Three polls out Friday morning show Gov. Mitt Romney leading in South Carolina as Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich fight for second place.Romney’s support ranges from 27 percent according to a new poll from Rasmussen, 31 percent according to a poll from American Research Group to 37 percent according to a poll from CNN/TIME/ORC.Rasmussen says Santorum is a solid second with 24 percent, whil...

Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry has canceled three events in South Carolina today after a dismal showing in Tuesday’s Iowa caucuses.Perry finished fifth with just above 10 percent of the vote.“With the voters decision tonight in Iowa, I decided to return to Texas, assess

Shrugging off a disappointing showing in Iowa's caucuses, Rick Perry said Tuesday he would compete in South Carolina regardless of the final tallies here and bought television time to back it up.Perry encouraged supporters to keep the faith in his national aspirations as his advisers cast the coming contest in South Carolina as the first real test of his presidential campaign. Before Iowans met at...

Don Wells of Disputanta, Va., camped out at the Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn over a recent weekend, but not as himself. He channeled his great-great-grandfather, Confederate soldier Michael Henry Wells, a private in the 9th Regiment of Infantry, Virginia Volunteers."I'm in the frame of mind that this is 1861," Wells said.Wells, 69, who has been re-enacting since he retired, said he is in...

U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson is unveiling his agenda for 2012 in a series of news conferences across the 2nd congressional district.The South Carolina Republican is talking about his agenda Thursday. He has events planned at automotive shops in West Columbia and Beaufort and at a gas station

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is meeting with supporters in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, before visiting Ottumwa, Oskaloosa and Knoxville later in the day.Mitt Romney is spending Tuesday on the East Coast, following a morning appearance on MSNBC with a fundraiser in Bronxville, N.Y., and then a town hall meeting in Bedford, N.H.Also in New Hampshire, Jon Huntsman is hosting town hall me...

A Clemson official said the team expects star freshman receiver Sammy Watkins to be eligible for the Jan. 4 Orange Bowl. Watkins’ name appeared on a Christmas party flier for a Florida restaurant, a violation of NCAA rules.Watkins and three other college players are listed "hosts" on an ad for the "Naughty or Nice X-Mas Party," scheduled for Dec. 23 at The Firepit Grill in Fort Myers, Fla., W...

Four teens sentenced to probation Wednesday for their roles in a June Five Points beating were ordered to stay away from a group called the Smash Team and were forbidden from using social media.The Smash Team is a group of young adults and teens who host parties at social halls, according to the group’s Facebook page. The Smash Team also brings along a rap group, called Fly Nation, to the par...

Four teens involved in the June 20 attack of an 18-year-old in Five Points were sentenced Wednesday in juvenile court.Juvenile Judge Leslie Riddle sentenced three 17-year-olds to probation until their 18th birthdays, and a 13-year-old to 24 months of probation. All four pleaded guilty in September for misprison of a felony, which means they failed to report the attack to the police or their parent...

The American Civil Liberties Union sued in federal court Monday, claiming that public schools in Chesterfield County are unconstitutionally promoting Christianity.The suit, brought on behalf of student and his father, who are atheists, stems from a rally earlier this year at New Heights Middle School that featured a Christian rapper and a youth evangelist.It alleged that "the district has a longst...

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley's chef has been barred from catering private events at the Governor's Mansion complex and told to reimburse the state after an Associated Press investigation questioned whether he was using his high-profile position for financial gain.Rob Godfrey, a spokesman

Lexington County Deputy Joe Auckerman, 31, has been recognized again for saving the life of a 10-year-old girl who was being mauled by a pit bull near her home on Bethlehem Circle near Batesburg-Leesville in January. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Association awarded Auckerman the 2011 Medal of Valor. Auckerman, a father of three, was sitting in his patrol car in downtown Gilbert, J...

The Cayce Tennis and Fitness Center, which opened just weeks ago, already is paying off in terms of tourism. The USTA announced Wednesday that it has awarded its 2012 and 2013 Junior Team Tennis National Championships to the Lexington County tennis complexes. That means 64 teams of teen players (and their families) from throughout the country will be spending long weekends in the area the next two...

to friends, as recently as last weekend, Slover appeared at events in the suburban Chicago area.Slover wa...

