Brian Dequincey Newmans attorneys say they made a huge mistake and saying his taxes will be paid today. He turned himself in today. He didnt say much in court but told the judge that he thought he filed the taxes. His lawyers said that it was a mistake and he is remorsal. We talked to his lawyer and here is what head to say about the case what he had to say about the case. We all make mistakes. One thing we have to do is put our client in the best possible situation. He wanted to take full responsibilityty we pled him today and he is ready to move forward with his life. Reporter now, he is to pay 11,000 for the taxes that he legal faces and he faces two years of probation but that could be canceled after six months once he naze restitution pays the restitution. Janae frazier, news 19 wltx. Thank you so much. Kelvin washington also turned himself in today and is free on bond. News 19s Sonia Gutierrez joins us now with more. Reporter the bottom line is they havent decide whether or not to plea anything. Washington turned himself in this morning for failure to file tax returns three years straight. His Attorney Says he is expected to appear in court in february. They are planning to take action before then and they havent considered what to plead in the case. Returns for 2012, 2013, and 2014. That is over 400,000 of income washington says he has been selfemployed with his company. If convicted he faces fines of up to 10,000 or one year of prison per charge. That is 3 years. Washington has been on the counsel since 2008. Coming up in the next half hour we will have more on his case. Thank you. The department of revenue released a statement on the arrest. He said the public deserves accountability for the government and officials. The department will force the accountability by taking action against those who violate the law. The chairman released a statement this afternoon regarding the investigation into kelvin washington. The count will cooperate with the South Carolina department of revenue and Law Enforcement provide the assistance that they may need. It is in the best interest of the public that all parties involve get to the bottom of this so again we asked before, our call for Law Enforcement to provide us with any information needed to protect the taxpayers. Now the midlands most accurate forecast with chief meteorologist jim gandy. This morning it was chilly around the area. A hard freeze. We ever seen clear skies and chilly temperatures today. Lots of sunshine and right now the temperatures look like this. Raleigh dropped to freezing, 32. 37 in charlotte. 42 in augusta. 47 degrees in georgia. Here we have which i see we have a wind chill of 37 degrees. For tonight. It will be clear. Is low in the morning of 24 degrees. Tomorrows high 49 degrees and increasing clouds tomorrow night with a low temperature of 35. This afternoon. Outside. We will start first of all on the Northwest Side of town. You are looking at the highway through west columbia. Slows at i26. It is slow into lexington. We are seeing slow downs in the westbound lanes of i20 and slowing into the junction area. Not too bad. Here on the Southeast Side of town it is slow. As we go out there, we will get you out there in a second. No accidents to report at this time. You can see it is not too bad once you get past pine view. One accident that is up on clemson road. Going from downtown it will take you 23 minutes. To the village 30 minutes. More in the forecast is coming up. All right. Thank you so much, jim. President obama announced executive orders aimed at reducing gun violence today that white house. President obama became emotional recalling the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School that took the lives of 20 School Children and 6 Staff Members there. The president said he believes in the Second Amendment but also it must be balanced with the other rights of americans as well. Clementa pinckneys widow was there for president obamas remarks. He said the right to safety was denied to christians in charleston, referring to the chuting at Emanuel Ame Church shooting at emanuel ame Second Amendment rights are important. But there are other rights that we care about as well. Them. Because our right to worship freely and safely [ cheers and applause ] that right was ded nighed to christians in [ cheers and applause ] they had rights too. Groups on both sides of the issue spoke outtoday out today. They have been around since the 1990s and argues the president is going past the constitution if he ordered the changes. He says many citizens are alive because they were able to protect themselves in their homes with firearms. Emanuel ame church shootings. They agree with making background checks anusesty for necessity for gun owners. Dillon roof would never have been able to receive the firearms he did purchase and kill 9 people with that day. So background checks work and they dont infringe on Second Amendment rights. Have registration. Policeman stops you, where did you get that gun . Did you