense 1980. thursday marks the one-year anniversary of the attacks on the french magazine chchlie ebdoe. twelve people were killed in the attack.

buildings in eastern oregon in definitely. the fbi says it is taking lead to resolve the standoff at a national wildlife refuge. we have the story. >> at the occupied.com, protesters are setting up camp and settling in for the long haul. one man says they are fighting back against the government's expansion of the over 100-year-old federal wildlife refuge at the expense of local ranchers. >> there has been some tremendous abuses. they have used the courts to prosecute and to basically take the land and resources away from the people. >> back in 2014, his father was embroiled in a dispute with federal officials over grazing rights on federal land in nevada. that escalated into ananarmed confrontation. this group, set up camp on

nearby town in support of two ranchers. this man and his son were convicted of setting fires on federal land in 2001 and served jail time. they say it was not arson, but controlled burns to protect their property. in october, a judge added four more years to their sentence. >> it seems like a little overreach for having burned 127 acres. >> in a statement, the attorney reports that they are not associated with bundy's group. saying no one in the group or organization speak for the hammond family. but protesters say they plan to stay put until all local ranchers reclaim land they allegedly stole, by the u.s. government years ago. hammond is on his way to southern california to surrender serving the new sentence. expected to use executive

actions to strengthen gun laws. one of his proposals is that -- to expand gun background checks. the changes would be aimed at some unregistered sellers. obama is to meet with his attorney general and other top law enforcement officials this afternoon. the san bernardino office that was the scene of a shooting -- a massacre, will reopen today. the conference center where the shootings took place will remain closed back on december 2. workers were attacked by a fellow employee and his wife. the couple was killed hours afafr they killed 14 people and wounded dozens others. the threat of flooding is not over and parts of the midwest. the water from swollen rivers is blamed for at least 25 deaths in missouri and illinois. the national weather rvice says the mississippi crested at 48.9 feet late friday.

set back in 1993. the search does resume today for two illinois man who disappeared at a southern wisconsin lake while canoeing. the bodies of the two canoeing partners were pulled in yesterday evening. friends told investigators that the group went outside early sunday. but hours later, the friends found footprints in the snow to the boathouse. and a canoe overturned in a lake. the federal government is investigating a south carolina facility that breeds monkeys the for research. ag officials say the investigation at all for genesis may. company officials say they do comply with federal laws. records show that the company is home to roughly 5000 monkeys. the nonprofit -- nonprofit group, stop animal explication now, filed a complaint over the bump keys -- monkeys. police in myrtle beach want money to install license plate readers thatatntrances to

the city. the readers with snap photos of the license plates from passing cars. the system could then alert dispatch officers to vehicles that are wanted in criminal cases, missing persons or cases in which vehicles have been stolen. myrtle beach is planning to install 800 traffic cameras around the city. gasoline prices are likely to remain level -- relatively low in 2016. aaa is predicting gas laboratory and $2.52.40 a gallon. aaa estimates that americans saved nearly $115 billion in gas and 2015 compared to 2014. that comes out to roughly $550 per licensed driver. still ahead today on

closer look at your forecast many of us started off this morning rather chilly. if not, downright freezing. newberry, started off at 32 just before sunrise. here at columbia, we are at 48 degrees.

a ton of sunshine. the wind is out of the north at 15 miles per hour. the windchill feels like 42 degrees. it is very dry air. the dew point right now, down to 25 degrees. right now, all the temperatures are in the 40s and 50s. saluda, 50. cooler in orangeburg. the wind has been picking up. anywhere from 20 miles an hour out of the north -- and have been at times, 20 up to 25 miles per hour. it is very windy out there. yoyodefinitely need to hold onto your hat. the temperatures are pretty much in the eastern part of the united states -- have been unseasonably warm. right now, 33 in cincinnati. st. louis, 32. memphis, 36. what does that have to do with us? it is all coming our way. a lot of clouds coverage staying g in e virginia.

all of this cold air has been coming down. the central u.s. has been bringing in cool dry air. it is getting squished between the appalachians and the coastline. we're getting colder. and also the wind is getting compacted. and we're getting the brunt of it. temperatures for highs today -- we are not going anywhere. pretty much looking at the upper 40s in lower-50s. here in columbia, going with a high of 51. still a lot of sunshine. we could see the wind gusting at 30 miles per hour. overnight tonight, it will be 24 degrees. the windchill possibly at 17 degrees. as all of the lows tonight -- look at this, 20 and newberry, 23 in lexington. twenty-five in manning. it is going to be very cold. we're going to see a lot of sunshine. it will be a beautiful day for the next few days. but tomorrow, after a high of 43 degrees, we will drop down to 25 with a potential windchill of 18 degrees wednesday morning. forty-four, for the high.

and then a cold front coming down the coastline. a slight chance for a sprinkle late thursday afternoon. a better chance of rain not only on friday but also sunday. as temperatures start getting back into the highs in the lower to middle 60s. stay with us here at news19. we will be back right after the break.

it is time to tighten today, howard is helping with new year's resolutions with a chick -- a tasty chicken lettuce wrap. >> after a month of holiday parties, christmas cookies and many more, it is time to start eating better. so whether you made a new year's

resolution to eat better or not, we have got a dish that is on the healthier side. packed with flavor and it is very fun to eat. here is what we do. we start by cutting a couple of boneless skinless chicken breast into half inch chunks and placing them in a plastic storage bag. to that, we add some soy sauce, minced garlic and some brown ginger. after we feel the bag, we give it a good shake so all the flavors mix before popping it in the fridge rate -- the refrigerator. while that is marinating, we separate a head of lettuce. you can use romaine or iceberg in place that on a platter with shredded carrots, fresh bean sprouts and sliced scallions. after draining off the marinade, we sauti the chicken until no pink remains. which means it is ready to serve. for the fun part, we simply place a spoonful of chicken on each leaf of lettuce and top that with the other fixings. drizzle on some sesame or peanut dressing and dig in.

i hope you will go online and get the recipe for our chicken lettuce wraps, as a way for you to get back on track without sacrificing any taste. and make sure you have a lot of napkins on hand. because these can get kind of messy, in a good way. i'm howard in the mr. food test kitchen where today we found a lighter way for you to say, oop it is so good! >> thank you, howard.

we will tell you how a baby elephant has made his debut at a berlin zoo. the animal was born on new year's day. and is four days old. already weighing 220 pounds. how they grow. he wasn't expected until later

but mom gave birth a few weeks early. happy for that. speaking of weight. coming up on friends at five, it turns out that wagers pool a lot of weight with your restaurant order especially if they have a lot of weight on them. if your server is overweight, you are much more likely to order more food. we will tell you why and what you need to know, to stick to your diet. that is when you join us today for, friends at five. >> maybe you can go outside and run it off. 51 degrees. we are heading down to a fog -- a hard freeze tonight.

the cold temperatures an [ monitor beeping ] >> victoria: i want you to know that johnny's been asking for you. he really wants to see his dad. >> jill: well, we're gonna bring him in to see him just as soon as you wake up, billy. we're gonna get both those babies in here to see you. >> victoria: i'm just gonna give you some time with him. >> jill: did you hear her just now? [ sniffles ] she's talking like you're already gone.

[ sniffles ]