Times now 5 00. Good news 33 this morning. No rain. But you may want to grab your jacket before you head out the door. Yeah. Its a very cool and windy start to this thursday. For more on what we can expect for the 33 remainder of the day. Lets kennedy. 33 we want to 33 give you a quick traffic update as you head out and about this morning. And good news. There are no trouble spots to report in or around the capital city. But as always we are keeping our eyes on the road and will continue to update you if anything changes for your morning commute. Abc columbia wants to help you jump start your day. We have a quick rundown of your top morning headlines. Clean up will continue today after strong winds swept through the midlands yesesrday. Its a much quieter morning compared to this scene yesterday on assembly street. Wind gust reached as much as 56miles an hour yesterday. Downing trees and knocking out power across richland and lexington counties. About twothousand people were left in the dark because of those winds. But most power was restored in those counties last night. Turning our attention to vote 2016. For the gop president ial. Hopefuls. Its full steam ahead to super tuesday. President ial candidates will be taking the stage tonight in houston. For the final president ial primary debate before super tuesday. You can catch all the action tonight on cnn. Starting at 8 30. Thirteen states will vote on super tuesday. March first. Key states for the republicans that day include texas, georgia, and tennessee. For the democrats, key states include texas, georgia and colorado. But the democratic president ial hopefuls must first focus on votes here in South Carolina. Leading up to saturdays primary. Hillary clinton has been busy campaigning in the capital city. Courting potential women voters. Clinton was the guest speaker yesterday at the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, and clinton 33 will continue to crisscross the palmetto state today. With stops in kingstree, florence, myrtle beach and north charleston. Her husband and former president. Bill clinton. Will also be out campaigning in South Carolina today for his wife. Hell be attending get out the vote rallies. In rock hill, winnsboro. And right here in columbia. Its taking place at the Health Education complex and Wellness Center located on uscs campus. Today at 4 30. Bernie sanders says he isnt writing off South Carolina, even though he wont spend much time in the palmetto state in the days leading up to saturdays primary. Sanders held a News Conference in columbia yesterday, before heading to campaign in missouri. He told reporters hes proud of the gains hes made in recent polls. Sanders will be back campaigning in the midlands. Tomorrow. Columbias top cop says crime is down in the city of columbia. Chief skip officers to discuss what progress has been made. And where its still needed. According to holbrook car break ins and theft appear to be the highest crimes right now. Holbrook also says they hope to have all officers wearing body cameras by mid march. And theres a new effort to help prevent your information from being stolen in a cyber attack usc president Harris Pastides and governor nikki haley announced the sc Cyber Initiative. To beef up the states cybersecurity efforts. The program will train people from State Government education, and business in Cyber Security techniques. Still to come. Our coverage of vote 2016 continues. Were talking about a former gop president ial hopefuls caught in the crossfire of the current republican frontrunner. A cooler start with clear skies. Expect lots of sunshine but also lots of from main and gervais 33 heres a quick look at stories that are making headlines across the country. Donald trump is on the attack after a former republican president ial hopeful suggests a bombshell is lurking for the billionaire businessman. Latest. 33 its been a long time coming, but it looks like gamecock fans will have something to celebrate next month. Eric, what us . Like this years march madness will include carolina basketball for the first time in more than a decade. Tim hill shows us the most recent Sports Minute to win it. 33 still to come. It may be february. But were taking a dip in the pool. Its a daring dive. All for a good gervais. Carolina students and the public are invited to participate. But a minimum of 25dollars must be raised in order to take part in the plunge. Registration begins at five tonight and the plunging starts at six at maxcy gregg pool. 33 and south 33 Carolina State University is gearing up to host its annual summit its designed to impact young males within Public Education to improve. And to increase retention and academic success. Todays summit is being geared towards elementary to middle school aged students. Its taking place at the Martin Luther king junior auditorium on the universitys campus at 8 30 afternoon. 33 33 were checking out what will be making headlines later today. Heres eric with your look ahead. At the state house. Were taking a look at the cash flow. The house budgetwriting committee is advancing a spending plan that would give most state employees a one percent pay increase. Provide 250 Million Dollars for roadwork. And cut income taxes by 130Million Dollars. The Committee Plans to wrap up its work today. But the ways and means tentatively approved the sevenpointfive billion dollar plan yesterday for state taxes. That spends an additional 300Million Dollars on kindergarten through 12thgrade education. And when it comes to higher education. A house budget Panel Chairman is proposing borrowing roughly 200Million Dollars to pay for maintenance at South Carolinas public colleges. Lawmakers say the state has existing buildings from falling apart. Its a proposal that lawmakers say will be introduced when the budget debate moves to the house floor next month. 