reporting at the statehouse, joyce koh. >>> last months school leaders say the university was on track to be under their fiscal budget but still remains on probation. >>> upstate lawmaker who want journalists to have direct with filed a bill and he got immediate attention across the country. critic say it would be unconstitutional restriction on freedom of press. pitts told reporters the bill was to call attention to what he sees as buyers and recent events that prompted it. >>> the president proclamation on registry, a national registry on guns. i have not heard the press scream at all about that. but i sure as hell heard the press cream when it affected the first amendment rights. >> he says the bill would require journalists to do the same thing to practice first amendment rights that people have to do in order to practice their second amendment right to bear arms. he says the bill doesn't have a chance this year but thinks it's an important way to educate the public. >>> we are seeing clouds through much of the evening but no rain. up. we are at 540 with the winds under calm condit

reporting live in the studio, joyce koh, news 19 wltx. >> thank you. >>> folks from all over the state talked about their concerns regarding the they spoke in front of a committee. some of the issues were contracting payments and the need for more funding for the department. she was thankful the opportunity -- thankful for the opportunity to listen. . >> the process which is important is not required to be followed by statute. the state chamber said this is something that needs to be quired. >> we are a very large agency. there is opportunity for improvement as always in a large agency like ours and i look forward to working with the committee and policy makers as we move forward. >> committee members believe they will have a better way of helping to improve the agency thank has to public's input. >>> we talked to the dean of usc school of journalism about the governor's response to the state of the union. selected to show case the rising stars of the republican party. he thought she was critical of the president but was also critical of the republican party. he commented on what her s

joyce koh here with the details. >> reporter: they are making more progress than they did last year but they say it could reached on a roads bill and the hold up is on disagrees on three components. a gas tax for roads revenue and roads reform and a gas cut. but a group says they want to focus on reforming the transportation system. they calling on -- they are call on lawmakers to remove the committee, move the department of transportation under the governor and remove the commission and the state infrastructure bank. >> i think we will be@in the same place we are now in five years. the money will be wasted. . the same politicians will be making a lot of money off of this and citizens will be driving on crappy roads. >> i agree it makes it difficult, however if all three are not in there it is impossible. you are not going totoget [ indiscernible ] >> reporter: that group americans for prosperity will voice their thoughts on the gas tax as they pay for 45 cents of every gallon who go to the exon on west main street starting tomorrow at 7:00 a.m., joy k, news 19 caul -- joyce koh, news 1

news 19's joyce koh is live with a preview of what she expected to talk about. good evening, joyce? >> reporter: good evening. as you know it has been a big year in 2015. like the charleston massacre and october with the historic flooding. governor nikki haley is expected to address that and talk about the senator how he was as a politician in terms of bringing together the general assembly before he was killed in the massacre. here to join us is a senator from orangeburg county. >> how are you? >> reporter: good. do you think the tone of governor nikki haley's state of the state speech will be different this year after so many tragedies -- tragedies? >> i think it will. you mentioned the fact the senator's widow will be here and invited here. something he fought for during his career was to make sure we expanded insurance coverage for people who are working and can't afford insurance and governor nikki haley should address that. i hope she will. we had a hospital closed, and the fact we don't have many of our working folks who are eligible for insurance coverage covered because she

news 19's joy k now -- joyce koh now with the details. >> reporter: opting to fund the top priorities in the state, roads and edge eggs and the state's biggest issues -- education and the state's biggest issues. >> that means something. it means something to the taxpayers of south carolina. >> reporter: as the new session begins so does planning the spending for the next year. >> going through a thousand year flood would have wiped out a lot of states, it didn't wipe us out. >> reporter: governor nikki haley gave her proposals. >> sales tax, 100% to roads. >> reporter: roads. 345million. that is accounting for the 10- could go into effect if a roads bill is passed. >> say okay, you want to raise the gas tax, you can do it but you will cut income taxes. >> the next area of spending would be on education plan. raising base student cost and spending 42 million in new school buses, and driver salaries. >> they don't get a good education in a safe environment it doesn't matter. >> she wants to match the flood relief. if legislation passes this session governor nikki haley wants to spend 70

