3 3 concealed 3 weapons permits are on the rise in South Carolina. According to the fbi nearly 50thousand people in the state either wanted to buy or carry concealed weapons during the month of december. Thats a new high for the state. Firearms trainer Elaine Henderson says her classes have been full lately. 3 being prepared starts first of all by having the firearm. If you dont have it on you it serves no purpose. The second is beiei able to use it. Have you drilled yourself, prepared yourself, used it enough in the range and practice to if you needed to utilized it you background checks were conducted last year in the 3 schools across the state would have more people with guns. Protecting your children under a new bill just introduced at the state house. But not everyone thinks thats a good idea. Because of who would be armed. Robert kittle tells us why. 3 the bill would create new School Protection officers. To add another layer of protection to help School Resource officers. School Protection Officers would teachers or any other School Employees who go through a new twoweek Training Program at the criminal justice academy. They could carry guns if they had concealed weapons permits. 00. 07. 32. 10 the crooks have got guns so were going to have to have em too. So i think its a good idea. I hope it passes. 00. 07. 39. 18 but parent brett qualls worries about having guns in schools. 00. 04. 43. 15 at the end of the day or inbetween classes the teacher could lay their pistol down anywhere, sit it in their drawer, dont want to wear it, put it in their drawer, a kid could get ahold of it. Anything could go wrong like that. Youre talking about kthrough12. Kids are curious. 00. 04. 57. 22 the bill was introduced by representative phillip lowe of florence. He introduced a similar bill in 2012. That would have allowed teachers with concealed weapons permits to carry on campus if they wanted. Lack of training. So this new bill adds that training. Representative lowe says right now schools are gunfree zones and Everybody Knows that, which makes them a target. 3 but if he says if this passes, no one would know who might have a gun at school, which would make them less of a target. But it willllface opposition. 00. 01. 43. 10 what about these students who may, all of a sudden, say, hey, theyve got a gun. Im going to get it. that is a huge concern of mine as a parent and as someone who works with educators. 00. 01. 54. 25 in columbia, robert kittle, 7 news. 3 local School Boards would have to have public hearings. To decide whether to designate any employees as School Protection officers. Teachers or other employees would have to volunteer for 3 today. Were expecting to learn the identity of a homicide suspect wanted in Houston Texas who died after a shootout in columbia. Just before noon yesterday. Members of the us marshal service, Columbia Police and sled moved in attempting to execute an arrest warrant. Were being told the suspect fired first. But it is still unclear who fired the fatal shot. The suspect later died at the hospital and no officers involved were injured. 3 a new report says a state funded program for at risk 4yearolds need to focus on quality teaching. While expanding access so more students can benefit from the program. The Education Oversight Committee reviewed the evaluation of the fullday 4k program at the state house. Melanie barton said students going into public fourk scored lower than students going into private schools but by fivek their scores are about the same. Governor haley wants to merge the private and Public Administration to fill that teachers is another issue 3 that a big problem with the private centers and i e talked to a lot of them. They have a hard time recruiting Classroom Teachers for those centers because they e small operations, they can pay the level that a district pays so therefore, you get a lot of turnover. Arton said the administration merge is something the General Assembly needs to discuss because of budget issues. 3 3 gop frontrunner donald trump will be in lexington county tomorrow. He will be at harmon tree farm off highway one at 7pm. The event is free and open to public. 3 a a uth carolina representative pulled his endorsement for Hilary Clinton to support another candidate. Representative Justin Bamberg announced his endorsement for Bernie Sanders at the South CarolinaDemocratic Party monday. Bamberg did not say why he pulled his endorsement from Clinton Campaign but he believes sanders can change 3 dont forget. The deadadne to register to vote in the democratic president ial primary is tomorrow. The democratic primary is february 27. So if you have moved. Make sure you are ready to vote by updating your registration. Or if you have moved from one county to another, you must register in your new county by the deadline to be eligible to vote. The republican Voter Registration deadline was last week. 3 3 happening today. Columbia mayor Steven Benjamin will give the state of city address. Its all starts tonight at 6 at city hall. There will be a reception after the address. Stick with news 19 for complete coverage of the address tonight. 