Transcripts For WOLO ABC Columbia News At Noon 20160106

Penny tax program, newmans Attorney Says the investigation is not related to the current charges. I think the bottom line here is that hes not involved in the penny sales tax investigation. He pled straight up to two counts of failure to file taxes and what is telling is theres no plea agreement. If he was involved in some conspiracy that they were still investigating there would be a plea agreement that would have provided for him to cooperate. Newman received two years of probation. That time will be reduced to six months after he pays nearly 11,000 in taxes owed and court costs. In a statement, Richland County Council Chairman tory rush says the matter is being dealt with by authorities and if theres any required action by Richland County council, were prepared to call a meeting and act accordingly. Its those arrests that are putting that Richland County Penny Tax Program back under the microscope. Thats exactly right. Seth rose says rebuilding program is a top priority and the changes need to take place. Rose has proposed three motions including giving added power to the Citizens Oversight Committee and a revamping of the process used to approve Companies Selected for carrying out penny projects. His plans also include reimbursement of penny tax dollars spent on efforts aimed at engaging small business. Penny proceeds should only be used for penny projects and although this is a noble cause, the county needs to fund this small local Business Enterprise out of our general fund and not penny proceeds. Roses motion will be on the councils january 12th agenda when it will be referred to the appropriate committee for vetting. Well keep you posted on that. Here at main and gervais, well take a penny for your thoughts when it comes to another cold start to the day. Yeah, may want to crank up the heat this afternoon as we continue to brave these cold temperatures that are settling here in the midlands. Turning things oveve to for a look at the first forecast. Jonathan . Good afternoon, guys. Im afraid people are going to start throwing pennies at me if i dont make it warmer sooner. Well look at a cool setup this afternoon. We are in the 40s. Thats good news or at least out of the 30s and its taken a while to get there. Just now recently got to 41 here downtown. 40 at the airport at columbia metro. 41 in st. Matthews and 43 in orangeburg, warmest spot right now along with bishopville at 43. Very cool setup right now. Were seeing more of that wind out of the north. Thats been our main factor in the forecast the last couple of days, its been bringing in cooler and drier air which is why weve been able to cool down so much. The air is so dry. Weve seen nice sunshine outside which is obviously good news but it is going to be quite chilly outside this afternoon. That wind at five to 10 makes it feel like its still of kind in the low to mid 30s right now. Well deal with the wind chill for now and looks like another cool night tonight but maybe a little bit warmerment details as jonathan just mentioned, some people are doing everything they can to stay warm in these cold temperatures. But the Columbia Fire Department is reminding you to do so safely. Officials say alternative heat sources can often lead to deadly house fires to ensure safety, do not leave devices unattended. Do not leave them on while youre sleeping and keep them at least three feet from combustible materials. President barack obama has unveiled a 10point plan that will help keep guns out of the hands of those who shouldnt have them. The measures include more indepth background checks for firearm sales. The administration also hopes to provide more funding for Mental Health treatment. F. B. I. Staff and the bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives agents, the widow of the late senator stood behind the president as he made the announcement. Even naming charleston in a list of cities where Mass Shootings have occurred. The president noticeably emotional when speaking about some of the youngest victims, students at sandyhook elementary school. Family who never imagined that their loved one would be taken from our lives by a bullet from a gun. Every time i think about those kids, it gets me mad. President obama calls the proposal commonsense Safety Measures but the National Rifle Association Says the effort to make it harder to buy guns is ripe for abuse. The announcement over gun control is getting mixed reactions from area residents. While most support the Second Amendment rights to bear arms, some did express different views on the president s proposal. I feel im entitled to my Second Amendment rights to own a gun. Im a legal person. Ive done everything legally. Theyve done background checks on me but i think hes going way Second Amendment does allow us to possess guns and im in full agreement with that. There are some situations and some instances where there are individuals who really should not have weapons in their hands. And South Carolina attorney general alan wilson has issued a response to the president s executive order saying, in part, the president cannot criminalize conduct through executive theot and whether at the state or federal level. Criminal laws can be enacted and amended through action by the legislative branches. Someone should