[applause] from the station that is on your side you are watching friends @ five. good evening. thank you for joining us for friends @ five. i am horr lauren talarico -- i am lauren talarico. >> i am andrea mock. >> police arrested six people for human trafficking. on december 9 the grand jury issued six indictment. all were arrested and taken to jail. indictments were sealed till the defendants could be arrested.

investigation into allegations that female victims were being trafficked for money. >> this is the very first human trafficking case made by the state grand jury. we talked last week and -- about how serious this crime was and how serious a problem it was in our state. i know that a lot of groups have brought it to the attention of the public and we want to continue to do that. awareness is one of the most important things we can do. >> well, the indictments say the trafficking happened in richland, lexington, orangeburg counties. the police chief suspected without pay. they didn't give specifics but says the chief was suspected for a personal -- suspended for a personnel matter. the chief took on a community policing position. the town has been in the process of searching for a new chief and in the meantime

the chief will be back on the job on friday. south carolina state university's board of trustees spent the day working on a state mandated report on the requested finances. they turned in the report but did not provide specifics to reporters. the report is the first step leaders must make in order to request state funds for next year's budget. it is one they have to do every year but amid the recent financial issues there is more pressure. the president shared with us that he just received the template for the report yesterday. >> the template that we received asked for a lot of other information about enrollment, some of it this year and previous years, graduation rates, those kinds of things. abatements. they wanted to know employee size. a variety of things that we did

this was much more inclusive and -- so that is what we have been working on since we are under the gone to get it done. >> the university officials will meet with and present the tuesday. the senate transportation committee approved appointing of transportation. lawmakers gave her high marks for handling the massive damage to the roads and bridges caused by october's massive floods. the nomination now moves to the senate. morale is increasing because workers are happy to have somebody they know running the department. governor nikki haley will be giving her state of the state address tonight laying out where she thinks the state is and what she wants for the next year. what about what she asked for last year?

>> reporter: in last year's state of the state address governor nikki haley had two things she wanted. to fix roads and improve rural schools. to fix roads she wants to raise the gas tax and cut the state income tax. the house passed the plan last year. and now it is in the senate. she thinks the plan has a 50/50 chance of passing. >> some said i will not vote for any gas tax no matter what. we have groups that are advocating no bill will pass -- should receive a yes vote if it includes a gas tax. even if it met eliminating all income taxes. >> reporter: to improve rural schools she wants to attract more good teachers. >> first, if a student graduating high school is willing to spend 8 years teaching in their under served home district after college we will pay for four years of tuition at a state school.

help repay student loans for teachers in rural districts, give new teachers pay raises and pay for grad school. that plan hasn't passed yet. lawmakers will have to put $15 million in the budget to implement it. she sahigh school football coach. >> -- is a high school football hope is. >> i am concerned -- football coach. >> i am concerned with the teachers that continue to come to work every day. >> reporter: news 19 wltx. >> last year she asked again for ethics reform and that did not pass. now, the midlands most accurate forecast with meteorologist daniel bonds. >> another chilly day across the midlands and this evening we are seeing light rain and some of that is mixed with sleet moving across the midlands. we will zoom in here. winnsboro, newberry, a slight report. even towards lexington.

not expect to cause any issues and no accumulation. a couple sleet reports. for the evening and tonight, as the shower activity moves you may get rain. sleet too. otherwise looking at partly cloudy skies. 34 degrees the low. 47 degrees tomorrow. we will see rain develop and we will see a good chance for rain tomorrow night with lows around 37 degrees and then on friday rain likely. some rain may start off with freezing rain and then it will lie down as a wintery mix -- wintery mix early saturday morning. 54 degrees on sunday. 60 degrees by monday. that is your forecast. as far as traffic is concerned, this afternoon no major problems reported. seeing rain moving across the midlands, sleet too. i-20 is looking good. i-77. downtown columbia. added traffic as you expect.