3 a second group of bikeway projects have been presented by the richland penny program. Tonight, a Public Meeting will be held to discuss the proposed streets on the bikeway. The meeting will be at the Lourie Center on park street at six this evening. Streets included in the bikeway are assembly, blossom, broad river, gervais and 3 Molina Healthcare is giving away 300 blankets and kids gloves to help keep people warm today. It is taking place at st. Johns Baptist Church in columbia from 9 30 am until supplies are gone. 3 also happening today, Law Enforcement from 60 agencies will take part in the ceremonial torch run. This is video from a Previous Year of Law Enforcement gathering at the state house for the start of the torch run for Special Olympics. The run raises money which goes directly to supporting Special Olympics athletes. This is the 30th year for the event. 3 theres a seminar on weight loss surgery this afternoon. Its from noon until 1 at the Palmetto Health baptist auditorium. It will review different types of weight loss surgereroptions and what you can expect. For more information or to register, call 18553911120. 3 the usc Baseball Team begins spring practice this weekend. Friday scrimmage is scheduled for 4 p. M. Saturday first pitch is at 1 p. M. And sunday is set for 1 30 p. M. The scrimmages are free to attend. South carolina is looking to bounce back from one of their worst seasons in years. In which they failed to make the ncaa tournament. 3 the usc Mens Basketball Team will be back at Colonial Life arena tonight. They had 2 sec road games in the past week. And tonight they take on mississippi state. Theyre coming off a disappointing lose on the road in knoxville over the weekend. Head coach frank martin said this week theyre looking forward to playing at home. Tip off is at 7. 3 coming up. If you love milkshakes. You might want to plan a trip to new york. We;re going to look at one of the latest trends in gourmet dessert. 3 coming up. Another chilly your full Weather Forecast as you get ready to head out the door. Thats after the break. 3 seriously . Where do you think youre going . To work, with you. Its taco tuesday. Youre not coming. I took mucinex to help get rid of my mucusy congestion. Oh, ririt then ill swing by in like 4 hours. Forget the tacos one pill lasts 12 hours. Im good all day. Wait your loss. I was going to wear a sombrero. Only mucinex has a bilayer tablet that starts fast, and keeps working. Not 4, not 6, but 12 full hours. Start the relief. Ditch the misery. 3 one woman in North Carolina decided she had to get to work no matter the weather. But there was one problem. Her truck always gets stuck in the snow. So she decided to use something with a little less horse power. An actual horse. Her job is about seven miles away it wasnt that long of a trek. The only drabwack is she had leave obviously. The horse doesnt 3 have headlights. Adlib about this story 3 3 coming up. One president ial candidate now has his own ice cream. See which candidate got a pint named after him when we come back. 3 plus. The superbowl is next week. And if a part of you thinks you want to go. Wait until you hear how much its going to cost you. Thats coming up in whats brewing 3 3 a trending topic all over social media has been the superbowl. And this morning were looking at what a lot of fans are thinking about. The cost. If you get your hands on a ticket. How are you going to get to california . Travel agents are saying a basic package for a ticket. 3 night stay. And airfare is starting at 65hundred dollars. And it only gets more expensive once you add in extras like tailgates. Parties. Or other events. 3 and if youre thinking about getting tickets to the game. Be prepared to pay a big price. The cheapest ones we saw on stubhub are listed at more than 4thousand bucks a piece the most expensive will set the website seat geek says the average resale price for the game between the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos is more than 5 thousand 3 dollars. 3 3 you may have seen this viral video on facebook yesterday. Take a look at this sloth. It got stuck on the side of the highway in ecuador. It was trying to cross over the road when it got scared. Good news though. It wasnt injured and police were able to take it to the veterinarian where being 3 released into its natural 3 habitat. 