remind president obama that america is not a monarchy. Richland county deputies continuing to investigate an Armed Robbery in the 600 block of promenade place around 7 30 last night. Authorities say four suspects stole clothing while one held two employees at gunpoint. One suspect was taken into custody before the remaining three took off with 700 of merchandise. One of the nations oldest Public Housing complexes is on the chopping block this thats right. The Columbia Housing Authority is asking the city for a Million Dollars to help them demolish gonzalez gardens. C. H. A. Has been budgeting for this but say they still need some help covering the 3 million tab. Columbia mayor Steve Benjamin says c. H. A. Will need 1 million from the city by the start of 2017. They are hoping to have all residents placed and demolition under way by the end of the year. And on the other side of town, plans to develop a lot thats been vacant for decade has once again been delayed. The West Columbia city council is agreeing to hold off on their vote for the Brooklyn Development until january 20th. Council decided to allow the developer of estates and companies to sit down before making the decision. Site in question is the lot thats been empty for decades at the intersection of meeting and state streets. Back in jail. We want slager back in jail you heard there. That was the chant heard outside the Charleston County jail. Members of the National Action network calling for the former North Charleston Police Officer charged in the shooting death of walter scott to be put back behind bars. Michael slager was released from jail in charleston monday after posting the 500,000 bond. Slager will remain under house arrest until his trial later this year. Jury selection is slated to begin october 31st. Also out of charleston this afternoon, mayor joe riley saying goodbye. He made his Farewell Speech last night after serving in office for 40 years. After talking about his many accomplishments, riley used his last official speech to thank those he served. Ways of communicating, i got to know you. To feel and appreciate your goodness. And get to understand your and that has been a priceless treasure. And riley has served charleston longer than anyone in the citys 345 year history. While his role in Public Office is over, riley will still be busy as he joins the faculty at the citadel, his alma mater. The former mayor of charleston isnt the only one taking to the podium. Governor nikki haley has been chosen to give the r rublican response to president obamas final state of the Union Address next week. House speaker karl ryan and Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell say haley is one of the most popular governors in america. The 43yearold is the countrys youngest governor and the palmetto states first female chief executive. The governor says shes honored to have been chosen. And speaking of honors, abc columbia wants to extend a big thank you to all of you who stopped by the plex Indoor Sports in northeast columbia to donate blood during the annual blood drive. Because of your willingness to roll up those sleeves, the if you couldnt make it out to yesterdays drive, you can make a donation to red cross headquarters. Happy t tt you made the effort to come out. Definitely. One ticket to daydream putting the biggest skeptics to bed. Uhhuh. The power of odds that may have some of you going broke just to hit it rich. Thats coming up next live from the new year all right. So with the new year, of course, comes new resolutions and that means many of you might be trying to get healthier. That indeed. That can be easier said than done. Abcs dr. Timothy johnson explains. The weight is off. Whether you have last years resolution to thank or had a different reason to whip those eating and exercise habits into shape. But even though you shed the pounds, can you shed all of the health risks they brought . A new study says, perhaps not. Researchers compared data from a Large National survey with death certificate records finding that those who were once obese but lost the weight were still at a higher risk of dying early from any cause compared to those who had been at normal weight their entire lives. Was, the higher their risk. Lose weight . Far from it. If you have succeeded in losing a lot of pounds, congratulations. Youve brightened your future Health Prospects immensely and almost definitely lengthened your life. If anything, its a reminder that those at a healthy weight should take strides to stay there and if youre carrying some extra pounds, do what you can to make changes now. With this medical minute, im dr. Timothy johnson. Well, the battle of the bulge can be a heavy weight to bear. Heres the incentive, the dash diet is the new craze thats hit the top spot for the sixth year in a row. This diet emphasizes healthy grains, veggies and lean meats and also designed to help people lower their blood pressure. So its like a 2for1 deal if youre looking to do more than good idea. If youre not looking for a workout routine, how about burning some rubber . Check this out. Concept at the Consumer Electronics show this week. Its being deemed the High Performance electric dream car. But its far from family friendly. Just one seat there. Company says it hopes to put a years. And really no worry to think about