good afternoon. thank you for joining us for news19 at noon on this wednesday. i'm darci strickland. developing story coming into our information center. columbia police have arrested a suspect in a sexual assault case carolina. more. you had a chance to speak with the suspect's attorney. what did he have to say? >> that is right. he had no comment at the moment. 23-year-old carlos hernandez turned himself into columbia police headquarters around this morning.

charged with criminal sexual conduct and first-degree kidnapping. he is currently being held at the richland county detention center with a $300,000 security bond and has -- if you post that bond, he would be required to wear an electronic monitoring and has been ordered to have no contact with the victim. according to investigators, the crime took place this saturday between 3:15 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. around on wall street and columbia. the usc division of law enforcement and safety says the victim has been talking -- was talking to the man when she was forced to a nearby area where he sexually assaulted her. the suspect's attorney had no comment. we're working to get more details in this case. >> all right. thank you. also making headlines, one person is in custody following an all-night search for a man

believe is responsible for several break-ins in the area. sheriff gym matthews tells news19 that bethune elementary was on modified lockdown for several hours this morning. we're told deputies have been on the scene near the school for hours looking for that suspect. matthews says the suspect broke into the school and stilled a safe. the person is considered a person of interest in other break-ins in the area. the attorney for joey meek wants her client's trial delay. authorities say the 21-year-old failed to tell investigators everything he knew about dylann roof's plan to shoot nine parishioners at emanuel ame church last june. the trial is scheduled for next month. his attorney wants more time to review evidence in the case. a few of our best counties early this morning have some heavy downpours that came through. that quickly moved out. now more rain and heavy

upstate into parts of the midlands. it is a very large band moving into parts of western saluda county into newberry county. now moving toward that area. it is light right now. there is a big line of showers and thunderstorms. none of them are severe. nonetheless, significant, coming in from georgia and heading our way. right now in columbia it is warm. 74 degrees. wind out of the south at 14. gusting up to 28 at times. still on track for tower -- showers and thunderstorms. some could be strong. a high of 76. hour. heavy rainfall expected tonight the rain will taper off by wind shifts out of the northwest. looking at a high of 59 degrees. we will look at the pinpoint forecast of when everything is coming and when it will get out of here in the seven-day in a few minutes. today is national signing day. it is a thursday the high school

college football. our sports team is visiting local schools where many seniors are announcing their commitments. here are a few separate today. former news19 player of the week, cole douglas from dutch football program. and newberry high school football quarterback has signed with georgia southern. and logan bailey announced he will play for the citadel. as for the gamecocks, the list keeps growing. nearly 20 athletes have sent in national letters of intent to usc. you can find a complete list on wltx.com. the head coach will speak to the media this afternoon about the program's new signing class. our reggie anderson and alyssa lange will provide signing day updates throughout the day online and on air here on news19. also making headlines, billions of dollars were invested in south carolina last year. that is according to a new report from the state

150 capital investment projects announced in 2015. combined, those bring $4.2 billion in business investment in the state. the projects are expected to create more than 17,000 jobs. the house passed a bill that would have candidates for governor pick their running mates after they are nominated by their party. approval. constitutional amendment to have governors and lieutenant ticket starting in 2018. the four voters in our state, pick a lieutenant governor in a separate race. the bill now goes to the senate. later that more than 30 public agencies and colleges in south carolina are getting a raise. yesterday, the agency had a salary commission voted to increase pay either 2% or 5%, depending on whether evaluations show the person met or exceeded pectations. lawmakers say the raises will

the university of south carolina president is giving one of the biggest boosts. the state paid park will be closed to -- close to $313,000. thirty-seven directors will get combined races of $215,000. midlands technical college is holding a resource affair and information event. it is at 6:00 p.m. at the school's northeastern campus on powell road and columbia. speakers will discuss the college's academic program, training courses approved for a veteran scholarships, and college officials tell us there are more than 1000 veterans enrolled at midlands tech -- and there are more than $100,000 in scholarships available to those veterans and active-duty service members. president obama will visit a baltimore area islamic center today. this comes as many muslim

confronting increasing levels of hostility. it is the president's first visit to an american mosque while in office. he is expepeed to continue his stance against bigotry and indifference. jimmy carter has given us an update on his health. he says a test last week's showed -- no signs of melanoma. carter will continue receiving treatment next week. he is currently in london working with the carter center foundation. former president bill clinton is in the midlands today rallying voters in support of his wife's presidential bid. this evening he will be speaking at allen university and columbia. before the rally, he is a meeting with democratic legislative. republican rand paul announced today that he is dropping out of the race for president. and this morning, donald trump sent out a series of tweets alleging that ted cruz won the

more in this report. >> donald trump is alleging that ted cruz won the iowa caucus committing fraud. he tweeted "ted cruz did not win iowa, he stole it. that is why all the polls were so wrong and he got far more votes than anticipated. "in a series of tweets, he said that ted cruz campaign put out a release that the caucuses were beginning and ben carson was quitting the race and voters should go with ted cruz. trump tweeted that a new election should take place or the result should be nullified. >> ted cruz held a town hall in new hampshire wednesday morning. >> the central into -- issue and the 2016 election will be reigniting the promise of america. >> as the two front runners battle for supporters, rand paul announced his race for the white house is over. his camp issued a statement that said he is suspending his campaign and is focusing his attention on winning another