3 3 if youre a fan of milkshakes. A new york city restaurant has a sweet deal for you. Black tap in manhattan is getting attention on social media for the elaborate milkshakes its offering. They come loaded with candy and cookies in almost any flavor imaginable. From sweet and not 3 cheap though. Each shake will run you 15dollars. 3 3 ben jerry cofounder and apparent Bernie Sanders enthusiast ben cohen has made the ultimate tribute to the vermont senator and democratic president ial candidate. Forty pints of Custom Limited Edition ice cream. It called bernie yearning, and it has its own website. Its tagline . Othing is so unstoppable as a flavor whose time has finally come. Ohen announced via twitter this morning that he would donate 25 pints to sponsor a contest to give 3 those away. 3 a Police Officer in georgia went above and beyond to help a local family. Officer allen gylfe jillfee. And Sergeant Jimmy jones. Answered a call at fair harbor rv park one rainy morning. Thats because 11yearold nathan dunn refused to go to school. Nathans mother gwen made the call. The officers convinced ride. Thats when nathan confessed he just didnt want to get wet walking to the bus stop. And his mom didnt have a car or the money to buy rain gear. Gylfe jillfee bought rainjackets and umbrellas for both. Out of his own pocket. Seregant jones says one of his favorite parts of the job is being able to give back to the community. 3 this little bit of being able out of his pocket, you know, bit of money out of his pocket would you know, its not going life, but it makes it a little bit easier. 3 gwen dunn. Said her son nathan was more than excited rained. In his new rain gear. 3 still to come. Lawmakers continue to try to come up with a plan to fix our roads. Whats holding them 3 good morning and thank you for waking up with news19. Im deon guillory. 3 your time is. 3 3 3 3 republican senator jay cleary and demcratic senator joel lourie say they will spend this week working on a bill to get more funding to fix our states broken roads. One of the major problems now is that it seems every senator has their own idea for how to fix the roads. The republicans dont want to raise the gas tax without a big cut to other taxes. Democrats are trying to make sure any cuts get distributed to the largest amount of people. 3 the lawmaker who proposed a journalist registry bill. And in the process received never actullay wanted to go through with the bill. Representative mike pitts says he was only trying to make a point. Pitts says hes upset with the way the media covers gun issues. He wanted to get people talking about what he calls. Media bias. In treating free speech rights under the First Amendment as being more important than gun rights under the second amendment. 3 water still flows where a road should be on Spears Creek Church road. Near waldon place pond dam. But thanks to a recent meeting that more than 100 people, including dhec and sc dot officials. Progress is being made. The dot determined that since the road does not run over the dam. It can be repaired without waiting on the breach in the dam to be fixed. Four contractors are submitting bids to dot to temporarily fix the road. That could do something. 3 the temporary work will still be done to dot specifications. They says the chosen contractor could start work as soon as monday. February first. Incidentally. The road is on the list for the Richland County penny tax money. To be used to widen the road. 3 3 the citadel cadets pictured wearing white pillowcases over their heads have been dismissed or are receiving on campus punishment. This comes after pictures surfaced online of cadets with pillowcases over their heads with holes cut out for their eyes. Some felt that the images resembled the kkk. The investigation determined that the freshmen were ordered by upperclassmen to sing Christmas Carols dressed as ghosts of christmas past. School leaders say theyre working with the increase diversity at the school. 3 teaching 18 to 22yearold good leadership, thats a challenge, thats a challenge. E. 3 the Action Network said they would like 5 directives going foward at the school. They are. A mandatory class on the citadels historyfive free scholarships for minority students. A annual Program Teaching about dr. Martin luther king, jr. , and the ongoing progress resulting from the Civil Rights Movement more involvement from the citadel in title one schools. And the removal of the Confederate Flag from the colleges chapel. Rosa says he looks forward to the initiative 3 this morning we expect to know the identity of the deaceased suspect in a barber shop shooting. Police are still looking for the second suspect invovled in an Armed Robbery at next up barbershop. Last friday. 