A special deficit-reduction supercommittee appears likely to admit failure on Monday, unable or unwilling to compromise on a mix of spending cuts and tax increases required to meet its assignment of saving taxpayers at least $1.2 trillion over the coming decade.The panel is sputtering to a close after two months of talks in which the members were never able to get close to bridging a fundamental d...

Authorities say a 29-year-old man has been arrested after he stabbed four people during a fight in a grocery store parking lot in Charleston.In a sworn statement obtained by WCSC-TV ( http://bit.ly/uumRM5), investigators said Joshua Nix pulled out a military-style knife from his pocket during an argument around 10 p.m. Saturday.Authorities say Nix first swung the knife at three people who were try...

A Richland County Sheriff’s deputy and former Marine was bestowed with the title of “One Man Army” by a reality television show that pitted contestants against each other to test strength, skills and intelligence.Scott Puckett’s victory in the “Warrior Spirit” episode (click to watch) of the Discovery Channel show also comes with a prize of $10,000.Puckett earned the ...

A former Penn State graduate assistant cited by a grand jury report as claiming he saw an ex-assistant football coach sexually abusing a young boy in a campus locker room shower says in an email he made sure the act was stopped and then went to police - contradicting what the report says.Mike McQueary's comments, in an email made available to The Associated Press on Tuesday, appeared to add more c...

A former Penn State football assistant coach has denied allegations that he sexually abused eight boys and told a television interviewer that he was not a pedophile. Meanwhile, his attorney said he expects some alleged victims to come forward to deny that they were abused.Jerry Sandusky, 67, said on NBC News' "Rock Center" Monday night that there was no abuse and that any activities in a campus sh...

Gov. Tom Corbett asked Penn State students on Thursday to refrain from the violence that wracked their college town after famed football coach Joe Paterno was fired, saying the nation is watching their behavior.At a news conference in State College, Corbett also expressed disappointment in Paterno and university President Graham Spanier, who were fired by university trustees the night before for t...

Republican presidential contender Rick Perry laughed about his debate performance with David Letterman, gamely poking fun at himself Thursday by giving the TV audience "Top 10 Rick Perry Excuses" for being unable to remember the three federal agencies he would eliminate.One reason for his brain freeze Wednesday on stage with his GOP rivals: "Hey, listen. You try concentrating with Mitt Romney smil...

Rick Perry says he "stepped in it" during Wednesday night's Republican presidential debate, but insisted it won't force him out of the presidential race."Oh, shoot, no," Perry told The Associated Press Thursday morning, a day after he stood on stage unable to remember the third federal department he would cut. He was asked if his campaign, struggling to regain traction, could survive. "This ain't ...

Federal agencies in South Carolina and across the nation are conducting the first national test of the Emergency Alert System.The test is scheduled for Wednesday at 2 p.m. and will sound over radio and television outlets including cable and satellite audio and video.The test is being conducted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Federal Communications Commission and the National Weathe...

The South Carolina man who avoided prison in a fatal Maserati crash that killed a homeowner has been arrested again.Greenville County jail records show John Ludwig was being held Friday on a charge of criminal domestic violence. No bond has been set, and it wasn't clear if he had an attorney.The 39-year-old former Furman University football player drove his speeding Maserati through a Greenville h...

An open casting call for Oxygen’s reality show, “Bad Girls Club,” is Tuesday at Jillian’s.Bunim/Murray Productions will interview women hoping to change their nasty habits while living in a mansion with other “bad girls” from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the restaurant at 800 Gervais St.Television cameras roll as the contestants get help to turn their lives around...

Occupy Columbia, whose participants have been camping out at the S.C. State House for 19 days, released an online ad today and say they hope to get it on TV soon.The group marched from the State House to a Columbia City Council meeting Tuesday to protest the possibility of Wal-Mart or another large retailer moving to the Bombers Stadium site in Columbia.But patience for the group may be growing sh...

President Barack Obama can’t get enough of North Carolina and its people – or at least that’s the impression he gives in a series of interviews to anchors in local television markets.He tells WSOC anchor Natalie Pasquarella of Charlotte that he hopes next year’s Democratic National Convention will highlight “how wonderful Charlotte is.” He tells WXII ancho...

Kim Kardashian says she never meant to hurt anyone by ending her marriage after just 72 days.The 31-year-old reality star posted a message to her fans on her website Tuesday, one day after filing for divorce from Kris Humphries, whom she married in a lavish ceremony that aired as a two-hour TV special on E!Kardashian says that while she "married for love" and "would not have spent so much time on ...

WIS TV is reporting this morning that a second child in a car involved in a two-vehicle wreck Friday evening has died from her injuries.The 10-year-old girl, identified by the news report as the sister of a 7-year-old boy who died at the scene of the wreck, was taken to Lexington Medical Center but later died.The boy, Cameron L. Upchurch, his sister and a 9-year-old passenger were in a Chevrolet L...

At least the firefighters at one Florence fire station didn't have to go too far to answer a recent call.Authorities say a Florence firefighter left an unwatched pot on a stove which caused a blaze that damaged the station.Florence Fire Chief Randall Osterman told WPDE-TV ( http://bit.ly/vnqW09) that fellow firefighters helped put out the flames at Fire Station Three on Tuesday night.Osterman says...

