comoing up on on news 19 this morning...a richland county councilman accused of driving under the influence is out on bond. we'll get you caught up the case against kevin washington. 3 plus...a decision still hasn't been made over the roads bill. the latest on where it stands in the senate. 3 and the oscars are trending on twitter this morning. we'll get you caught up on the big winners - and the after parties...news19 this moring starts right now. 3 3 good morning and thanks for waking up with us on news19 this morning it's monday...february 29th. i'm deon guillory. monday...februa it's us on news19 this morning it's monday...february 29th.

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3 3 the usc women's team make it to the s-e-c tournament after beating out lsu 75 to 39. the gamecocks finished a perfect 16-0h in sec play and moved to 28 and 1 overall with the victory. up next the women will play in the quarterfinals of the sec tournament this friday in jacksonville, florida. the top-seeded gamecocks will face the winner of thursday's contest between no. 8 missouri and no. 9 auburn in a game that will tip off at noon 3 and before the women head to jacksonville...the my carolina alumni assocation is inviting the public to a pep rally today. doors open at 6pm at the alumni center located on senate and lincoln streets in downtown columbia. attendees will also get the chance to receive an autographed poster from players. you must rsvp to the event...for that info you can head to our website

3 turning to the men's side...the gamecocks weren't able to pull off a win against mississippi state over the weekend. the final score was 68 to 58. the men will be back at colonial life arena thursday for their final home game of the regular season against georgia. tip off is set for 7 p-m. 3 3 still no word this morning on when richland county coucilman will appear in court next...after he was arrested for a felony dui over the weekend. the accident happened just before 8 saturday night. the highway patrol says washington was driving along bluff road near martin luther king boulevard when he rear ended another car as it began to slow down.one of the passengers in the car.. was transported to palmetto health richland with serious injuries. the other passenger in that car and washington were also transported to the same hospital with minor injuries.now you may remember that washington was also sentenced earlier this month to probabtion and a fine for

three year period.news19 was there as the councilman walked out of alvin s. glenn detention center at about 3:30 yesterday after making his 25-thousand dollar bond. 3 washington, about the charges against you. no comment. to the victims? do you feel sorry about what you did? contact with any of the people involved in the incident how many drinks did you have? could you tell us drinks you had that night, councilman? anything to say constituents? anything to say at all? any commenty at all, sir?3 richland 3 county council chairman torrey rush released a statement saying...it is our understanding councilman kelvin washington was is involved in a car accident and charged with felony dui. as

investigation and as we gather more facts i want us all to extend our prayers and thoughts to the victims in this situation. i want to ensure the public that this body and its individual members take this very seriously. our collective responsibility to the public is compromised when such an event like this occurs. in the coming days we will continue to monitor this situation and rely on the law enforcement agencies investigating this matter. 3 the restaruant owner accused of shooting and killing his wife's lover on valentine's day may be wanted by the mexican drug cartel. that's according to greg leon's attorney... dick harpootlian. he says the cartel now has a hit on leon after he killed arturo santos.. they say santos was a member of the cartel. during a court hearing... the claims were *not challenged by u.s. attorney... jim may.officials say leon shot santos multiple times at the 'park and ride' facility on corley mill road. leon is currently out on bond. 3 the woman who was shot in a grocery store parking lot ... continues to recover this

okay.deputies say around 9 p.m saturday... a woman was hit by gunfire in the upper body.... outside the publix on hardscrabble road. deputies have determined that the woman was an innocent bystander... but they do not have a description yet... of suspect... or motive.deputies are continuing to investigate the incident. if you have information ... call crimestoppers 1triple-8-crime- sc. 3 3 it's been 317 days since the senate recieved a roads funding bill....and they have yet to take a vote..as we enter a new week, it doesn't look like we're any closer to a solution. news 19's savannah levins joins us now with the latest...good morning savannah good morning ashley and deon...according to the chamber of commerce, driving on our state's roads costs south carolinians a total of 1 point 1 billion dollars every year in extra vehichle operating costs. we all know