2 armed. Masked guman entered the barbershop. Demanding cash. However. A customer pulled out a concealed weapon and started shooting. The barber also pulled out a concealed weapon and shot as well. One man ran out the door, but didnt it very far before collapsing. He later died in the hospital. The other gunman got way. The barber says he worries how the children, who were in the shop at the time. Are dealing with what happened. No charges will be filed against the customer or the barber who fired their weapons. 3 and as we speak of concealed weapons. Dec ember was the busiest month ever in South Carolina for gun sales. The fbi says a record sought to either buy guns or carry concealed weapons. The spike came after president obama indicated he would seek to tighten gun control measures this year. Decembers numbers do not indicate the exact number of guns sold. Some peoples requests are refused while some people buy more than one gun. 3 3 three prisoners are still on the run after breaking out of a california jail on friday night. 20 year old 3 jonathon tieu, 37 year old Hossein Nayeri and 43 year old boc duong are likely still in the area. Possibly harbored by vietnamese gang members. According to court documents. Nayeri has a record of gross vehicular manslaughter. Domestic violence. And faces charges for murder. Kidnapping and torture. Duong has a violent criminal history that includes attempted murder and burglary. There is a 50thousanddollar reward. But officals are discussing raising the reward to 200thousanddollars. Who prompted an investigation into planned parenthood are now facing criminal charges themselves. A texas grand jury handed down indictments monday against David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt for allegedly tampering with a governmental record. The pair were behind secretly recorded videos allegedly showing planned parenthood employees trying to sell fetal tissue for profit. 3 the head of ohios epa is calling for a criminal investigation after the operator of a Water Treatment plant in northeast ohio failed to notify the public that they may be drinking dangerous water. Its similar to the water problems plaguing flint, michigan. Brian webb reports. 3 mon0456 at 1 30 Officials SayDangerous Levels of lead and copper were found in seven of 20 older homes during tests dating back to last summer. vo mon0456 at 28 but it wasnt until last week that city officials issued a Public Notice warning children and pregnant women not to drink the water. sot state representative John Boccieri quick obviously theres a notification issue. vo mon0457 at 41 sebrings plant and Distribution System are considered safe. But the slightly acidic water caused some pipes to leak the metals into the water supply. vo mon0456 at 1 02 the head of ohios epa has suspended the towns water plant manager from working at the treatment plant. Saying he submitted misleading, inaccurate or false reports. sot Heidi Griesmer ohio epa mon0456 at 39 we also recognize our office was probably too patient with the village as they were working with them to get the proper notification out. vomon0456 at 01 schools in sebring are cancelled today for the third day in a row. Brian webb for cbs news. 3 3 state officials will hold elementary school. Ohios Water Treatment plant serves about 81hundred homes. 3 coming up. Were on your side with information about weight loss surgery options. Were sitting down with a doctor to talk details after the break. 3 and have you ever run a Half Marathon . Were going to introduce you to a furry friend who now only ran the when we come back. Seriously . Where do you think youre going . To work, with you. Its taco tuesday. Youre not coming. I took mucinex to help get rid of my mucusy congestion. Oh, right then ill swing by in like 4 hours. Forget the tacos one pill lasts 12 hours. Im good all day. Wait your loss. I was going to wear a sombrero. Only mucinex has a bilayer tablet that starts fast, and keeps working. Not 4, not 6, but 12 full hours. Start the relief. Ditch the misery. 3 losing weight can always be a challenge. Thats where a new weightloss procedure at the South CarolinaObesity Surgery Center is trying to help. Its called orbera and Lexington Medical Center is the first hospital in the southeast to offer it. Dr. Glen strickland of Lexington Medical Center is is the right 3 candidate . How do doctors place it into the patient . How long does orbera stay in your stomach . Why is orbera a good choice for some people instead of Old Fashioned diet and exercise . For more information about orbera, visit scobesity. Com 3 3 3 heres something you dont hear about everyday. A 2yearold bloodhound in alabama followed her nose all the way to the finish line of a Half Marathon. Earlier this month ludivine got out from her backyard and ended up at the start of the race about a quarter mile away. Then she kept going making friends with people along the way. Best of all ludivine came in 7th with an unofficial time of 1 hour 32 minutes and 56 seconds. She even got a medal. Ludivines owner found out the dog was gone when someone called from 3 you may remember this story that was all over social media. A Police Officer from florida went viral last week after he received a noise complaint about kids playing basketball. Instead of shutting them down. He joined them. Welll Shaquille Oneal was among the 14 Million People who viewed the video. Over the surprised the group of kids with a basketball game. Shaq said its his way of praising Demarco Morgan shows us the office dates that are strictly professional. 