33 still to come. The glitz and glamor of this weekends oscars are upon us. But first. Were taking a look at a best picture nominee before celebs hit the red carpet. Stay with us. Gervais. Yeah. Its a very cool and windy start to this thursday. For more on what we can expect for the remainder of the day. Lets turn things over to kennedy. 33 we want to give you a quick traffic update as you head out and about this morning. And good news. There are no trouble spots to report in or around the capital city. But as always we are keeping our eyes on the road and will continue to update you if anything changes for your morning commute. Abc columbia wants to help you jump start your day. We have morning headlines. Clean up will continue today after strong winds swept through the midlands yesterday. Its a much quieter morning. But check out these big swells caught off lake murray yesterday. Wind gust reached as much as 56miles an hour yesterday. Downing trees and knocking out power across richland and lexington counties. About two thousand people were left in the dark because of those nds. But most was restored in those counties last night. Turning our attention to vote 2016. For the gop president ial hopefuls. Its full steam ahead to super tuesday. The five remaining republican president ial candidates will be taking the stage tonight in houston. For the final president ial primary debate before the march first vote. You can catch all the action tonight on cnn. Starting at 8 30. Thirteen states will vote on super tuesday. March first. Key states for the republicans that day include texas, the democrats, key states include texas, georgia and colorado. But the democratic president ial hopefuls must first focus on votes here in South Carolina. Leading up to saturdays primary. Hillary clinton will continue to crisscross the state today. She has Campaign Stops planned in kingstree, florence, myrtle beach and north charleston. And Bernie Sanders will be back campaigning in the midlands tomorrow with stops in orangeburg and right here in columbia. Sanders is lagging behind clinton according to most South Carolina polls but says he is not giving up the fight. Our jennifer ready takes a senator and his campaign 33 thank you jennifer. And just a reminder. That this saturday is the democratic primary. Polls open at seven in the morning and close at seven in the evening. Dont forget to bring your state issued id. And if you voted in the republican primary you cannot vote for a democrat this weekend. Stay with abc columbia for the latest on vote 2016. On air and online. On the crime beat this morning. A cross man has been arrested. In connection with a drug investigation in Orangeburg County. Officials with the Orangeburg CountySheriffs Office say 35yearold isiah williams. Has been charged with possession with intent to distribute marijuana. The arrest comes as several resident has complained about suspected drug activity. Just east of eutawville. Officials say they will as part of their investigation. And a parent monitoring their Childs Facebook account may have saved a teachers life. Kershaw county sheriff jim matthews says the parent came across a comment from cameron oreglia where he threatened to kill a teacher at lugoffelgin high school. In a statement matthews says quote, in todays climate where School Shootings have become far too common, Law Enforcement can take no chances when a threat of this type is made. 33 still to come. Severe weather sweeps the south. Were taking a closer look at damage left behind. After tornadoes touch down in north carolina. A cooler start with clear skies. Expect lots of sunshine but also lots of wind today. Details next. Live from are good morning. Topping americas money an alarming sign about stocks. Trading for under 1 is at its highest point in 20 years. Around 160 stocks open this morning at less than a buck, thats up 38 this year. A new survey of customer high marks to nordstrom, costco. Americas least favorite retailer, abe comby and fitch. China, a new list says 90 new chinese billionaires moved china into first place, 33 more than the u. S. Beijing is the city with the most billionaires. New york city is second. And thats americas money. Have eat graya great day, everybody. Make it a point to shop kohls. This thursday through monday . Because yes2you rewards members take an extra 20 off . And earn triple points no matter how you pay get a 5 reward for every 100 points. Plus everyone gets 10 kohls cash for every 50 spent you can earn and redeem rewards points and kohls cash throughout the store theres no better time to sign up . Anyone can its quick and its easy enroll, save and start racking up the points today ive been claritin clear for 14 days. When your allergy symptoms start. Doctors recommend taking one claritin every day of your allergy season. For continuous relief. With powerful, 24 hour. Nondrowsy claritin, live claritin clear. Every day. Crisp garden vegetables. No artificial flavors. Philadelphia garden vegetable. Rich, creamy. And delicious 33 facing piiles of damage this morning. Following a series of Severe Weather ripping yeah. Take a look at some of the damage in parts of central north carolina. At least four tornadoes are confirmed to have touched down in the state. Residents had to duck and cover while the Tornado Warning was in effect. Softball size hail even fell in some of the same areas. 33 were now 33 going to turn our attention to your health. Rochelle dean has a look at what is making headlines in the medical community. Youve heard it before. Adults need to sleep at least seven hours a night. But a new study shows more than one third of us nt actually get the required amount of sleep with more. Heres mary minute. 