Local News

TV host Leeza Gibbons delivers Buchheit lecture

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — University of South Carolina broadcast journalism alumna Leeza Gibbons is returning to campus to deliver the annual Buchheit Family Lecture. Gibbons is speaking at 7 p.m. Monday in the Law School Auditorium on the Columbia campus. Her speech is free and open to the public. Gibbons is the former host of “Entertainment Tonight” and “Leeza.” She…

SC Baptists distribute Christmas gifts to inmates

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Volunteers are again making sure South Carolina’s inmates get at least one gift this Christmas. The state Department of Corrections said inmates are helping unload holiday care packages Monday that have been assembled for people incarcerated in South Carolina’s adult and juvenile prisons. It’s part of the Christmas Packets for Prisoners project, which is co-sponsored by…

Christmas prep beginning at SC Governor’s Mansion

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — It’s beginning to look at lot like Christmas at the South Carolina Governor’s Mansion. Members of the South Carolina Christmas Tree Growers Association are bringing five live Christmas trees to the mansion on Monday. Members of the Future Farmers of America from Lexington Technology Center are also presenting poinsettias. The decorations will be part of the…

Ex-SC high school AD sentenced for embezzlement

LEXINGTON, S.C. (AP) âone space€one space” A former athletic director at a Lexington County high school has been sentenced to jail for taking more than $100,000 from White Knoll High School. The State newspaper reports (http://bit.ly/1aqP5Bd ) that Bryan Butz was sentenced Monday to serve weekends in jail for one year. Butz pleaded guilty earlier this year to embezzlement. He…

Haley weighs in on Columbia strong mayor election

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina Republican Gov. Nikki Haley is asking voters to give the mayor of the state’s capital city more power. Voters in the Democratic stronghold will decide Tuesday whether to move to a strong mayor form of government, transferring most of the authority held by the city manager to the elected mayor. As in most South…

Cops: 1 brother stabs other after dinnerware fight

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Richland County authorities say a man stabbed his brother after an argument over which dinnerware to use. Sgt. Curtis Wilson says 47-year-old Edward William Bright stabbed his brother several times in the torso with a steak knife just after 6 p.m. Sunday. Wilson says the brother was taken to the hospital but that his injuries were…

Daughters sue over SC man’s wheelchair death

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Two daughters of a Columbia man in a wheelchair who was struck and killed by a dump truck last year have sued the truck driver and the company for which he was working. The State newspaper reported (http://bit.ly/1cUGg5i) that Jacquelyn Jackson and Iris Jackson are suing P&S Construction Co. and the truck driver, William Crutchfield. Sixty-seven-year-old…