downtown to i-20, i-277 that will take 12 minutes. we will look at the forecast and break down the potential for winter weather coming up in a few minutes. ladies? sara palin campaigns with donald trump in iowa and oklahoma today. a day after endorsing his bid for the white house. the move presents a set back for ted cruz who is in a close race with donald trump in iowa. bernie sanders beating hillary clinton 2-1 in new hampshire. and ben carson suspends his campaign events yesterday and today following a tragedy involving a volunteer. a 25-year-old died tuesday after being injured in a car crash in iowa.

on twitter to express condolences. jamie foxx can act, sing and now save a life. he sprang into action last night freeing a trapped man from a burning car. he heard the crash outside of his southern california home. and he dragged the driver to safety from his over turned vehicle. he doesn't consider himself a hero. he said he felt like he had to do something. >> as i am getting him out, i don't want to leave you, you have angels around you. as we pull him out, within 5 seconds later the truck goes up. >> he didn't have to do anything. and, you know, like i said earlier, i think we all hoped that we could do something when the time is there, the question is do we, do we act or do we fear our own lives and he did not. >> the driver is expected to face legal trouble for drunk

i don't know a lot of people that would hear a crash or a noise outside their house and run to it. >> and spring into action. >> most people lock the doors -- [ talking at the same time ] >> i don't know. >> yeah. >> yeah, he did a wonderful thing there. >> good for him. super hero, actor, singer -- [ talking at the same time ] >> i like him even more. something else i like, cheese. i could eat cheese all day every day. let's celebrate it today,

we will hear abou last year wasn't just the earth's hottest year on record - it last year wasn't just the earth's hottest year on record it left a century of high temperature marks in the dust. u.s. national oceanic and atmospheric administration says

136 years. 2015 temperature was 58.62 degrees. it was the 4th time in 11 years that the earth broke annual marks for high temperature. scientists blame el nino and man made global warming. jim gandy is hopefully enjoying the cold weather in colorado, at the weather summit there and joins us now. >> reporter: i am all bundled up. you might not recognize me. jim gandy. south carolina's weather man is in colorado right now where it is snowing. as it should be but i am in colorado for the weather and climate summit. now what this is an opportunity for a select number of broadcast meadierologist to be able to -- meteorologist to be able to meet. this whole conference grows a week.

and there are times for us to get out on the slopes. you are talking to an old southern boy here. i have never been snow keying. yesterday i took my first lessons at snow skiing and yeah, i fell a few times but i progressed and i will give it another try before i leave. in the meantime we have been learning interesting things here. number one, yesterday, tim brown was talking about the drought in california and how the trend is for the west to get dry -- southwest to get drier. even though california is getting rain it won't alleviate the drought and they need three times their rainfall in order to get out of the drought, they won't do it this year. that will be an ongoing problem for them and then later dr. laura was talking about the

is now melting more water than is being discharged through las vegassiers and that is having an impact on sea level rise and we expect it to be accelerating this century. those are some things we have been discussing and in the meantime we are enjoying the beautiful town. right now it is snowing and so far this week breckenridge had over 30 inches of snow. each your heart out. that is it from breckenridge, and by the way, one other thing, tonight at 8:00 p.m. i will be a panelist on the town hall meeting and that will be streamed live on our website. >> jim, enjoy yourself. thank you for check in with us. we are happy that you are trying out skiing. please come back without a cast on. we want you back in one piece.

