Transcripts For WIS WIS News 10 At 600 20151229

Avenue. The Sumter County Sheriffs Office says a 37 yearold man was found shot after witnesses gunshots in the area. The victim was taken to the witnesses also described seeing two men running away from the scene shortly after the shots rang out. Were working to get more informationmeanwhile call crimestoppers at 1 any information. Tonight, investigators say a holly hill man has admitted to killing his ex girlfriend. And led them to where he dumped her. Harold pratt was arraigned today letss go to wis Billie Jean Shaw at the Orangeburg County Sheriffs Office in addition to murder, 45yearold harold pratt has also been charged with possession of a weapon during a crime. Pratt did not make eye contact with anyone in the courtroom as the judge laid out his charges. When asked if he understood his answered yes sir in a low tone. He is accused of fatally shooting 38yearold loretta bunch. She was reported missing by her father after no one was able to get in contact with her. While bunchs family members did not want to go on camera, they did tell me pratt and bunch dated for nearly 10 years. Her aunt says a few months ago, it was at that very home, investigators say pratt shot bunch before tossing her body off a bridge on highway 453. Bunchs funeral is thursday at 11 am at the avinger funeral home in holly hill. Meanwhile, pratt remains in jail as he awaits a bond hearing. At this time a date has not been set. At the Orangeburg County Sheriffs Office, Billie Jean Shaw, wis news 10. The Columbia City council officially has two new members. They were sworn in just a couple the newly elected members along with mayor Steve Benjamin all said theyre ready for a new era of leadership where working together will be a priority. There were about 200 plus people there as councilmen Howard Duvall and ed mcdowell took their oaths. Councilman moe baddourah, who ran unapposed also was reelected and took his oath today. Mayor benjamin did not endorse either duvall or mcdowell; he endorsed their opponents. The mayor and councilman baddourah have also butted heads in the past on various issues. Duvall says theres a new dynamic on council now, but he says what happened today is not a changing of the guard. No. Were going to make our case to council. Were going to dialogue over it. Were going to make our case to the people, and if in fact, you know, that becomes a reality, you know, its democracy at work, but were not going to stop pushing to move this city forward. The elected leaders tell me that 2016 will see a number of big votes for Council Flood recovery, a nokill shelter, and a tax break for a Student Housing project. Councilman duvall says he also wants to examine the way the bull Street Development will be funded. Both he and the mayor used the word unity. Duvall says council will have a retreat coming up in early january. Flooding around the midlands is nowhere near what it was back in october. But heavy rain and high water are again causing problemsand even damage close to our rivers. And access to some areas is again limited. Jack kuenzie joins us from the ampitheater with more. Samits great to have easier ways to reach the rivers. Thats something that were starting to take for grantedthough its a relatively new thing in terms of the areas history. Now we have about nine and a half miles of walking paths and other amenities that have brought people here in contact with some of our thats what the three rivers designed to do and while there are still some parts not completedothers have been around for more than 15 years now. With that access comes an expectation that at times nature will take over and cover up and even destroy what weve built. Thats happening now here in west columbiain cayce and columbia and it will continue to happen as the water levels rise and fall. Were kind of operating in its territory and weve got to take it as it goes and try to get it open as quickly as we can. You know we always ask our citizens to be very patient. It does take a lot to remove silt and trees in an area thats so confined. Our portion of the riverwalk is very natural so we have tons of trees, so it is difficult to. Clean it up as quickly as people would like, so we always ask people to be patient. The River Alliance earlier this month got approval from Columbia City Council Members to move forward with the next big chunk of the greenway systema three mile stretch to be created in of the congaree and saluda rivers. Ceo mike dawson says that part like others is designed with the idea that flooding will occur from time to timeand he says there are measures taken in the design process to minimize damage from floods and flooding debris. Clemson is just two days away from the College Football playoffstheyll face oklahoma thursday afternoon joe gorchow joins us live from outside sun life stadium media day provides a great opportunity to gain insight as to what makes the players and coaches they way they are. Clemsons Deshaun Watsons poise and calm demeanor field comes from his mother. Watson says he tries to emulate how his mom handled the most difficult moments of her life. Including a battle with cancer when deshaun was 15 years old. Today, watson described how seeing his mom conduct herself through the helped shape him into the type of leader and person he is on and off the field. He continues to seek wisdom from his mother everyday. Especially on game day. Watson loves hearing from his mom as she e ovides the encouragement and advice he needs to hear before kickoff. Honestly, no matter what the game is, shes telling me, you know, she tells me the same trust your reads, trust your eyes and lead this team. Because youre a leader. And thats what weve been doing and once i hear those words, she say i love you and go get it, so that kind of motivates me to go play hard. Tell myself you know, enjoy the moment, you know ive been dreaming about this my whole life, so why not enjoy it and celebrate this time. Watsons had plenty to celebrate this season. Hes guided clemson to a 130 mark, was named acc player of the year, earned the davey obrien trophy as the top qb in College Football, and ranks fifth in the nation in total an orange bowl victory and a ticket to the National Title game. Joe gorchow wis news 10 sports. More rain still in the forecast this weekbut temperatures starting to