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NEW ELLENTON, S.S. (WRDW/WAGT) - Aiken County deputies arrested a suspect in connection with a kidnapping and the impersonation of a law enforcement officer. Investigators have arrested 39-year-old Jonathan Willard of New Ellenton. Willard is charged with kidnapping and impersonation of a law enforcement officer. Willard is currently incarcerated at the Aiken County Detention Center. An Aiken County Sheriff’s Office incident report showed deputies were called early Friday to the area of Williston Road and Boggy Gut Road for a reported kidnapping. An arriving deputy found the woman on the ground in distress with a pair of handcuffs next to...

AP — A South Carolina jury on Monday found a store owner not guilty of murder in the 2023 shooting of a Black 14-year-old. The jury returned the verdict for Chikei Rick Chow. Chow, 61, who is Asian, shot Cyrus Carmack-Belton in the back after chasing him from his convenience store in Columbia, but maintained he acted to defend his son. The killing sent waves of anguish and grief through the African American community in Richland County, where nearly half the population is Black.After the verdict was read, sobs and cries of distress could be heard coming from Carmack-Belton’s family...

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - A loud boom was heard and felt across the Midlands on Thursday. WIS received reports from across Columbia as well as surrounding counties, and even areas outside of the viewing area, such as Darlington and Chesterfield counties.

Some Republican lawmakers expressed resistance to enacting a new map for this year’s elections with early voting for the state’s June primary beginning Tuesday. The Republican-led South Carolina Senate on Tuesday voted against advancing a new congressional map, ending the redistricting effort in the state for now. The failed vote was a surprise rejection of President Donald Trump, who had urged lawmakers to pass the redrawn map that eliminated the state’s single majority-Black district, represented by longtime Democratic Rep. James Clyburn. The South Carolina House approved the map last week in hopes of putting it into place for this year’s...

Early voting begins Tuesday in South Carolina, but some voters may be required to cast a second ballot if state lawmakers approve new congressional district maps currently under debate. The South Carolina Senate fast-tracked the redistricting plan over the weekend and is expected to hold a final vote on Tuesday. Senators convened Saturday for a five-hour debate — their first weekend session in 40 years. The proposed maps, which the House passed Thursday, would redraw all seven U.S. congressional districts in the state in response to a call from President Donald Trump to create Republican-leaning districts. Currently, only one district...

South Carolina senators moved a step closer to approving a new congressional redistricting map Saturday, fast-tracking the process to pass the proposal on second reading after days of debate. The unexpected move came late in the afternoon, as lawmakers opted to advance the bill ahead of schedule rather than continue debating through the night and holiday weekend. The decision sets up a final vote early next week, with Tuesday’s third reading expected to be the decisive stage. Along with advancing the new map, the proposal would delay U.S. House primaries to Aug. 18. The South Carolina Election Commission estimates the...

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - South Carolina senators passed a redrawn congressional map on second reading, fast-tracking the redistricting process and setting up a final vote for Tuesday. The bill also delays U.S. House primaries to August 18. The South Carolina Election Commission says the delay would cost roughly $5 million to carry out. The debate was expected to stretch well into the night or even Sunday morning. But senators fast-tracked a second reading vote late in the afternoon, setting up a final showdown for Tuesday.

The South Carolina Senate just killed a critical motion to expedite the Trump-backed congressional redistricting effort, putting the entire push for a bold 7-0 Republican map in serious jeopardy as Democrats and their weak-kneed GOP enablers drag their feet past the start of early voting on Tuesday, May 26. State Rep. Adam Morgan blasted the vote and sounded the alarm: “South Carolina Senate KILLS motion to expedite Redistricting! This puts the entire effort in serious jeopardy. 6 Republicans voted with Dems to kill it… The motion would [have] suspended Rule 15b to allow immediate cloture. Without this they can drag...

INTRODUCTION On April 29, 2026, Sen. Bernie Sanders convened a 75-minute panel in the US Capitol on “the existential threat of AI.” Two of the four panelists were Chinese government affiliates: Zeng Yi, Dean of the Beijing Institute of AI Safety and Governance, and Xue Lan, a Tsinghua University professor who chairs China’s national AI governance expert committee and serves as a Counsellor of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China. From a US Senate platform, Xue called the US-China AI race “an inaccurate narrative” and argued for “safe zones” of cooperation on AI safety. The event was...

