The State

A state budget panel has voted to cut the state budget by 5 percent across the board, or a total of Full Story »

A 71-year-old Pinewood man has died in a single-car wreck on U.S. 15.The man, whose name was not i Full Story »

A final hearing on first lady Jenny Sanford's request for a divorce from Gov. Mark Sanford is set for February. Full Story »

Lexington County police dogs will get the best protection against bullets there is if enough money is raised at the upcoming fund-raiser. Full Story »

Two suspicious backpacks left at a downtown Columbia ATM turned out to be harmless after the city bomb squad checked them out with its $300,000-plus mobile robot. Full Story »

A Sumter man who police say shot and killed a trick-or-treater at his door has been sentenced to more than 16 years in prison on a federal weapons charge. Full Story »

Seventh-grader Chauncey Rogers was so interested in his first gardening experiences at school, he asked if he could have a plant to take home. Full Story »

The S.C. Department of Corrections, which has been running a deficit for two budget years, could see its budget deficit grow to $13 million. The state Department of Health and Human Services may have to run a deficit because the federal stimulus law that pumped money into that agency bars spending reductions, and state legislators passed a budget that prevents reducing most payments to Medicaid ... Full Story »

Allen University has the highest student loan default rate in the state, according to figures released Monday by the U.S. Department of Education . Full Story »

Ten local high schools beat the state's pass rate. Full Story »

The last seconds of Brenda Ross’s life before she died in a horrific crash that killed two people east of Columbia were caught on a cell phone. Full Story »

A teacher program, billed for the past dozen years as a way to improve South Carolina's public schools, is on the chopping block. Full Story »

High school senior Windy Key was stunned recently to see a young driver steering her car by hooking her arms around the wheel so she could use her hands to text. Full Story »

Children dressed in 1950s-style clothing rock out while a choir sings behind them at the 22nd annual Christmas Pageant at First Baptist Church in downtown Columbia. Full Story »

RICHLAND COUNTY Full Story »

Rose Johnson had nowhere else to go. Full Story »

Ernest Pryor became homeless three weeks ago, not because he lost his job or became disabled - he just lost his ride. Full Story »

Terry Povey hopes the community will heed the sound of the bells this season. Full Story »

This morning, Jack Maguire and his staff will gather around a conference table in Lexington County and begin sorting more than 3,000 pieces of paper. Full Story »

A Lexington County house was destroyed by fire Saturday night.Lexington County Fire Service firefi Full Story »

A Columbia house fire that did $150,000 worth of damage Sunday is under investigation.“ Full Story »

What could drive people to camp out in cold parking lots, beg for information from stock boys and shove each other aside to get to the front of a store line? Full Story »

Pat Danielson placed a wreath at her late husband's grave Saturday afternoon and stepped back to take a photo, capturing the green wreath, red bow and white tombstone. Full Story »

Richland County's top planner has resigned after an e-mail from him surfaced suggesting environmentalists should "get ready to rumble" with developers over new water pollution rules. Full Story »

State biologists will begin testing fish at Lake Wateree next year for PCBs, a suspected cancer-causing pollutant that federal data show has tainted predator species in the popular reservoir. Full Story »