Veterans will be honored in the Midlands this week. Here, a sampling of services and special events:EVENTS HISTORIC COLUMBIA FOUNDATION’S MILITARY APPRECIATION WEEK: through Saturday, 1616 Blanding St. Military families with ID can tour a historic home — Robert Mills House, Hampton-Preston Mansion or Mann-Simons Cottage — of their choice for $1 per person. Tour hours: 10 a.m....

The Air Force mortuary that receives America's war dead and prepares them for burial lost portions of human remains twice in 2009, prompting the Air Force to discipline three officials for "gross mismanagement," officials said Tuesday.A year-long Air Force investigation reviewed 14 sets of allegations of improper handling of war remains as reported by three whistleblower workers at Dover Air Force...

A U.S. District Court judge in Columbia has ordered boxing champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr., to perform 40 hours of community service after missing a deposition in a lawsuit by an Orangeburg music producer. The order issued on Monday is related to a copyright infringement case filed against Mayweather, his production company and World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. by Orangeburg’s Anthony Lawren...

A political action committee supporting Texas Gov. Rick Perry started ads in South Carolina that mark the run-up to the Jan. 21 primary and the role that big money from outside groups will play in the presidential contest.Make Us Great Again PAC began airing ads titled "Leadership" in the Columbia and Greenville markets that introduce Perry to voters as the son of a tenant farmer and an Air Force ...

Responding to his insurgent campaign’s first crisis, Herman Cain was upbeat and defiant. “To quote my chief of staff and all the people around this country, ‘Let Herman be Herman,’“ he said Monday. “And Herman is gonna stay Herman.” I was afraid of that. Cain’s policy positions range from the ignorant to the unworkable to the just plain goofy...

Organizations with resources to give and nonprofits in need are to meet Friday to work together. Columbia’s third Strength In Unity gathering is set for 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Clarion Town House on Gervais Street.The meeting is an opportunity for groups to sit down over lunch and try to match what nonprofits are seeking with what for-profits have to offer, said Libby Gober, an assistant to C...

Otis Taylor Jr. and Anne Postic, aka The Shop Tart, discuss Halloween events this weekend.Update: Live stream has concluded. Below is the recorded video: Video streaming by Ustream

HALLOWEEN EVENTS (General events follow, below) RICHLAND COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT’S “DARESCREAM NIGHT”: 5-9 p.m. Thursday, Baskin Robbins parking lot, 4711 Forest Drive. Will feature bounce house and obstacle course, face painting, basketball contest, police and D.A.R.E

Republican Presidential candidate Rick Perry will bring his struggling campaign to the Palmetto State Tuesday for two public events and a fundraiser.Perry will speak Tuesday morning at ISO Poly Films, a plastics manufacturer, in Gray Court. He is expected to outline the second part of his economic

-about debate in Myrtle Beach. That debate will be held Jan. 16 and broadcast by Fox News.The events lead up to...

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...

Email event details along with a contact phone number to calendars@thestate.com. Find more events online at gocolumbia.com. TODAY FIRE PREVENTION PARADE: 11 a.m. today. Parade will begin at Laurel and Main streets, move south along Main Street

Your Facebook profile photo and status updates may soon live in North Carolina.Presenting what the company describes as innovative, energy-efficient technology, officials with the social-networking behemoth on Tuesday showed off the first of what could eventually be a three-building data center in Rutherford County. The first building, scheduled to go online in March, will be capable of serving ha...

Email event details along with a contact phone number to calendars@thestate.com. Find more events online www.thestate.com/gocolumbia. TODAY USC’S “A FESTIVAL OF SPIRITUALS”: Performance/lecture, 6 tonight, Greene Street

As their cash-strapped governments slashed public programs and shed jobs, records show officials from at least 14 states jetted across the Atlantic in June to attend the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget.The annual summertime exposition in France is among the world's premier events for the aerospace

Diners brought their pink hats and T-shirts — along with their appetites — to Mayor Steve Benjamin’s Isabel Law Breast Cancer Awareness Breakfast this morning.Steady crowds lined the parking lot next to City Hall to enjoy breakfast favorites like bacon and eggs, sausage, hash browns, biscuits, even liver pudding.“I’m a grits man myself,” said Benjamin, ser...