a solution to fix them is struggling to pass at the state house.like you mentioned ashley, the roads funding bill is currently in the senate...it was passed by the house last year.but some senators are fillibustering the bill...which would raise the gas tax by 12 cents over 5 years.and while some say the increase is worth it to see our roads fixed...these senators are just not budging. senator bright and senator davis have filibustered for a total of 31 hours so far...hindering any progress. but pressure is mounting for them to stop stalling.some of you have sent us pictures on facebook of the roads near you that are crumbling and damaged...the chamber of commerce says our roads are the most dangerous in the nation...causing 800 deaths a year. we want to know what you think...would you support the gas tax if it means passing a plan to fix our roads?weigh in on twitter...and stay with us for full coverage as the senate starts talking about

for now deon, ashley...i'll send it back to you. 3 3 across tinseltown, oscar after-3 parties went on well into the night. after his big win, best actor leonardo dicaprio took his gold statue to the governors ball. while other stars hit the red carpet at elton john's glitzy aids fundraiser. teri okita has

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3 the people wanting to be your next president campaigning ahead of super tuesday. the endorsement causing new issues for one candidate. plus, today is february 29th, that means its a leap day. the surprise birthday party for one man who doesn't get to celebrate every year. 3 and it's cool now, but it is going to warm up.meteorologist

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3 today is a 3 special day -- february 29th. it doesn't always make it onto our calendars. about 180,000 people in the us were born on the leap day..including one man in pennsylvania who's just now getting to celebrate his 21st.

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3 chris rock turned hosting the 88th academy awards into a family affair when he brought his daughters on stage during the show. the reason? rock has been working long hours lately and said he has "missed most of girl scout cookie season." so he brought his daughters and their troop out to sell cookies to the celebrities in

later to say 3 they raised over 65-thousand dollars. 3 besides being a leap day today it's also national cupcake day. in honor of it..we've got some fun facts the term cupcake was first used in the late 19th century for cake made from ingredients measured by the cupful. number 2...13 percent of brides are now choosing cupcakes for their big day. and number 3 the record for eating the most cupcakes in the shortest

29 3 cupcakes in 30 seconds..chat and tease to twitter3 3 even-flo is recalling thousands of its car seats this morning-- the danger parents should know next.also ahead at 5:30-- taming trump. how candidates are gearing up for super tuesday and hoping to momentum.

3 the work week is back again but don't worry because that sunshine and warm temperatures will also be making a return. good morning and thanks for waking up with us on news19

guillory. 3 and i'm ashley izbici. it's was a beautiful weekend and the trend of warm is expected to week. 3 3 3

3 on the eve of super tuesday, the mudslinging on the republican side of the race for the white house is at an all-time high. senators marco rubio and ted cruz are

momentum. on the democratic side, hillary clinton is trying to build on her lead.3 champion has from the campaign trail

3 there are 595 republican delegates at stake on super tuesday. for the democrats, 865 delegates are at stake. 3 and for all your political coverage..you can head to our website..wltx dot com and click on the national politics tab on the left hand side of the page.

3 the richland county council has less than a month to start making changes to the penny tax program. this comes after a letter from the state revenue department shows there are major issues with the program. that includes failure to perform required audits ...and excessive public relations expenditures and administrative expenses that are prohibited by law. but the richland county council says they are working hard to address the problems. councilman seth rose says he is hoping council will take another look at a few of the options he brought to the table back in january. 3 have sponsored reforms the vast majority of the issues raised in the latest it were passed by council letter. that's the frustration i have because once i received sponsored the reforms and they have been by council and its processes.,3 one of those reforms includes

business enterprise program' with money from the county general fund, instead of from the penny program. 3 a u-s-c student is suing the university ... saying his free speech rights have been violated.ross abbott is a senior at u-s-c.he filed a - federal- lawsuit last week ... but the incident happened in november.he ... and the college libertarians of u-s-c ... and the young americans for liberty.... set up tables for a free speech event.but students because the display included a swastika ... and posters with racial slurs ... to draw attention to free speech issues.he says u-s-c threatened to expel him. 3 "those students who were offended options, i think. is always they could offended by mean the should come in and restrict that speech."3 the student complaints state jewish students were offended by the swastika ... and that the school shouldn't tolerate