roaring and it's that nice feeling of we were able to do this for those people. >> reporter: joyce koh news 19wltx. >> we are less than five minutes away now from the start of a brand new year. four minutes and 40 seconds, as the count down continues. chuck ringwalt is now out and about in the crowd. before we send things over to darcy and the mayor, let's check in with chuck. good evening, sir. >> you can feel the excitement out here. we've got the stage behind. lauren hill wj thousands of people came to see this show. getting ready for the fireworks for 2016 to hit. we have mr. bernard barnes here. hysteresessed up -- he's dressed up, ready to go. tell us what you're excited about. >> first of all, i'm glad to see that the city, you're doing looks like to me everyone is having saw great time and i'm excited to be here. >> tell us a little bit about the music. are you loving the type of music they have playing out here. >> the music is phenomenal, i'm +cl thoroughly enjoying, lauren, she's been such an idol for many years. it's great to see her performing. again, everybody is having a

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

joyce koh joins us outside the state house with more. joyce? >> reporter: it was a packed room here that committee meeting and many stories shared today had a them to, when dsc steps in to dover situations -- domestic violence situations. >> she was a victim of domestic violence. >> once the train started the train was unable to stop because of the slow system. light her issues with dss. before she left. >> reporter: a woman had her children taken away from her after she reported being abused. >> she told me at this point they took my life. >> reporter: she wasn't the domestic violence situations. >> they have no concept of victims. >> reporter: she says the problems brought up today are not consistent with the goals. >> those types of issues where a lack of professionalism, a lack of follow through or timeliness were raised. we will work to remedy those as soon as possible. >> you start to know when you hear consistent stories from people who never met each other yet they tell the same story. something is just nototight. >> reporter: now dss s

joyce koh is standing by now with attorneys. good evening to you. >> reporter: well, you know, it has been a busy night here. off the hook all night long. legal advice could be expensive. if you have questions you want to get answered it would be a good idea to call. 1-888-crime-sc. tell us what you are talking about tonight. what kind of questions are you getting? >> you know, we are getting questions across the board. smaller money issues. property damage. power of attorney. those things. curious about the legal issues. >> reporter: what type of law is practiced at the firm that you are representing? >> we are a litigation firm. we do workers comp, tort litigation and business litigation. a wide spectrum of civil defense litigation. >> reporter: different things. can -- that you are answering over the phone that you are giving advice for, or other resources you are offering? >> both. we will answer questions when we can. we will refer folks to the south carolina bar lawyer referral network, pro bono office. and sometimes just

joyce koh, news 19 wltx. >> thank you. >>> hundreds of people were excited to celebrate the peace and love king displayed during his life. he remained non-violent. several flocked to the state house with signs. many people say this day was extra special since the confederate flag was no longer a back drop to the celebration. it feels awesome. i was part of the march in 2000 to get it done. to be out here today. to be out here with this flag down, makes south carolina feels like we are coming -- we are embracing real change. >> also this morning folks across the midlands honored king's memory with breakfast. the business leaders came together to talk about king's legacy. >> some people don't see the relevancy, the connectivity of dr. king relative to them. we think it is important to understand that dr. king legacy is part of their legacy. without dr. king we would not have the economic growth that we have over the past decade. >> other than breakfast others the day of service kicked off at high school, volunteering throughout the midlands and they heard from leaders about the importan

in their speeches recognizing both the civil rights work that still needs to be done, news 19's joyce koh was there and has more for us. >> how wonderful it is to be here together, without the confederate flag overhead. >>reporter:it has been celebrated -- >> that flag was just one piece of something bigger. >>reporter:to remember the rights of the leadership under doctor martin luther king, jr. >> it is a terribly important, it seems to me, that we just do not look at him as a figure as somebody from the past >>reporter:who's famous, i have a dream speech has duck with americans for generations to follow. >> what is a report -- what is important as we remember his vision. the world that he wanted to see >>reporter:the question of how far we have come -- how far we minds of the democratic presidential candidates who spoke to the crowd. >> when black people are killed worshiping at mother emmanuel, with a gun, walk through a legal loophole, this is not just a public safety issue, it is a double rights issue. >>reporter:inequalities that they say still disproportionately affect the lives of