you saw the powerpoint presentation, talking about the drought and all sorts of issues. we have sleet -- >> sleet -- >> it is not snow but sleet pellet. not goes to cause any issues whatsoever this afternoon and no accumulation because it is still mild compared to what we have been seeing. 46 degrees right now in sumpter. 49 orangeburg. 51 augusta. colder hair is spilling in to the upstate. 38 greenwood. 32 degrees in greenville. we have seen a little light precipitation move through the midlands and this has been producing a little bit of sleet. we have sleet in lexington, winnsboro, saluta. we may see sleet bellts before it is over with. -- pellets before it is over with. and then we are left with cloudy skies. we are expecting rain tomorrow

chance for rain tomorrow night. friday, that is when we will watch the weather closely. our forecast model, i believe it does a good job of showing what we expect. may see a little bit of freezing rain in the northern portions of the midlands. this is for very early friday morning. into the afternoon, friday, things warm up and then we see all liquid precipitation. and then that rain kind of winds on down late friday and then it is late friday into early saturday we may see a little bit of wrap around moisture and that is when we might see a wintery mix. that will is something we will be watching. saturday morning, everything is gone and we are left with cloudy skies. we can get too caught up in the specifics but the model indicates a lilt chance for some light -- little chance for some light freezing rain in the northern portions of the midlands.

as far as any kind of snow accumulation, trace amounts. this is not a big deal whatsoever but something we will monitor. tonight, few sleet pellets otherwise cloudy skies. temperatures dropping into the middle 30s. tomorrow highs in the middle 40s and we will see the rain developing and rain likely on friday. 43 degrees. a small chance for a wintery mix saturday. 45 degrees during the afternoon. 54 degrees on sunday and things warm up, 60 degrees on monday. 62 degrees on tuesday. 57 degrees on wednesday with a chance for showers. get ready for rain. looks like friday in the short term. sleet pellets this evening. >> all right. thank you. it is national cheese lover's day and for a little trivia there are 2,000 varieties of cheeses out there. i am here with annie ray here in columbia.

with you, correct? >> yeah. that's right. >> tell me about them. >> we have a french version of the swiss style alpine cheese. that type ofofthing. we have a goat cheese from here in the u.s. from indiana. a small farm that has a great selection and a truffle that is trench cheese, it has a layer of truffle in the middle of it. bree. mixed with creme fraiche that makes it really tasty. >> if you go to the gourmet chef and you are looking for cheese, what do you pair them with? >> okay. so the alfine cheeses work well because they melt really nicely -- alpine cheeses work well because they melt really nicely, fondue or grilled

that is absolutely a great way to prepare that cheese. the bree, it is just a nice way to eat just with bread, you can pair it with fruit, strawberries, the nuts make it salty. something like that and the goat cheese with bread, i like to put goat cheese on soups, tomato soup, that type of thing. lots of ways to eat them for sure. >> definitely love goat cheese. i am looking at it like okay let me dig in. >> definitely. this is special because it is wrapped in chestnut leaves soaked in bourbon. the bourbon gives it a nice nutty, sweet flavor. taste it. see what you think. slightly aged but crumbly and moist. delicious?

>> deftinately -- definitely. i think of it as a winter cheese. comfort food thing. you want to try something else? >> let me work with the goat cheese. >> a monger is a traditional way of saying buyer and seller. i work with buying the cheeses. d then sell them. so i don't know everything by far but i love cheese and can offer you as much knowledge as i have. >> what kind of cheeses -- you said this is a winter cheese. is that -- >> it comes from the french alps. the alps run through europe. you have your -- like i said your traditional french alps swiss cheeses. they are very great.

been leaning more towards french cheese. comes from the really cold, but really beautiful, you know, lush grass regions in the alps where the cows produce milk for this type of cheese. >> for the cheese lovers here are a few you can try in columbia. >> yep. >> check those out. >> how many do you have? >> we have more than a hundred, for sure. >> there you go. back to you. >> i think i found my next career. love it. coming up next, north korean scientists game they made an amazing discovery, they

never cause a new study finds 92 percent of meals served in u-s a study finds 92% of meals

researchers tested food from 123 fast food and regular sit down restaurants in california, massachusetts, and arkansas and they found cheese and italian -- chinese and italian restaurants had the highest calorie counts with average meals around 1500-calories which is a lot. >> that does not surprise me. north korean scientists claim to have made a liquor that will not cause a hang over. it is between 30 and 40% proof. used burnt boiled rice in the brewing process. they claim the rice and the ginseng make sure you don't have a hangover. it is so popular that it has been registered as a national hit.