Troopers say vehicles hit two horses that ran onto a highway in Greenville County, killing one of them.WYFF-TV reports ( http://bit.ly/oeLqN0) that three horses got loose from a nearby enclosure and ran onto U.S. 25 near Travelers Rest about 3 p.m. Saturday.Troopers say one of the two horses struck was fatally injured. A veterinarian checked out the other horse, which did not appear to have seriou...

Authorities say a 20-year-old Mount Pleasant man visiting the University of South Carolina earlier this year died from an accidental drug reaction.WCSC-TV reports ( http://bit.ly/q45t4I) that the Richland County coroner's office says Daniel Osterkamp died of a mixture of drugs including morphine and amphetamine. The coroner says alcohol was not involved, and the death has been ruled an accident.Os...

A video showing a toddler being struck twice by vans and then ignored by passers-by is sparking outrage in China and prompting soul-searching over why people didn't help the child.The 2-year-old girl, identified as Wang Yue, is in a coma in critical condition in the Guangzhou Military District General Hospital following Thursday's accident, state media reported Tuesday. The Guangzhou Daily quoted ...

The producers of ABC TV’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” are looking for a deserving South Carolina family whose home deserves a major revitalization because it affects the family’s quality of life on a daily basis and the family doesn’t have the resources, ability or time to fix it. Email nominations by Friday to castingsouthcarolina@emhe.tv. Nominations must ...

The mother of a missing Missouri baby may not be casting herself in the best light by telling national media that she drank heavily the night her daughter disappeared and other unflattering details, but her honesty shows that she and her family "have nothing to hide," her attorney said.Deborah Bradley told television audiences Monday that she may have blacked out in the hours before she and Jeremy...

South Carolina Lt. Gov. Ken Ard missed a deadline to file his state campaign finance report.Ard won't face a state penalty for missing Monday's deadline unless his report is more than five days late.In July, Ard paid the second largest ethics fine in state history after a State Ethics Commission investigation into his use of campaign money for clothes, a flat-screen television and leisure travel.A...

Tonight “Dateline,” NBC’s newsmagazine TV show, will air a story with roots in South Carolina. Kate Waring, a 28-year-old from Charleston, disappeared in June 2009 after dining at a Japanese steakhouse. Her body was found four months later on an island near Charleston. Two of her friends, Ethan Mack and Heather Kamp, were charged with her murder. “Dateline” crews...

One-time Columbia television reporter and current MSNBC anchor Craig Melvin is delivering a lecture at the University of South Carolina on how technology is changing broadcast news.Melvin's talk Wednesday evening is free and open to the public. The speech is sponsored by the Buchheit Family Endowment, which provides scholarships and fellowships to students in the university's School of Journalism ...

Investigators say a man struck and killed his 73-year-old roommate after he started to urinate while wearing a diaper.WYFF-TV reports ( http://bit.ly/pYk3zC) the new details about Charles Crowder's death came out Tuesday during a hearing where a judge ruled there was enough evidence to take a murder charge against 45-year-old Roger Smothers to a grand jury.Authorities say Crowder's neck was broken...

A 67-year-old man found alive days after his car plunged 200 feet off a mountain road built a makeshift camp, ate leaves and drank water from a nearby creek to survive, his daughter said.Family members found David Lavau at the bottom of a ravine off Lake Hughes Road in the Angeles National Forest Thursday after conducting their own search, said Los Angeles County Fire Department Capt. Mark Savage....

Progress Energy officials say a faulty electrical relay has caused a reactor to shut down at the Robinson Nuclear Plant near Hartsville.Utility officials told WBTW-TV ( http://bit.ly/mWu1FS) that the reactor automatically switched off when a gauge detected a low coolant level Monday.Progress Energy spokeswoman Jessica Lambert says plant workers determined the relay gave a faulty reading and the co...

Anchorage, Alaska, police have located the mother of a toddler found wandering alone near a busy street.Police spokesman Lt. David Parker tells the Anchorage Daily News (http://bit.ly/rhU0jq) that the woman was sleeping after taking medication when "the little guy was able to unlock the door" and leave their home.Parker says the mother, Genesis Senquiz, was arrested on an unrelated warrant. Court ...

A bankruptcy trustees for an attorney well known for his television commercials and highway billboards will ask a court to convert the case to a straight liquidation, saying the lawyer is unlikely to be able to repay his creditors.The Sun News of Myrtle Beach reported (http://bit.ly/nVuZaS) that trustee Robert Anderson says he'll ask a judge to convert the case of Harry Pavilack from a Chapter 11 ...

A South Carolina cab driver says she thought a man was going to kill her, but he put his gun down when he heard her talking to her son.WIS-TV in Columbia (http://bit.ly/pAYf4D) interviewed driver Debra Wright, whose 7-year-old son was in the car with her Friday afternoon. She says the man wanted her to drive him to California, then put a gun in her side when she refused.He put the gun away when sh...