did not punish him ... but has not changed its policies to protect free speech. 3 3 this morning...we're on your side with a car seat recall. even-flo is recalling 56- thousand of its "transitions 3- in-1" car seats because curious kids can loosen the internal harness, increasing the risk of injury in a crash. even-flo says the problem only affects the seats when they're used as forward-facing harnessed boosters.the company is notifying owners and will send a kit with a new seat pad and front adjuster assembly. 3 3 taking a look at your health headlines this morning... dentists at the university of louisville report a link between gum disease bacteria and esophageal cancer. doctors say 61-percent of cancer patients in their study also had p-gingivalis jin-jive-ul-us . researchers hope the

to help detect the deadly cancer. 3 the team behind a landmark uterus transplant is expected to share details of the historic operation this week. the 26-year-old patient is reported in stable condition. the transplanted uterus came from a deceased organ donor. the operation at the cleveland clinic wednesday was the first of its kind in u.s. medical history. 3 doctors in new drug that would be the first to target huntington's 3 disease.. has proven safe and effective in lab mice and other animals. huntington is a rare deadly genetic disease that causes uncontrolled movements. 3 today is rare disease day.... according to the national institute of health 1 in 10 americans has a rare disease and two thirds of those patients are children.sarah larimore is one of them.she was diagnosed at just 14-months-old with cystinosis...that's a rare... genetic... metabolic disease. sarah's father is headed to washington dc today to share rare disease stories with

to shed light on the need for government funding for treatment.although sarah cannot attend...she says she knows her dad's effort will go 3 so that means have to take medicine that take, but we'll still be healthy time, even though we get sick sometimes.3 according to 3 the national institutes of health, a disease is rare if it affects less than 200- thousand people. 3 doctors are turning the microscope on what becoming a new frontier in healthcare. it turns out the bacteria that lives in the gut could be the key to treating all kinds of ailments. hena daniels has a look at what it means for our health

3 chat3 3 it happens once every four years-- people born today actually celebrating their birthday--pizza hut wants to help you with this milestone-- how you can have lunch for free. 3 plus, the boys of summer are

luxury suites 3 3 3 3 3

3 thanks alyssa...minor league baseball is back in columbia and we are countind down to opening day for the columbia fireflies.45 days until the first pitch at spirit communications park.crews are putting in work in the luxury suites.you're looking at work in progress.these suites give you tickets for 20 guests and four vip parking passes.you have access to outdoor padded seats and high top drinking rail seating.there's a sliding wall of windows so you have a great view of the game.indoor furniture with a high definition tv.you can also pre-order food from the on- site caterer and get exclusive access to the club lounge.you can get your tickets online at fireflies-tickets-dot-com or call 803-726-4487.opening day is thursday, april 14th

coming up tomorrow on news 19 this morning,g,e'll take you

why it won't only be hello, jimmy john's? [squealing tires] [swoosh] jimmy john's here! what took ya so long?

3 3 the weekend box office numbers are in this morning...not even a bunch of gods could take down the monster momentum of the "merc with a mouth."the comic-book film deadpool... notching a third straight week topping the box office...pulling in $31-point-5 million, according to studio estimates from com-score. ryan reynolds' wisecracking, well-armed anti-hero has now passed 'the matrix reloaded' to become the number 3 all-time r-rated movie. 3 and fofoall you pizza lovers, who were born on leap day, you e in luck.pizza hut is giving out free pizza to anyone who goes to the restaurant today and shows a government-issued id to prove they were born on leap day.the company is celebrating leap day babies with a free, one-topping personal pan pizza. pizza hut says since eaplingsonly get to celebrate their true birthdays every four years... they wanted to make their day

their birthdays in a big way.3 3 the debate over the roads bill is hitting some road blocks-the discussion inside the state house--plus, a richland county councilman once in trouble over taxes now

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and coming up on news 19 this morning, arrested for felony dui. what happened in the moments after his arrest. we're going to get you caught up. last night was one of the biggest nights in hollywood. we're breaking down oscars' fashion with the best and worst dressed of the night. you're watching news 19 this morning. good morning. thanks for waking up with us here. it is monday, february 29th, 2016. i'm deion guillory.