>> the jing sing and the rice is -- gensing and the price will keep you from getting a hangover. . >> some sort of pare juice -- [ talking at the same time ] >> i don't know what liquored -- >> i don't know. i don't know if you eat rice and get ginseng. americans are having 1500 calories 1500-calories her feel. -- 1500-calories per meal. [ talking at the same time ]

a big weekend for a . you are watching news 19 friends @ five with andrea mock and darci strickland. >> thank you for sticking with

governor nikki haley will be giving her state of the state address tonight. laying out where she thinks our state is and what she wants for next year. news 19's joyce koh joins us live from the state house with a preview. joyce? >> reporter: well, ladies, it has been a big year, 2015 from tragedies and then the confederate flag take down and then the natural disaster of the october flooding. governor nikki haley is expected to talk about all those and the capacity in which they led us to where we are now from the state. she is expected to bring up the senator from jasper who was killed in the charleston massacre and bring him up in terms of the type of politician he was as she addresses the general assembly and what she wants to see this year and handling all those issues and

she was thrown into the national spotlight as well in addressing the nation in her gop to president obama's state of the union address. i talked to james smith who thinks he could be speaking to a wider audience than she was last. >> she no longer needs to be so concerned with the far right of her party as she might have, and you have seen the tenor in which she is focused on and what she talked about has changed as i think she speaking to a larger audience than just south carolina. and so, you know for, her to call out the need to not follow the siren calls of the angriest voices is not a bad thing to do. she would have agreement on that from republicans and democrats.

that governor nikki haley is expected to talk about, one thing she touched on last year is the state of the education in south carolina. after the supreme court decision that said the state was not providing an adequate education for students in public schools in our state. she will adaress that as they move towards finding a solution for those kids. and in addition to that is her domestic violence reform. she has been speaking about changing the course of that direction and making the state not number one in domestic violence issues throughout the country. so these are the other issues that are expected to be talked about. reporting live that state house, joyce koh, news 19 wltx. ladies? >> all right. thank you. the group americans for prosperity are voicing their thoughts on the gas tax this morning at the exon gas station and paid for 45 cents of every gallon for those who got gas in

gas tax cost drivers in the state. and the argument against another tax hike. >> the biggest point for us is to bring the issue to their minds. a lot of things people aren't aware of, loof a sudden gas is up and you wonder why, that is because they can raise your taxes anytime. we want to get it in their heads, make them know the issue is circulating. >> the organization covered the tax on the first 2,000 gallons of gas. conversation leaders presented their ideas this morning. they take the coaches citizens makes a list of where they believe lawmakers should focus. the landfill is once again high priority for leaders who say we need to be proactive rather than reactive. though it stopped receiving

drips through has to be properly disposed of. the liner that collects the water lasts from 5 to 100 years. a senator says the site is on year 38. >> the technology of when it was started, developed is not what it is today. if it leaks it goes into the lake, everything is effected south of sumpter. >> well, the senator says the technology is there to make sure a leak doesn't happen but it is a matter of lawmakers approving the funds to get it done. news 19's now, the midlands most accurate forecast with meteorologist daniel bonds. >> chilly day. light rain developed. a few sleet pellets moving across the midlands. all this has been moving towards the east.

we are not expecting accumulation. four athlete report. we have seen a number of reports out there. to the north, winter storm watch for south carolina for had storm moving through portions of the eastern seaboard over the weekend. -- seaboard over the weekend. rain. maybe at the beginning of the rain friday we will see small chance for freezing rain in the northern midlands and it will continue and as the rain ends late friday, early saturday it may taper off as a wintery mix. we are not expecting problems. 54 degrees on sunday. finally temperatures warm up to above normal by monday with high temperatures around 60 degrees. your traffic this afternoon. no major issues out there. we are seeing light rain and a few sleet pellets.