get a background check . Sure. [ indiscernible ] there will be edgestration to come along with it it. They agree the second good. Citizens have a right to purchase a gun. Governor nikki haley will give the republican response to paul ryan and Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell announced governor nikki haley will deliver the address. The speech is january 12. Governor nikki haley is honored she was asked to deliver it. She is the first female and minority governor and the youngest governor and elected to a second term in november. Long time charleston mayor is giving a farewell address tonight. Joe riley was the longest mayor in the citys history. He was in office for 40 years. He will give a message of appreciation to residents tonight. He is credited with leading the charleston through an urban renewal that made the city one of the most popular Tourist Destination year after year. All right. Sometimes you have to learn a lesson a hard way and this might have happened to the bills kicker last night. He missed the extra point during the win over the new york jets yesterday. After the missed kick he decided to throw a little tantrum. Something that got thrown back in his face literally. Check it out. After the extra point try and that is a direct hit. Yeah. That had to hurt. Not the smartest move. Everybody talking about it on social media. As you know, we have all taken a head to the nose or a tie the nose, that hurts. Gives you that your eyes blink for a second. They get watery. That shows me that when you athrow a tantrum as a throw a tantrum as a parent, sometimes you get hurt. You still dont get what you want. [ laughter ] [ talking at the same time ] i knew he was a genius child. [ talking at the same time ] she would never fall out. Okay. Like [ talking at the same time ] now you know he will get a sinus surgeries. Come back with a skinnier nose. [ talking at the same time ] Restaurant Week is almost here. Find out what have you ever everybody likes a good cabbage saute in the new year. How many people do you think this would feed . This is one Award Winning cabbage. 47 founder. Jim gandy, could you grow this in the garden . No. We dont have room for it. No. [ laughter ] this is the Cabbage Program in South Carolina. It was randomly selected by the department of agricultural. He is going to get a 1,000 saverrings bond for that amaze savings bond for that amazing looking cabbage. We have we have got beautiful red cabbage but it is not mature yet so i am just waiting. Cabbage is something you have to protect right now . Yes, when they it does okay but it starts to be damaged a little bit once it we have the cabbagealize covered right now cabbages all covered right now. I 25,000 25,000 kids participated in that program. He will win a thousand dollars. Good job. You are getting a thousand dollars. And good eating. [ laughter ] it was cold this morning. Some areas colder than others. Greenwood 20 degrees this morning. 25 degrees in rock hill. 23 greenville. In sumpter 26. 29 degrees for columbia and also in orangeburg and 30 degrees down in charleston. We saw plenty of sunshine during the day and temperatures warmed up. 42 degrees in columbia. Orangeburg. We have a breeze outside and right now. Columbia. 31 sumpter. 36 orangeburg. Rock hill 33. Notice we have clouds just off shore of South Carolina. And these clouds will start moving back in to South Carolina around day break but for tonight anyway it will be clear. We will see light winds. High pressure is over the appellations. A few light showers in oklahoma into the texas panhandle and showers in florida. That is it. The rest of the area is dry. Computer model shows clear skies tonight. You see the clouds around day break or before that. And they will continue to spread our way. It will be partly cloudy and then we will see more clouds tomorrow night. It will be mostly cloudy and going to be mostly cloudy on thursday as well. Over night tonight you can expect a low of 22 in newberry. 24 in columbia. 25 sumpter. 27 manning. 46 in newberry. 49 for columbia and camden and sumpter. 50 orangeburg. Sevenday forecast we will see more clouds on thursday with a high of 56. Showers on friday with a high of 61. Mostly cloudy looks like for saturday. A break from the rain, 64 degrees. The rain could come back in saturday night into sunday morning with a High Temperature of 63 and then turning colder next week once again by tuesday. It will be partly cloudy with a low of 34 and a high of 52. Now lets go to andrea. We are so excited that we are this close to Restaurant Week. Kicks off on thursday. So many awesome restaurants opening. Including my favorite. We have the head chef here. You are doing something cool for Restaurant Week. We were, like, salivating at we are returning a dinner special where we are bundling up you get a choice of salad or half salad, entrees. It also includes your choice of dessert or a glass of wine for 16. That is a great deal. A salad, a huge meal and wine, 16 bucks. You have done