South Carolina’s Lancaster County Council voted unanimously last week to deny a conditional-use permit for a proposed Islamic Mosque and community center in the Indian Land area after angry residents passionately spoke out against it. The rejection came after more than two hours of intense public testimony in which multiple residents warned that the mosque would import Sharia law and represent an ideological takeover incompatible with American values. One resident went viral after she declared, “This is not about a place of worship; this is not about religion; Islam is not a religion, it’s a takeover.” She went on to...

Republican South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace named several lawmakers Monday who she claims used a congressional “slush fund” to cover up alleged sex scandals. Mace said she uncovered 1,000 pages of documents detailing how certain lawmakers allegedly evaded consequences for sexual scandals, according to a Monday post on X. Mace originally subpoenaed the House Oversight Committee in March in light of a string of sexual scandals that resulted in two resignations from Congress. (RELATED: REPORT: Two GOP Lawmakers Go Head-To-Head In Push To Expel One Another) Notably, Mace said that these documents are only from the last 22 years, claiming...

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WACH) — Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette stood firm on Wednesday when being asked about being disinvited from SC State University's commencement following days of student protests. Evette stood by her characterization of student protestors as a "woke mob" and said she would not be apologizing. "Let's just start calling things for what they are," she said. "I don't plan on apologizing." She also questioned whether all of the protestors were SC State students.

"Please help me.” Lindsey Graham goes on Fox News to plead for money. ...

A simmering feud between Reps. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) and Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) has roared back up to a boil, escalating to tit-for-tat threats of expulsion as each lawmaker publicly lobs attacks on the other’s character. Mace on Monday filed a resolution to expel Mills, citing allegations of dating violence and campaign finance laws — a move that comes amid renewed scrutiny of sexual misconduct by House members after Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) resigned last week. “Cory, your days are numbered. Start packing,” Mace said in a statement announcing the expulsion resolution.But Mills is pointing the finger...

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham has one less opponent in his Republican primary race after Truth Social posts by President Donald Trump targeted his competitors. Graham, who has been endorsed by Trump, was set to face six other Republicans in the 2026 South Carolina primary elections on June 9. Greenville businessman Mark Lynch and Project 2025 author Paul Dans were two of his key challengers. Dans announced he was leaving the race on April 10. Trump went on the offensive with Truth Social posts on April 10 — to amplify Graham's reelection campaign while criticizing his opponents. In one post, Trump...

Officials said that a man arrested following a crash that claimed the life of two boys was denied bond on Monday. Eri Perez facing charges including two counts of felony DUI resulting in death, driving without a license and open container. The Seventh Circuit Solicitor’s Office said an ICE detainer will be filed on him. The call for the crash came in around 12:20 p.m. on Sunday from the area of Asheville Highway at Brock Street, around three miles west from the city of Spartanburg. South Carolina Highway Patrol said 12-year-old Dereon James Robins and 9-year-old Mikhail-Lee Smith were riding...

Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) suggested Wednesday that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) should have less access to President Trump as the conflict with Iran persists. “I absolutely think he should have his Oval Office credentials revoked,” Cammack told Migrant Insider’s Pablo Manríquez as she departed the Capitol. Graham, a staunch foreign policy hawk who has openly supported the U.S. military operation in the Middle East, is a frequent guest at the White House and often travels with Trump. On Monday, he and Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) met with the president and newly minted Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin — before the...

@MarkLynchSC Lindsey Graham has betrayed South Carolinians for over 30 years, and they know it. That’s why he was booed for seven minutes straight in Pickens. On June 9th, South Carolinians will replace this feckless, war-mongering traitor!

t today Texas school shooting Charlie Kirk highway vetoed Mary Beth Hurt dies at 79 Politics Mark Sanford makes a last-minute bid to return to Congress — again — in South Carolina Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford speaks during a news conference in front of the Statehouse, Nov. 12, 2019, in Concord, N.H. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File) Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford speaks during a news conference in front of the Statehouse, Nov. 12, 2019, in Concord, N.H. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File) By MEG KINNARD and JEFFREY COLLINS Updated 5:14 PM EDT, March 30, 2026 Comments 11 COLUMBIA,...

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., swiftly pulled the plug on a meeting with Lebanese Chief of Defense Gen. Rodolphe Haykal after the Lebanese official refused to confirm that the Iranian regime-backed Hezbollah movement is a terrorist organization. Graham posted to X a blunt message about his frustration with the state of Lebanon in particular and Mideast power politics in general. "I just had a very brief meeting with the Lebanese Chief of Defense General Rodolphe Haykal. I asked him point blank if he believes Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. He said, ‘No, not in the context of Lebanon." With that, I...