i-20 not too bad. i-77 added traffic coming into town around 378. zoom in closer. slow out of town on i-26 and heading west on i-20. slow going right there at i-26 and i-20 as well. slow traffic. downtown to the midlands 30 minutes to make that commute this afternoon. we will look at the forecast and break down the winter weather chances coming up tonight at 6:00 p.m. >> thank you. farming organizations held a work shop today to help local growers. they gave people the chance to learn specifics on everything that they need to know after their produce is taken from the field. harvesting, washing, cooling, storing. the organizers want farmers to focus on food safety. >> very important for growers

consumers safe. this is a training that folks can do on the farm in order to have it a top priority. >> there will be two more just like it in march, charleston and clemson. lexington county has the second lowest unemployment rate in south carolina. to keep the number low they sponsored a job fair today. four businesses were looking to hire new employees. >> this is an opportunity for individuals to meet with employers first hand to get opportunities. >> if you didn't head out there today they are starting to plan a bigger job fair at the end of march. the usc basketball team was at the medical center today as part of of the mlk week of service. they are looking to reach fans in the community. lots of the veterans who met

>> take the time to do community service, to reach out to our nation's heroes. to find out about what their lives are to be able to spend some of their energy, enthusiasm and interest with our veterans speaks volumes. >> after leaving the va they headed to elementary school to read to the kids. last season the gamecocks men got a win, number 17 in march but last night he tied his most successful season as head coach. they are now 17-1 for the season but the win last night was not easy. it ended in over time as they came back from an 11 point deficit.

the gamecocks take on tennessee this saturday in knoxville. meanwhile the undefeated women's basketball team have a pair of road games this week. auburn tomorrow night and then head to mississippi state for a sunday night game. our golden football contest continues. yesterday we placed 19 golden wltx signed footballs at several different land marks across 11 counties. the clues leading to the locations have been posted on instagram, twitter and facebook. if you find a football bring it to the studio and you can win 50 dollars and then register for our grand prize of $519. we had 13 winners so spar and the prize will be announced next tuesday on friends @ five. looks like they are having fun. . >> it was funny because some

i think some people got back here before our promotions team got back -- [ talking at the same time ] >> so we just had somebody come in before the 5:00 p.m. show. they are still out there. keep looking. coming up next a big

she shares the screen with all right. i know you have seen the previews because they are on all the time. "dirty grandpa" is coming out friday withed and had zac efron. -- with robert de niro and zac efron. columbia actress deena dill who just moved here from hollywood is in the movie. you told me they didn't tell you you would be in the preview. >> i had no idea. i was watching sports and i heard "dirty grandpa" and i looked and 20 seconds in, oh, my gosh.

>> let's take a look. [ music ] >> hey, we are heading to daytona? you want to tag along? >> we are not going to daytona. [ indiscernible ] >> did he just call you grandpa? >> get that for me. >> all right. [ laughter ] >> it is coming out this weekend. you worked with a ton of people. i want to hear about working with robert de niro. >> it is intimidating. you wake up, it is intimidating but they put you in hair and makeup. he doesn't come in. he has his own trailer. i make it to set and the director, a nice man, says come with me, i want to introduce you.