a lot. We talked about it on the news, the folks took over and you changed things up. Talk about the things you same. We remodeled. Renovate was a big deal. Getting it up to date and making it look nicer. Regarding the food we keyed in to try ogsource local trying source local produce, proving the product serving fresh our meat balls, the cheeses are imported, pasta is imported. Of the food. All right. Talk about your meat balls. I have had them and they are delicious. What makes them so good . My grandmothers recipe. Is it really . Yes. Simple recipe. Certified beef, makes a difference. Quality. We take our time and hand make each one. Prep 250 each day and break them in the oven and brown them. It is better left over. [ talking at the same time ] any sauce with red food or red sauce is so much bet arday later. Why better a day letter. Why should everybody get excited to come out . Way to bring attention to the restaurant by making the offerings. It is advertised statewide. We gain a lot of that. You know . It also helps entice people to try new and Different Things because of the fair price. You know . So it was a big success for us success now. Pizza. If you get this what can you pick for toppings . You have several sauces . Yes. White house, pizza sauce white sauce, pizza sauce yum. Most of the toppings are prepared prepared and made in house for the pizza. Know . And the Wood Fire Pizza and the famous wood fire oven. Difference. Why is it . [ talking at the same time ] the flavor of the oakwood. Using local oakwood and it really just imparts a nice light smoky flavor into the crust and creates this nice caramelization. I am going to do the hard job of tasting this while i send things back to you. Restaurant week is going on, starts on thursday and it is all through the midlands. Make sure you check out this website. We have the link on www. Wltx. Com to figure out what deals you can get and where. I am going to eat some of this pizza. Thank you so much. Still ahead, who are you pulling for . Alabama or clemson . The teams met with the media this morning before they headed we will less than a week remains a week remains till the tigers kickoff in the National Title game in arizona. They will face crimson looking for its 16th national championship. The team met with the media this morning before they headed out west and Deshaun Watson was confident in the will of the tigers being greater than the tide. I mean, no one is perfect and, you know, we are good too so, you know, it is good on good. You know, we have a great 7. Like i said before, a great front 5 and with me and wayne and all the other running backs is very good too. You know, our will has to be greater than their will. That is what we did in the second half of the oklahoma game. Oklahomas and we came out on fire. We have to have that and go out there and prove it. Stay tuned to news 19 as Reggie Anderson is in arizona bringing you the latest news on the team. The undefeated usc Mens Basketball Team opened sec play tonight taking on the tigers in auburn. Tipoff is 7 00 p. M. The gamecocks are the only Unbeaten Team in the sec and one of three in the country. The tigers are 75. That game is on the sec network tonight. The gamecocks are number 20 in the u. S. A. Todays coachs poll and 22 in the ap poll. The woMens Basketball Team is back on the Court Thursday night. They are heading to vanderbilt. Tipoff is 9 00. They are back on sunday taking on missouri at noon. All right. Coming up next how would you spend 400 million . I have a few things i am thinking about. You could be you are watching news 19 friends add 5 00 p. M. Two counsel men have been arrested for not paying their taxes. They are Richland County councilman kelvin washington turned himself in this morning for failure to final taxes. News 19s Sonia Gutierrez is following this case. What did you find out today . Reporter washington faces three counts of not filing his taxes. Washington represents the majority of the lower richland area and has been serving for 7 i talked with washingtons attorney about the charges and the next steps in this developing story. Stay with us. Thank you. Well, former Columbia City councilman Brian Dequincey newman pleaded guilty to tax charges. He failed to file taxes in 2012 and 2013. He turned himself in this morning. Brian Dequincey Newman didnt say much in court but said he thought he had filed the taxes for 2012 and 2013. He has been ordered to pay for the taxes and the legal fees and faces two years probation but it could be canceled after six months if he pays restitution. Now we got a chance today to sit down with Brian Dequincey newmans lawyer before the afternoon hear. His money to pay his taxes but failed to do so. He didnt forget to pay his taxes. He should have paid his taxes. He acknowledged that. He paid taxes up until this year. Those two years he is charged with. We have the money to pay the taxes. Really no excuse for what he did. I want to point out this has nothing to do with the penny sales tax. Nothing