the price tag because you can get your hands on plenty of sweet rides if youre lucky. Fingers crossed here in the newsroom. Thats what everyone is hoping who has a ticket to that powerball that has now jumped to an estimated 450 million. Yeah, you heard me right. This will be the sixth largest jackpot of any u. S. Lottery game on record and the fourth largest powerball jackpot. But you have to grab those tickets by 9 00 tonight or your luck will run out and not too many of us feeling lucky when it comes to the weather outside. Unless youre a fan of the cold which some people are. You dont mind it. I like the cold. Full forecast is next. Gervais. Welcome back to abc columbia news at 12 30. Mostly sunny forecast for your wednesday afternoon and we started off very cold this morning. Many areas in the low to mid 20s and weve made some headway with the sunshine outside but i still have a cool afternoon 41 right now. 41 in windsboro. Highs here in downtown columbia, newberry up to 41. We saw many of these areas seeing temperatures rivalling the teens. We saw wind chills easily in the teens in newberry saw wind chills around 11 degrees this morning. Its still a little breezy outside. Not overly windy but five to 10 Miles Per Hour does make a difference when its this chilly outside so were going to see a little extra bite to those temperatures. Its going to feel like its still in the 30s for much of the area and even in the low 30s for some locations. 33 is what it feels like in camden. Not too bad for us here. Feels like its 38. Obviously, wed love for it to be warmer and have some sunshine out there today. Few clouds are expected. Thats g gng to do us some good especially as we move into the forecast later on tonight. Heres the setup nationwide. Its been very dry for us the last couple of days. High pressure bringing us the very dry weather but also due to its orientation, its bringing us winds from the north. It kept us very, very cool. Its bringing the cold air from least through today. Now, we do have the stationary boundary off the coast. Theres a little bit of rain along that. Thats going to get kind of pushed from the from east to west with the warm air coming in from the ocean. But also, this High Pressure system as i mentioned bringing us dry air into cold air but also going to c cbat that rain and keep it off the coast for us for the next couple of days. For us here in South Carolina, were going to stay nice and dry. Most of the action stays out to the Central Plains for us today and tomorrow. As we look a little bit closer to home, we see some clouds starting to move in from all sides from the south and east here, and thats going to continue to be the case throughout the day today. Well see more cloud cover especially as we move into tonight. As i mentioned, thats going to help us out. Were not going to be able to cool off as much. That cloud cover acts as a blanket and insulates us a little bit and keeps the relative warmth that we see from this afternoon from escaping later tonight into tomorrow morning. Still going to need a jacket tomorrow. Especially in the Early Morning hours. But the low 35 tonight. Certainly an improvement from a low of 25 that we saw for the last couple of nights. 57 tomorrow and then up around 60 for friday into saturday. Also notice the rain chance coming up as well. Along with that warmer weather and in the warm weather, it will be nice over the weekend b b relatively short lived. Were back closer to normal with highs in the low 50s by the time we get to the start of next week. Getting off to a good start is an understatement for the gamecocks as they go for nothing but net and actually get it. Live from main and gervais. All right. When it comes to the hardwood, carolina has a reason to be a little cocky. A little bit. Improving the best combined start ever in the sec to 270. Tim hill has the Sports Minute to win it. The gamecocks going into last nights sec opener at auburn. One of two undefeated teams in the country. Thornwell leads the way with 22 points and gamecocks up 18. Auburn cuts it to five. But the play of the night. He scores 12 points. Grabs 10 rebounds and the gamecocks get the 8169 win. Martin wins his first sec opener. U. S. C. Now 140. Vanderbilt comes to columbia saturday. Check out this ending at arkansas. Damon jones beats the buzz we are a dunk to send it to overtime. Check out the replay. But vanderbilt would not win in o. T. Arkansas gets the 9085 win. Gabe devoe sending clemson to overtime in syracuse with a clutch threepointer in the final seconds and for the fourth time in five tries, the tigers beat the orange. Landry noko, 19 points, 10 rebounds. Clemson 21 in the acc. Im tim hill. Thats the abc columbia Sports Minute to win it. Hope it helps get your wednesday off to a good start. Thanks, tim. We have one last look at the seven day forecast. Thats coming up next. Same old story for your wednesday afternoon. Lots of sunshine. Not a lot of warmth. Highs a little warmer today in upper 40s. Bump it up to the mid to upper 50s tomorrow around 60 by friday and well stay in the 60s likely through the weebkend and look out for a couple of chances of rain friday and saturday. Were looking for that warmup. We are. Youve been watching columbia news at 12 30. Thanks for making us your choice for news. See you back here at 6 00 a a