republican hopefuls are here in new hampshire today holding events, less than a week before the first primary race in the nation. >marco rubio got a boost from a stronger-than-expected showing in iowa. he said he will seek rand paul's endorsement. marco rubio is scheduled to hold four town halls throughout the state today. cbs news, manchester, new hampshire. investigators are looking into whether a bomb called -- caused a midair explosion in somalia. it blew a passenger out of the plane. cell phone video shows the moments after the blast. the jet was forced to land minutes after taking off. somalian authorities said they found no evidence of a criminal act so far. some aviation experts say the hole torn shows all the signs of a bomb. boston university researchers say former nfl quarterback ken stapler has a

the hall of fame finalist died of colon cancer last july. a neurology professor says the disease is widespread throughout the brain and there is quite severe damage to the regions involving memory and emotion. he was 69 years old. michigan governor rick snyder is expected to propose today that the states provide $30 million to help the residents of flint pay water bills. meanwhile, michigan's top environmental regulators in washington -- are going before the house oversight and government reform committee. a copy of the planned testimony says all levels of government should share the blame. cbs -- cvs pharmacy and target are holding a grand opening of their first joint location in charlotte. this was purchased last june. across the country. they will be all rebranded as

the coming months.

news19 at noon, we will get if you have not seen rain in your area yet, hold on. it is coming. we will head north -- to north carolina for a moment. asheville because of flash flooding. this morning. >> it started raining there. it was raining on average, about an inch and a half an hour. it lost it for two and half hours. it has not stopped raining yet. the rain still l continues. to the upstate, that is where the heavy concentration for south carolina has been. as you can see, rain is moving into parts of the northwest midlands. the heavier concentration -- at this time is moving into areas to the western part of saluda county into far western newberry county. you can see the focal point -- is heavy downpours. they are small and isolated. and still a lot coming.

strange, it is extremely warm. temperatures in the low 70s. seventy-four in lexington. orangeburg, 75. it is windy. as forecasted, straight out of the south, upwards of 20 miles per hour. the best is even stronger. some reports in winnsboro of wind gusting at 35 miles per hour. all the components are there. there is the hard line of showers and thunderstorms from asheville all the way down through the upstate and into parts of georgia. still even more coming in, into parts of georgia and alabama. all of this is making its way east, northeast into the palmetto state. the computer model shows a delay. intensity. as we go throughout the afternoon, the line will come through anywhere between 2:30 until 5:30 -- that will affect all of the midlands. some of these could be strong and potentially severe. looking at frequent lightning, heavy rainfall and the

wind as it comes through. we still have to deal with that in the morning. the amount of rainfall -- depending on where the track goes -- we're looking at anywhere on the low end up 1 inch -- and on the high end, possibly up to an inch and a half up to an inch and three quarters rainfall when it is all said and done. the temperatures will be in the middle to upper 70s. in columbia, still going with the strong storm -- gusty wind potentially up to 35 miles per hour. a high of 76. we will probably achieve that within the next hour and a half. overnight tonight, heavy rainfall expected. westerly wind at 10 up to 50 miles per hour. overnight, lower to middle 50s. the rain will continue throughout the day tomorrow. i'm not giving you as much rainfall chances for tomorrow. we will have quite a bit in the morning. by the time it ends, a high of 59. increasing cloud coverage friday.

and a high of 57. we will be watching that afternoon. we will inform you on air and online and on social media. the impact later this afternoon. >> thank you. still ahead, howard is getting ready for the big game with a delicious super bowl winning -- recipe.

of extra napkins today howard has a recipe for lemon pepper chicken wings. >> with the big game less than one week away, you're probably

this year that will be a big winner? we can to think of anything better than chicken wings. not just your run-of-the-m-ml wings. but ones that are packed with flavor and eight rather than friday. we start by drying the wings really well with paper towels. if you are using frozen, that may be the best way to go. we topped it with olive oil and fresh minced garlic and salt. then onto a couple of baking sheets they will go before popping them in the oven. while they are roasting, we put together melted butter, lemon juice, lemon zest and a good amount of coarsely ground black pepper. when they come out, we will toss them with lemon pepper sauce and they are good to go. whether you serve them before the game or during halftime, i know these will be a hit. between the roasting of the

die for sauce, you can't miss. i hope you will go online and get the recipe for our a lemon pepper chicken wings so you can score big no matter which team you are rooting for. i'm howard in the mr. food test kitchen where today, we found a super game day way for you to say, ooh, it is so good! >> if you don't have time to cook, how about a burger. through february 15, when you order a happy meal at mcdonald's, you will get a small book. others can have a valentine's day theme. you cannot go wrong. the donald wants to hand out

we will a reminder. you still have time to donate gently worn prom dresses to help those that might not otherwise be able to go. it is part of the 15th annual cinderella project put on by the south carolina bar young lawyers division and a sorority. there are several locations to drop off a dress in columbia and orangeburg, including the news19 studio. you have until february 24 in columbia and march night in orangeburg, to turn and addresses. we have all of the locations on our website at wltx.com. coming up today on friends at five, how much time do you spend slacking off at work? a group of economists say it is longer than you would imagine. we will tell you how much time you are not working when you are on the job when you join us at 5:00. >> and if you are at work watching us, this is not considerededlacking off. >> this is important.

don't feel bad about this. this is an information gathering. you are becoming a better employee by watching us everyday at noon. just a report from a sister station in charlotte that just had a 60 mile-per-hour wind gust. and a storms are making their

we will track that very [ female announcer ] most of the time it's easy to know which option is better. other times, not so much. so it's good to know that mazola corn oil has 4 times more cholesterol blocking plant sterols than olive oil. and a recent study found that it can help lower cholesterol 2 times more. take care of those you love and cook deliciously.