UNION, S.C. (AP) — Union County deputies say a man has been charged with homicide by child abuse after the 9-month-old girl he was babysitting died from injuries suffered in his care.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A K-9 officer with the Richland County Sheriff's Department has been named Deputy of the Year just one day after his police dog was shot and killed as they hunted for a robbery suspect.

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — A two-month project to pump sand on to an eroding part of Hilton Head Island has begun.

SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) — North Carolina scored 20 unanswered points early in the second half to win the 75th annual Shrine Bowl game 26-19.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Newt Gingrich tried to quiet unrelenting campaign criticism that he acknowledged had taken a toll as Mitt Romney stepped up insider attacks Saturday in hopes of regaining front-runner status with the first presidential vote little more than two weeks away.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The lawyer for a former executive whose early release from prison was revoked because officials didn't tell the South Carolina attorney general's office that he was up for parole says he had a deal that prosecutors wouldn't oppose his release in the first place.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Superintendent Mick Zais' drafted proposal for changing how No Child Left Behind works in South Carolina includes giving schools a letter grade for their performance, rewarding high achievers with money, and rating teachers' classroom effectiveness.

SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley says there are no perfect candidates in this year's Republican presidential primary.

BENNETTSVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Marlboro County Coroner Tim Brown says an autopsy has found a 3-year-old girl died from complications of an untreated urinary tract infection as well as neglect and several injuries from abuse.

BELTON, S.C. (AP) — Authorities say state troopers shot a Seneca man after he rammed a patrolman's car and tried to run down an officer at a safety checkpoint.

EASLEY, S.C. (AP) — Pickens County deputies say a man serving a 30-day sentence jail sentence by helping out at an Easley recycling center hit an attendant in the head with a baseball bat and locked him in a shed.

ORANGEBURG, S.C. (AP) — The nation's top highway official has announced a $12 million grant to improve an interstate interchange in Orangeburg County.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham says there is now federal money available to continue a study of deepening the Charleston Harbor shipping channel.