creep down. Recently flooded due to heavy rain. Highs will settle in the middle 70s to finish out the year. The new year will start with cooler and drier weather. Break 2 troopers are investigating after Officials Say the 2009 Crown Victoria was getting onto i26 from lake murray boulevard when it lost control and crashed. The police car is registered to the town of irmo. Troopers says the driver was thomas speers. No charges have been filed in the crash. More resignations today in the town of north wis has confirmed now that the town clerk and assistant clerk have submitted their letters of resignation to the mayor effective january 7th. This follows resignations by the north police chief and another officer earlier this monthwhich left the town without a police force. No word has been given as to why the clerk and assistant clerk are resigning. The film director serving prison time for the death of a production worker in georgia is asking for an early releasebut the victims father says he doesnt deserve it. Randall miller was sentenced earlier this year for the death of columbianative sarah jones, who was killed by a train during the filming of midnight rider. He was sentenced to two years, but now his lawyers are asking him to be set freeless than halfway into his sentence for good his health. Jones father said today that releasing miller early would send the message that hollywood gets a break. And is asking the judge to deny the request. South carolina religious leaders are challenging people across the palmetto state to learn more about the worlds religions. They met at the state house today to promote what they call interfaith harmony. They read a proclamation by Governor Haley declaring january interfaith harmony month. Members of interfaith partners of South Carolina are distressed and deeply saddened to hear so many of our countrys citiznes and political leaders and candidates espouse retaliation to our muslim colleagues, friends and neighbors for the actions of a small group who wrongly claim that islam justifies their actions. At todays event, local Muslim Leaders denounced the actions of isis and other terrorist organizationssaying radical islamist terrorists do not represent their religion. The palmetto state is getting big recognition this right back with sports after in the College Football playoff semifinal. The sooners. Love playing in miami. No programs played in more orange bowls, or won more than ou. Of course, no teams beaten clemson this season. Both squads. Convened at sun life stadium for media day. The tigers arrived first to take their spots on the podium and in the sea of hundreds of reporters. The sooners followed an hour later in the same room. Today provided a fun way to break away from the preparation for the big game. Normally bowl week marks the of the season for both programs. Thats not the case this time around in the the winner advances to the national championship. This stage certainly feels different for everyone involved, considering neither programs played in the playoffs before. This isnt our normal game week. Normally on a thursday we might have three around, so this is a little different. Every week, weve just tried to focus on us. Whoever that opponent is, whatever weve got to do to get ready and just try to focus on winning that game. Theres just an anticipation of another game. So it just seems different that it may not be the end. You know, so thats kind of out there for goes and those kinds of things, its been the same. The National Spotlights certainly shining on both teams this week. Without question though back in columbia. The nations paying attention to the usc mens basketball team. The gamecocks are 110 and ranked in the top 25 in both the ap and coaches poll. Usc looks to remain untouched by closing out 2015 with a win at home tomorrow. The key to carolinas perfect start. The players belief in one another. The trust that we have in each other is kind of our main focus, so whether were playing bad, or having a bad half, or starting a game off poorly, or starting a game of great and going on a run, alley oop, dunk and the crowd going crazy were still able to maintain our composure. Just taking it game by game. Just keep walking in on time and just practice what success our palmetto teams are having on the court and gridiron in 2015. When it comes to clemson football. They hope 2015 doesnt mark the end of its journey. If they beat oklahoma theyll leading up to the big game continues tomorrow on wis. Rick and joe will both have live thursday night you can also follow updates on wistv dot com. A reminder for flood victims applying for federal assistance the deadline is fast approachingbut now youre getting a little extra time to get you paperwork in. If you were affected by october flooding, fema is now allowing you to get your application in through january 4th. The deadline was january 3rd at midnight, but since that falls on a sundayofficials are letting people accept applications through the next day. After that you will not be eligible for federal financial assistance. You can apply at Disaster Assistance dot gov. Or call the fema hotline at 1 800621fema. If you were a victim of octobers flood, you may qualify for tax relief efforts from the irs. Janet kellet, a local tax expert says those who suffered Severe Damage such as losing a home have the option of claiming a casualty loss on their 2014 or 2015 tax return. A casualty loss is a tax loss that is unexpected or sudden. However, kellet says not all loss. Well with casualty losses, that will have to exceed 10 percent of your agi, thats your income for the year to be able to deduct that and also you tax liability, its not like a credit. If you choose to file a casualty loss for your 2014 return, the deadline has been extended to february 16. The 2015 deadline is april 15th. Thats the news for now. See you back here at 7 for all we live in a pick and choose world. Choose, choose, choose. But at bedtime . Why settle for this . Enter sleep number, and the lowest prices of the season. Sleepiq technology tells you how well you slept and what adjustments you can make. You like the bed soft. Hes more hardcore. So your sleep goes from good to great to wow only at a sleep number store, find the lowest prices of the season. Save 600 on the 1 rated i8 bed, plus no interest until january 2018. Know better sleep