33 still to 33 come. Facebook is changing up the game. Theres a new feature they think users are going to love. Stay with us. Were live from amazon 479 million different Items Available on amazons website. And determined the average price of an item was 26 to 86 dollars. Amazon has yet to respond whether theyre on the money or not. Move over like button. Theres some new competition on facebook. The social media giant announced yesterday theyre expanding its users ability to react to something on their news feeds. Facebook used to only have a thumbs up button. If you wanted to like something. Now if you hover your button. You can choose from like. Love. Haha. Wow. Sad or angry. The new options are already available worldwide. Johnson and johnson is being ordered to pay 72Million Dollars in damages in a lawsuit over its talcum powder. A suit was brought on by a family who alleges that one of their family members died of Ovarian Cancer caused by the companys product. Plaintiffs in the case argue that johnson and johnson was aware of the dangers its talcum powder presented. And neglected to do anything about it. Johnson and johnson has released a statement saying it stands by the safety of its talcum powder. The glitz and glam of the oscars are upon us. But before the big day, theres still a lot of preparation to be done. Eric what can you tell us . Crew members are already getting the red carpet ready for this weekends oscars awards show. The famous carpet will be vacuumed again. And again. And again. Between now and oscar sunday. For the next three days things will be buzzing at hollywood and carpet staff say rest assured. All wl be in place by sunday afternoon. And from the oscars red carpet to the oscars kitchen. Were getting a look at what its like to eat like the celebritys on the big day. Chef wolfgang is crafting this years menu for the postoscars governors ball. The team of chefs are creating 12thousand dishes in just one and a half hours. Celebs are getting 30 options to choose from including. Sushi. Smoked salmon. And alaskan king crab. And the desserts are all oscarthemed with this years highlightbeing a doughnut ball filled with raspberry champagne puree. Still to come. Were celebrating a comfort food classic. Its sure to warm you up for these cool winter days. Next in the day in history. Stay with us. Gervais. 33 lets check out the day in history. African american congressman sworn in, in 1870 cassius clay dethrones heavyweight boxing Champ Sonny Liston in 1964the passion of the christ opens in the u. S. In 2004 today is. 33 National Chocolate covered 33 peanuts day. And National Chili day. 33 thats all the time that we good morning columbia. But were coming right back. So be sure to stay with us. Gervais. Today is thursday, february 25. Its full steam ahead for super tuesday. What we can expect from the final gop debate before a slew of states head the polls next week. Plus find out where the democratic president ial hopefuls will be reaching out to voters leading up to saturdays primary. This years oscar theme may be we all dream in gold, but a scandal over hollywood diversity has some seeing red. We take a closer look at the controversy. Good morning, columbia starts right now. Captioning provided by caption associates, llc www. Captionassociates. Com. Eric trouble waking upon a thursday morning . We will get you there. Thanks for joining us. Im eric weisfeld. Rochelle and im rochelle dean. Were live from main and gervais. The times now 6 00. Eric troubles waking up . Step outside. Rochelle it will almost this is the same time we both stepped out of the car at the same time and couldnt talk, we had to wait until we were coming in. Jonathan i thought you were calling yourself trouble. It will be cooler, so grab a light jacket as you step outside. We saw a nice warm day yesterday, temperatures, that was about the only thing nice going on. We did see strong storms, very windy. 46 degrees as you are waking up. Clear skies, thats good for us. We will see lots of sunshine. Wind out of the west at 16. Dewpoint 32, we have cooler air but drier air coming our way, that bodies well for sunshine through the next couple days as we see a nice change over of the air masses. Unfortunately that brings us colder air, low to mid40s for most of us. Winds, they will be steady today, around 15 to 20 miles a maybe even 40 miles a hour at times. A very windy afternoon coming our way, spellsly we will still see the wind, you can hear it howling outside of main and gervais. We are looking at a very dry set up, do notice a few showers toward georgia but that wont affect us at all today, lots of snow for the appalachean mountains, especially from knoxville to ashville and boone, but this big pocket of air will stay to our north. The front that brought us nasty weather today that is off the coast going through parts of cape cod and the gulf when you go south. Sunshine today, cooler forecast, we saw upper 70s during the peak heating before the storms set in, today we will be in the mid50s, 20 degree drop. It will be windy, not severe like the gusts with the thunderstorms but sustained wind of 25 to 30 to 35 miles a hour will make f a breezy day eric its enough. Rochelle exactly. Eric lets check out the roadways. Rochelle we unfortunately do have trouble spots to tell you about youay encounter as you head out. South carolina Highway Patrol reporting a collision with a deer at peak exit. Mile marker 87 in the westbound lanes. We will continue to update you if anything else pops upon your morning commute. Rochelle and as always, abc columbia wants to help you jump start your day. Eric we have a quick rundown of your top morning headlines. Cleanup will continue today after strong winds swept through the midlands yesterday. Rochelle thats right. Still windy but its a much quieter morning compared to this scene yesterday