joyce koh is standing by with attorneys and those phones they have been ringing non-stop. >> reporter: ringing non-stop. they are on the phone constantly. as soon as they hang up they i am joined by cal. what kind of questions are you getting? you said there are a lot of property questions? >> property questions, domestic questions. insurance questions. all sorts of consumer type questions. it is been an interesting day. >> reporter: how many questions have you gotten? how many callers? >> about 15 calls of 5 or 10 minutes each. it is been interesting. >> reporter: sometimes legal advice could be expensive and this is a way for people to call and not have to pay, getting legal advice for free. what is the benefit for you doing this? >> we are all in the same law firm and this is our 20th anniversary. we are doing 20 service projects and this one is of them. we feel like the community has been so good to us we want to give back. we make a small dent in the legal needs tonight. awareness for the need for more pro bono. >> reporter: thank you so much. they will be here for another half h

news 19's state house reporter joyce koh has the details. 3 <"malloy: i think it was childish and very antagonistic.i refuse to perform acrobatics in the state of the state address. martin: i wanted to stand up and cheer, i mean i was the primary sponsor of senate bill one, the ethics bill. although governor nikki haley book ended her speech around emotional and unifying events the charleston massacre, her words on the states big issues quick nat of haley 3 asking senators to stand: if you support true independent investigations, pelase standit was one of the most surprising moments of the night for lawmakers on both sides, although they had different opinions on whether or not it was called for. davis: that might be the only chance south carolinians get to see where their senator stands on this issue so, i think she used the bully pupit to her advanrtage, and it hink it was appropriate for her to doso. rutherford: i was disappointed that she talked about bringing us together, while at the same time pulling a childish trick of asking the senate to stand up when they had no way to defen

news 19's joyce koh was there and joins us with the details. >> reporter: recognizing both the civil rights work that needs to be done and the work that has been done. it is the first year the celebration look place without the confederate flag over head. >> how wonderful it is to be here together without the confederate flag over head. >> day that has been celebrated. >> that flag was one piece of something biggerer >> reporter: to remember the fight for leadership under --

she released her proposal and joining us now in studio with the details are joyce koh. >> reporter: good afternoon. [ audio difficulties ] >> reporter: roads and education. >> we have apologize. audio difficulties there. >> just to fill you in on what joyce is talking about governor million on the roads, that is including the 10-cent a gallon tax that could go into effect if a roads bill is passed. she included $165 million in dam inspectors. and $300 million for education reform, including raising base student cost by 165 million, funding more school buses, drivers and technology and she wants to cut income tax from 7 pheers 5% over the next 10 years for all south carolinians across the board and for military retirees and she had progress in cutting state debt. she was proud to share it. >> gets us in a good start to say okay we are taking care of the flood issues, putting that behind us, learning on what we getting tax cuts to so many, improving education. not number one in criminal domestic violence. we are saying, you know, we are taking care of everything we have in terms of how to

. >> reporter: joyce koh, news >> she doesn't have to tell everybody. we've talked everybody.>> got to love dawn staley. >>> the carolina clemson football game is the big day for all fans but it was especially big for one fan.>> sonia gutierrez caught up with him at his 70th consecutive rivalry match.>> i ve big thursday. that is always special. i was sad when they moved the game to the end of the season. but it didn't affect my life. when they moved to gain to clemson also i made it to clemson this past year. [ laughter ] and have all those years. >> reporter: only a long time gamecocks been will remember that. -- fan will remember that. >> the first couple games i was a student at the university. >> reporter: he hasn't missed a game since 1946. was a sportswriter. that i got paid to come to the ballgames. i resent i have to pay now. [ laughter ]>> reporter: he was even honored i the gamecocks club as a legendary than. -- fan . what makes him the proudest is -- >> my four kids are my greatest achievement.>> we are very proud. why father is the best gam

and it is up to us to see it through. 3 that was joyce koh reporting.this is all ahead of the primary elections in the state...the first in the south...which will be held in south carolina at the end of next month. 3 winter is finally letting us know it is here and it can be down right scary.how a group of brothers are dealing with the cold in a giant way. 3 plus, you're waking up after one of the coldest nights we've seen this winter... efren afante will tell us how long we can expect these freezing temperatures to stick 3 check out how they're dealing with the cold in minnesota ... three brothers created a giant octopus out of snow in front of their home.it took about 500 hours to finish and they say they heat up the snow in their garage to make it easier to mold.it's an annual tradition they've been doing since 2012 ... they actually use the event to raise money for charity.in the past they've made a giant turtle and a shark. 3 3 3 coming up... an update on the sumter mother is missing... details and why police say they believe she's ok but still evading them....coming up in the ne