he said, bob, this is deana. i leaned over to shake his hand and i stepped on his toe. >> no you didn't. >> he said i am sorry that i am going to be standing so close to you today. >> you kind of have an intimate scene. >> we share a moment. [ talking at the same time ] >> here we go -- [ talking at the same time ] >> this is a picture. >> i would say most women -- we have this debate of which women in the news room were more excited about zac efron and who were more excited about robert de niro. >> zac efron is lovely too and he is funny and a great actor. so it was fun to work with both of them for sure. but, i mean, we quote robert de niro ladies -- [ talking at the same time ] >> you have to take --

heart felt film about a grandfather who lost his wife -- [ talking at the same time ] >> and they go on a road trip and they learn about life and each other. [ laughter ] >> so much fun. comes out on friday. >> friday, january 22. it is, you know, a raunchy comedy. >> here is you and zac efron. you have worked so much. what is your next project? >> well, once you shoot something, if it is a film it takes months to come out, usually a year. i would say later this year, end of the year i have a movie coming out. directed by an academy award winner. his new movie. i play a reporter in that film. >> i love it. big hair, please. [ talking at the same time ] >> it was -- [ talking at the

>> it takes place in 2000. [ talking at the same time ] >> more. fabulous what they did with my hair. >> what is the plot? >> that is a group of soldiers who are being celebrated at a bick football game, about that -- big football game and about that -- about the things that he experienced during the time. >> interesting. i can't wait to see that. >> that will be out in november. and beginning of the year, end of the year, there is an hbo comedy. called vice presidents. it is with danny mcbride. excited for it to come out. it is a comedy about two vice presidents trying to become a principal. >> who do you play? >> i am the wife of the superintendent. they are trying to butter me up. >> i like it. name me a couple things that

>> well, i was on suburgatory. and did -- suburgatory. and did star crossed. i am probably most recognized from i-carly. i get recognized at swimming pools when i go by kids a lot. [ talking at the same time ] >> also i did scandal. i played a reporter on scandal -- >> you have the reporter's face -- [ talking at the same time ] >> big hair -- [ talking at the same time ] >> all right. we love it. "dirty grandpa" out friday with robert de niro, zac efron and deena dill. thank you so much. >> thank you for having me. >> back to you. >> all right.

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here is what is coming up on tv. 8:00 p.m. two broke girls, mike and molly, criminal minds and code black and finish your night with news 19 at 11:00 p.m. we will have to wait longer for the next addition of star wars. they announced the film will debut december 2017. it was originally scheduled for may 26, 2017. the move was made to put the new star wars chapter in line with star wars: the force awakens that smashed every box office record after the december 2015 release and it would place the next episode in compotation with avtar 2 that

2017 release date. >> wow! okay. if you are heading to the movies this weekend it will cost you. the average movie ticket hit a high of $8.70. they say prices are up 5% compared to last year. last year's revenue hit a record $11.1 billion. wow! >> i am surprised they wanted to pit the two against each other. >> i don't know. >> should -- [ talking at the same time ] >> i knownath but i feel like they should have had their own month to shine. all right. i am so geek excited about this. she is amazing. misty copeland you should know her name, the first principal

first principal black female ballerina dancer in new york city misty copeland is coming to columbia. the first principal black female ballerina dancer in new york city with the american ballet theater. she will appear for a fundraiser benefiting two ballet companies. they are organizing the lunch inn together and cost and profits will be split among both companies and the lunch inn is march 15. >> fantastic cause to keep bringing this beautiful art to the midlands. both of the companies do fantastic shows and i love to see them. >> yes, they had several shows during the winter -- [ talking at the same time ]

>> thank you for tonight on news 19 at 6:00 p.m.

it is possible we may see a few flurries this weekend. we have the details on what to expect -- on what to expect and lawmakers want to move the confederate flag out of columbia. we will tell you where and the police chief suspended. why and for how long as news 19 at 6:00 p.m. starts now. >> from the station that is on your side you are watching news 19 at 6:00 p.m. >> another chilly day all across the midlands and it looks like we are in for a chance of rain tomorrow. although it is sleeting outside in some areas right now. good evening and thank you for being with us. with the latest on what to expect now, let's go to meteorologist daniel bonds. >> that's right. we have seen light rain this afternoon and this evening and some of that has been mixing in with sleet as well. reports of sleet through social media and the national weather service. all the activity has been moving to the east. it will continue the next

not expecting issues from this