3 nats guy on scooter with dog05 here at freshbooks, a torontobased accounting firm, Workplace Satisfaction has been taken to a whole new level. Nats video games in cafeteria05 with a growing workforce of over twohundred and fifty, these freshbookers emphasize creative thinking. 01they bring thier pets to work, nat 04 stand instead of sit, and now. Go on blind dates with their coworkers. Sot dm with mary grace 10 41 07 i like to meet everyone that shows up. And as the company grew, i noticed that more and more people just didnt know each others names anymore which for me i thought that was crazy cause i liked this real tightknit community that we built at freshbooks and i wanted to keep that up. Walk and talk with grace disc 1 07 04 54 dm so blind dating, in the workplace this was your idea . Yes i thought about it months ago. 05 manager mary grace antonio, an company, lauched the program last summer. Sot mary grace antonio suport manager disk i 02 49 24 theres a lot of talking and a lot of communication going on sometimes its not w wh everybody y d thats what blind dates is about, trying to get people who would never really work with to just meet dm and its strictly work dates not personal hook ups or are any relationships made out of this . No not at all. Its really just to get to know people. 07 so antonio began playing matchmaker. First, by asking for volunteers who are then grouped together and sent on lunch or coffee dates. Sot antonio disc i 02 43 54 theres people from all different departments that sign up even execs sign up for these blind dates then i try and mix and match people who wouldnt usually be working together. 04 that means top level executives can be matched with newlyhired collegegraduates. 06 company ceo Mike Mcderment says the program is wellsuited to a work culture centered around fun and innovation. Sot Mike Mcderment freshbooks, co founder and ceo disc i 33 13 04 22 we believe culture is strategy and having people connect with folks they dont necessarily work with actually helps build the ties that keep the organization strong and keeps information and ideas flowing. Sot dm with antonio dm tell me about some of the cool stories youre getting from these blind dates. Two fresh bookers went on a blind date and actually theyre both in charge of hiring people, so they ended up discussing a lot of different methods that they use to asses talent09 during our visit, a finance manager named marcus was paired up with shannon, a newlyhired copywriter. Both sit at opposite sides of the openconcept office. Morgan standup disc 1 95 14 57 00 it might look like a real blind date, but the people we spoke with say its all business. Nats from date disc 1 88 55 19 h h big is the tete . Weve got about twelve people now so bigger. At the end of their date, we checked in to see how it went. With marcus 14 58 25you think be wasnt as awkward as i expected. It and i think that it really did hold my initial idea that it encompass all our Company Values and i think that really held true05 antonio said that despite those firstdate jitters, the program has been a winwin for everyone involved. Sot dm with anotonio disc i 02 10 44 55 after the first round we sent out a survey to see if people liked it and 100 percent of people who joined said they liked it dm any negatives . The sometimes it felt awkward but other than that . Dm like a real date. Like a real first 3 3 coming up. In the wake of a local Armed Robbery. Theres lots of discussion about the use of concealed weapons. In this case it may have saved lives, but what does the trend report, after this break. 3 plus, an update on shots fired near the dorn va yesterday. One man is dead after a shoot out with break imd on gallery. And i am savannah levins. Lets start with one of our top stories overnight, an inmate at a rock hill prison has walked away from the jail. That is according to a tweet sent out by the department of corrections. They say 26yearold Zachary Reeves walked away from the center he was serving eight years of burglary Second Degree charges. He has a tattoo of an angel on his shoulder and was last seen wearing his South Carolina department of