to do with his position on city counsel. This is not a political thing. This is not about theft or fraud or anything else. This is a private citizen who failed to file taxes in two years and he is charged for that. This is not about corruption. He said he will have to face the South CarolinaBar Association for his actions. The department of revenue arrest. Accountability for the government and officials. The department will take action against those who violate the law and a chairman released a statement. They will continue to cooperates with the South Carolina department of revenue and Law Enforcement with their investigations and provide any assistance they need. It is in the best interest of the public that all parties involved get to the bottom of this so again we have asked before for Law Enforcement to provide us with any information needed to protect the taxpayers of Richland County. Now, the midlands most accurate forecast with chief meteorologist jim gandy. Skies remain clear. 42 degrees. Northeast 8 miles per hour. That is producing a wind chill of 37. Tonight we expect to see temperatures dropping once again under clear skies. 24 degrees for a low over night. And then tomorrow we will see a few clouds coming in. It will be partly cloudy with a High Temperature of 59 degrees. And the moisture will be increasing and temperatures moderating. Cloudy on thursday with a high of 56. We will see rain coming through friday. The high of 61. Cloudy saturday 64 degrees. Saturday night into sunday we expect another chance for rain and a temperature of 63. Now lets get an update on the traffic this afternoon and we will start on the northeast side of town. We have a few slow downs to talk about. Not too bad on i77 right now. Westbound lanes of i20 across the northern part of the city southwest side of town, in good shape. A little slow down here on the down here on the southbound lanes of i77 before you get to the river. On the Northwest Side of town, slow on the lexington highway. You can see the slow down on i 20, westbound lanes from malfunction junction to the exit at highway 6 and going into the maljunction junction area it is a malfunction junction area it is a slow down. Back to you. Thank you. Deputies need your help finding a suspect linked to a shooting at gas station. It happened december 26. The day after christmas. Just after 1 00 a. M. In the morning at the circle k. Deputies say a person was shot after attending a party. The victim has been released from the hospital. Investigators are trying to he may have seen the shooting. If you have information call crime stoppers. Two people have pleaded guilty to defrauding, unemployment fraud. Raymond white side and janice manning. They pleaded guilty to making false statements. The agency says whiteside was employed and manning had a job while getting benefits. Authorities say both lied about. 8 new Columbia Police community today. They graduated from the academy on friday and are spending the week helping those in the the program is called beyond the badge. Before they patrol the streets they will help fight hunger and read to students. We caught up with them today that washington Street Church soup kitchen. We got people here that are less fortunate. Anybody. We are here because we want to show the compassionate side of the department. Tomorrow they will be helping meals on wheels. Still ahead on friends at 5 00 p. M. Elephants on two legs and stunts, the circus is coming to you will find todays teacher of had week wasnt always the best behaved student in the class but her start in education is the reason for her success today. Parents describe her as extremely helpful and understanding. She makes home visits and pays for summer camps for students when the parents cant afford the fees and that is why she todays teacher of the week. Reporter there are times when you are so overcome with emotion that it is hard to find the words to express how you feel. [ crying ] [ indiscernible ] reporter she was born into a family that helped prepare her to understand the challenges her students have daily. Home so challenges reporter you know what these kids are going through . Yes. Reporter her 15 years she has been molding minds and loving the hearts of the youngest students. Always been at rev lawn Elementary School revlon Elementary School. Reporter she is educating every first Grade Student at the school. A responsibility she doesnt take likely and her work has been recognized by not just parents but also her principal. One of those teachers who has good connection with children, home and school and she connects those dots for us here. All know that school is their job. They are professionals at being a student. You are our teacher of the week. Congratulations. Congratulations. Beginning of the year they come in and by the end of the year, how they have grown, what i am able to do with them. That makes me excited. And reading is like, my class knows we have to read every day. Reporter she is writing a story for her students