3 3 it wasn't your from the station that is on your side you are watching news 19 at 7:00 p.m. >> good evening now. thank you for being with us on a wednesday. wasn't your average fire trial at airport -- drill at airport high school today. alarms. a fire really happened. news 19's colby gallagher was first on the scene. >> it is scary. always scary, you know, you think your kids will be safe at school. a bomb threat, a fire or some other kind of catastrophe. >> reporter: after a fire broke out at airport high school parents rushed to pick their kids up early. >> i was kind of scared because all my stuff was in there. and i haven't really ever been in something like that before.

were called into help. he says they realized the problem was from the hvac units. >> we accessed the roof of the structure and we had units outside, on the ground level, checking for fire damage. inside the building. >> reporter: with 1200 students in the building the superintendent thanked the staff for their part in keeping everyone safe. he says this shows why evacuation drills are so important. >> makes me appreciate the staff for what they do and stuff. >> our folks did an exceptional job with the training that they have had because it could have been a tragedy. >> reporter: colby gallagher, news 19 wltx. >> the classes will be held as usual tomorrow but any class in the building will be moved to another location. today richland county

pled guilty to motpaying -- to not paying taxes over the last three years. once kelvin washington pays the fine the other part will be thrown out. the department of revenue says he filed to file returns in 2012, 2013 and 2014. now, the midlands most accurate forecast with chief meteorologist jim gandy. >> today we had sunshine but we also had some cold temperatures and the winds gusted up to 37 miles per hour at the airport. at the airport this morning 27 degrees. 28 degrees in the city. we only managed to get up to 40 in the city and 41 at the airport. 14 degrees below normal for this time of year. clear skies. winds beginning to diminish. 35 degrees. winds out of the west at 11 miles per hour. that is still producing a wind

tonight winds light breeze. low of 23. tomorrow sunshine and 50 degrees with an increase in clouds tomorrow night and a low temperature of 32. the weekend forecast is coming up. >> all right. thank you. police seized 4 dozen marijuana plants from a home that was an indoor marijuana growing operation. 45 plants were discovered at a home off caroline drive in south columbia. at least two bed roommates were set up -- bedrooms were set up with equipment to grow marijuana in n doors. -- indoors. a 32-year-old has been charged with manufacturing marijuana. police say one plant is capable of producing a pound of my grade marijuana. the plants have a street value of $164,000. richland county deputies need your help in connection with a shooting hap that

after gun shots were fired into a woman's home. no one was injured. a law maker is fighting to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour and today me is brought it to the committee. more from the state house. >> reporter: rachel nelson is making $9 an hour but she says that is not enough. >> as a single mom of three children it is hard for me to provide for them just basic necessities. i struggle every day. >> reporter: she calling state representatives to raise the state nimum wage and pass a bill. >> this bill will be so wonderful for us because it would be a stepping stone for us. >> reporter: if passed the bill would raise the minimum wage from $725 an hour to $1,010 an hour.

honor and respect them by paying them a decent wage. >> reporter: the representative has been known to be huge advocate for raising minimum wage in south carolina but a few representatives are apprehensive to go against the federal wage even though 29 other states have already done it. >> there are a lot of people in the business community who are opposed to it because it will increase costs. >> reporter: he believes it won't increase cost because taxpayers won't have to pay for the social consequences on the back end of the issue. taxpayers will pay one way other another so she prefers to see the money go towards higher wages for people to support their families. >> you know, i feel this is what i deserve. >> reporter: news 19 wltx. >> some want to raise the

she feels $10.10 an hour is a realistic goal for south carolina. bmw announcing the export value through the port of charleston was $9.8 billion. south carolina's leading facility and u.s. automotive exporter by value. parks and recreation leaders say fishing at the pond won't happen till the spring of next year. the pond is closed to the public since last august due to repairs to the spill way and the boardwalk. no fishes in order to allow time for the fish to grow. it will be closed till may of 2017. professionals are back in

getting the opportunity to learn from professional ban renas. news 19's janae frazier has more. more. >> reporter: students are learning from the pros. >> wonderful. i enjoy these kids. first day they really invited me in and put forth 100% effort. >> reporter: teaching artist of the charlotte ballet spent two weeks with the students teaching them technique and choreography. >> i learned, you know, just to be myself, express myself. >> amazing. especially as a dancer and trying to dance at a college level, working with professional artists and like have the gist of how to act in a dance environment and how to put yourself out there. >> reporter: leaders say it is important for students to see that they can make their passion their job.

>> reporter: members of the charlotte ballet performed for the students. >> even adults don't know that you can dance as a job. they all think it is a hobby or something we do on the side. that is one of the great things is the students learn that they can do something that they love and make a living out of it. >> reporter: with the exposure and lessons the biggest impact they want to leave is for the students to know this. >> you will get nor noes than yeses. do not stop. you can do it. >> reporter: janae frazier, news 19 wltx. >> they will finish up their residency on friday. still ahead, all eyes on

candidates look for your if you're doing everything right but find it harder and harder to get by, you're not alone. while our people work longer hours for lower wages, almost all new income goes to the top 1%. my plan -- make wall street banks and the ultrarich pay their fair share of taxes, provide living wages for working people, ensure equal pay for women. i'm bernie sanders. i approve this message because together, we can make a political revolution

and not just the powerful few. tomorrow on news 19 this morning for coffee, and news. find out how you can ask your questions ahead of saturday's gop debate and one organization doesn't mind the freezing temperatures. how it is raising money for olympians and how many layers she spent a lifetime making a difference for people. winning healthcare for 8 million children. benefits for families of reservists and the national guard. standing strong around the world for human rights and women's rights. hillary clinton. she'll raise the minimum wage. take on the drug companies to lower the cost of prescription drugs. and give everyone the opportunity to go to college without going into debt. she'll get the job done... for us. i'm hillary clinton