that means even when she is at a loss for words students success fill speak volumes. If you know an educator that deserves to be recognized send us an email to teacher of the week wltx. Com. Congratulations. An amazing teacher. She is responsible for every single first grader in the school. If you are in first grade, you [ talking at the same time ] appreciative. [ talking at the same time ] congratulations. All right. Coming up next. This one is afraid of clowns but she is about to meet one. We will put her under the pressure. The circus is coming to town. Welcome back. We are excited about the extreme circus coming back this month. The amazing thing about the extreme circus is that everything is extreme with it. Super extreme. [ laughter ] what does that mean . We come here every year. One of my favorite stops. And we like to bring a little to surprise people with the new stuff. We are bringing super extreme acts. You may have seen cool stuff like the x games, we grabbed the riders and put them on the circus floor and we added acrobatics and the cool stuff to their things. And extreme walking, they jump from one balcony to the next. So, of course, that fits perfect in the circus. We grabbed a couple of those guys and we flew them over. Maybe South Carolina wants to see them. It is the greatest show on earth. For anyone who has never been to the circus missed a treat. It is a family event and tickets are priced in a way that everybody can come. Which is about the price of a 3d movie. With us you get 31 2 hours of entertainment. We have a preshow. You can get on the floor that we perform on and try out our cool tricks yourselves and meet nice clowns just like me oneon one. That is my favorite part of the show. I love you talked about all the extreme acts. Talk about the exotic animals as well. We have your favorites. The beautiful lovely asian elephants. They are coming back this year. We have really cool horse work that you may have enjoyed in the past. Camels. Okay. That is difference. We decided to get them on the camels. While the camels do their tricks the girls will do awesome tricks. All this stuff on top of the camels that sounds amazing. Teach me one trick. We know [ talking at the same time ] all of the clowns with this circus have been there, give me clowning 101. One thing you might learn. Here is somemeing we will teach people in the preshow. I will give you if you like this, check it out. I will start you off with one scarf. Tie it around my neck . [ talking at the same time ] throw it in the air and catch it with your other hand. I think we are ready for two. O. I will take two scarves. You have to make a big x with your hands. One and two. We will practice it one more time. One and two. Perfect. Now let them go. The higher you throw the easier it is. First try. [ talking at the same time ] keep them going. All right. If you want to try it out, grab a couple of those, start throwing them around. [ talking at the same time ] you will keep making your x. One will be in the air at all times. Try letting go. Wait. Wrong hand. Okay. Instincts were good. One at a time. [ talking at the same time ] we are running out of time. I better get this right. [ talking at the same time ] there we go. Got it. My coworkers have been telling me forever i am a clown. Now it is official. Mo looking for something good to watch on tv tonight . Here is a list of where to start. We have a great night here on cbs. 8 00 p. M. Ncis. 9 00 p. M. Ncis new orleans. Followed by limitless. And keep it right here for news 19 at 11 00 p. M. Okay. We just told you that the powerball was 400 million yesterday. Now because so many tickets are sold it is close to 450 million. As you know probably wont stop there. It is the 4th largest jackpot in powerball history. The winner will have a choice between a cash pay out of 275 million or get 29 payments of 15 Million Dollars each. The run up to the jackpot began november 6 and rolled 17 times without a winner. You have to purchase your ticket, they are 2 by 9 59 p. M. Tomorrow night. Then you can see that drawing right here on our 11 00 p. M. Newscast where we will be joined by paula from the state be standing by to let us know immediately if we had any sort of big winner here in South Carolina. Some People Choose to work out as part of their new years resolution and others opt for the master cleanse. If it leaves you feeling sick a new cleanse where you only eat tacos will whet your appetite whet your appetite. It is a vegan cook book tacos. [ talking at the same time ] the book offers a quiz to determine what kind of taco eater you are. The recipes are real and you 10 bucks. Lose . I dont know. I inteam gets the team desert. News 19 at 6 00 p. M. Starts right now. From the station that is on your side you are watching news 19 at 6 00 p. M. A councilman and a former councilman are accused of not paying taxes. Thank you for being with us. Former Columbia City councilman Brian Dequincey newman and Richland County councilman kelvin washington turned