3 the competition is heating up in the 2016 well, the competition is heath up in the 2016 presidential race as candidates crisscross the state but the field is less crowded as two candidates dropped out tonight. former ceo of hewlett-packard carly fiorina dropping out this afternoon after only getting 1% of the vote last night and this afternoon new jersey governor chris christie quit the republican race as well. he put a lot of time and effort in new hampshire and when he performed badly he thought things over and decided it was time for him to get out. >> and marco rubio made a campaign stop around the state. he was the only one to stop in the midland today to greet supporters at the convention center.

there is no competition. >> i have more foreign policy and national security experience than everyone on the republican side combined. john kasich has a little a long time ago. so that is the most participant job of a president -- important job of the a president -- of a >> republican presidential candidate donald trump is campaigning in the upstate and he has a campaign stop in sumter a week from tonight. myrtle beach, ted cruz said the most thing to come out of iowa and new hampshire is that he is the only candidate that could beat donald trump. he finished third last night in new hampshire. after a second place finish in new hampshire, john kasich held a town hall in mount pleasant.

how he is doing. he is campaigning in columbia on friday and jeb bush was in the lowcountry tonight. he took a few jabs at donald trump. he called him a talker, not a doing. he celebrates his birthday tomorrow. he is doing so with a campaign stop at baker sweets in sumter. plenty of cake the. on the democratic -- there. on the democratic side, bernie sanders doesn't have any stops played for south carolina this week. bernie sanders beat hillary clinton last night in new hampshire but hillary clinton has a lead in south carolina. hillary clinton's campaign says she will be here later this week. the democratic primary is february 27. and if you are looking to get into the voting process a little early you can vote absentee however you must have

richland county go to the election office. for people voting in the republican primary you can do that till the 19th and for the democrats till the 26. absentee voting in the area. >> one of the 5 photo i.d.s ready and we will get you in and out in no time. february 20 or february 27 you information. looking forward to a smooth election this time around. >> it is open monday through friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and saturday from 9:00 a.m. to noon. head to our website www.wltx.com and click on sc primaries. saturday night the republican candidates will meet in greenville if a debate, begins at 9:00 p.m. it is 90 minutes long and you can see it only right here on news 19.

have a special for you from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. right here on news 19. cold outside today, jim gandy. hopefully tomorrow won't be as bad. >> well, we will see plenty of

it won't be now, the midlands most accurate forecast with chief meteorologist jim gandy. skies cleared. a few high clouds in the prone toville area. that is it.

that is it. a lot of cold air pushing into the southeast. a nast moving weather system moving through the plains, that will dive our way but will have little impact on the weather. warmer to the west but cold from the midwest to the southeast. and we are feeling that. these were the high temperatures. only made it up to 36 degrees in anderson. 38 rock hill. 40 sumter. 41 degrees in columbia. and orangeburg. right now temperatures have cooled off into the middle 30s for the most part. 31 rock hill. 33 in sumter. 35 columbia. 36 in orangeburg. the winds are beginning to diminish somewhat. they are now in the range of about 7 to 12 miles per hour and that is still producing a wind chill, feels like 25 greenville. and sumter and 28 in orangeburg. the winds will we light tonight. there won't be much of a wind

morning but it will be colder. clearer tonight and tomorrow we will see plenty of sunshine around the area. . but tomorrow nigig an increase in clouds. cloudy friday morning. not much precipitation. but there will be an area of low pressure forming off the coast. by about mid- to late morning there could be a wintery mix in the sumter area and points to the east developing but i don't think we will see it in columbia. movers out very quickly. and we will start stoosee -- start to see clear skies. tonight a low of 21 in newberry. 23 in winnsboro and columbia. 25 sumter and 26 orangeburg. highs tomorrow 49 bishopville. 50 columbia. 53 in orangeburg. our seven-day forecast for friday, we will see clouds, 48 degrees. but on saturday windy and we will start to turn colder. 47 degrees for a high

are expecting a low of 21 with a high of just 40 degrees. clouds increasing sunday night. monday there will be scattered showers in the afternoon continuing into tuesday. and we will start to see our temperatures moderate. 47 on monday. by wednesday it will be mostly

of usc men's basketball team in action tonight taking on lsu

they are leading lsu by 15-14 right now. if they win they will take over first place in the sec. they would have the same record at lsu but if they beat them

how about this tonight? the mcdonaldsler got a -- the ronald mcdonald house got a big donation today. it was all part of the farm bureaus food check out week. they dropped off food, supplies and money this morning. the ronald mcdonald house provides a home away from home for families for a child that is hospitalized hinch area. doing -- in the area. doing good things tonight. heading outside tonight, here is a look at the temperatures right now. you can see it is chilly right now. upper 30s, mid-30s. bundle up. when we come back at 11:00 p.m. south carolina's weather man jim gandy will have a complete

that is our she worked for donald trump. she was at his side for 18 years. >> what was it like working for donald trump? >> deborah: and put on a happy face. >> what your candidate's smile is saying about them. >> if you look he has two things going for him. >> and imagine finding yourself sitting next to this. turkey on a plane! >> no one's gonna believe me. then, the o.j. simpson case. where we found the bloody glove. >> i feel chills right now just standing this close. and the scariest bridge in america. >> here it comes. this is what i don't like. >> just the thought of driving onto it sends her into a panic. >> oh gees, oh pete! >> now imagine crossing it in a blizzard. plus, the temperature is hot. the steamiest weather

>> this i would deem inappropriate.