South-Carolina
South Carolina, Stanford, Ohio State and Colorado top seeds in early women’s NCAA Tournament reveal

South Carolina, Stanford, Ohio State and Colorado would be the No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament if it began now.
The NCAA women’s basketball selection committee on Thursday did its first reveal of the teams in line for the top 16 seeds.
“It was extremely challenging this year, but it needs to be remembered that this is just a snapshot,” NCAA women’s basketball selection committee chair Lisa Peterson said in a phone interview Thursday. “We were talking about this two weeks ago and it didn’t look like this then. It will continue to change.”
Peterson said the committee has been thoroughly impressed with what coach Dawn Staley has done at South Carolina with a new starting five.
“What Dawn has done this season can’t be understated,” Peterson said.
Just outside the top four teams were Caitlin Clark and Iowa, which is ranked No. 4 in the AP poll. The Hawkeyes, last year’s national runners-up, were projected as a 2 seed.
The top 16 seeds will host first- and second-round games with the regional rounds being played at two neutral sites for the second straight year. Portland, Oregon, will host half of the Sweet 16 and Albany, New York, will host the other eight teams.
South Carolina and Ohio State were projected as the top seeds in the Albany Regional with Stanford and Colorado in Portland. The unbeaten Gamecocks were the overall No. 1 seed.
Joining the Gamecocks in their bracket were No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 UConn and No. 4 Louisville.
Peterson said UCLA was moved from a different region to ensure that the bracketing principle of keeping the top four teams in a conference in different regions was protected. The Pac-12 had five of the top 16 seeds.
The Buckeyes would have No. 2 seed N.C. State, No. 3 Southern Cal and No. 4 LSU.
The other top teams in Stanford’s region were No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Oregon State and No. 4 Indiana. Colorado would be joined by Iowa, Virginia Tech and Kansas State.
Teams just outside the top 16 included Notre Dame, Syracuse, Utah and Gonzaga. Peterson said that there was a long discussion about whether the Zags or Louisville should be the 16th team. As of now the Cardinals had a slight edge.
The Final Four will be played in Cleveland on April 5 and the NCAA championship game is two days later.
The NCAA has been doing in-season reveals since 2015 to give teams an early idea of where they could be come selection night. Thursday’s reveal did not factor in the games scheduled for later that night. The NCAA will have one more reveal on Feb. 29 before the real seedings are announced on March 17.
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AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball

South-Carolina
South Carolina Elections Commission deputy executive director fired after internal investigation

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) – The deputy executive director for the South Carolina Elections Commission has been fired amid an ongoing SLED investigation.
According to a spokesperson from the elections commission, Paige Salonich was fired after an internal investigation was made into her conduct. She was initially suspended while the investigation was ongoing.
In Salonich’s termination letter, the elections commission said that she was caught by agency security cameras placing “an unauthorized device in the SEC training room a clear violation of state and agency policy,” on Sept. 17.
In the letter, the commission said that placing the unauthorized device “constitutes the unauthorized use and misuse of state property and raises serious concerns regarding trust, confidentiality, and workplace integrity.”
Salonich also allegedly used profane language and raised her voice at leadership on Sept. 17, saying that she “was being held hostage at you own (explicit language) job,” and that she “would never be a hostage in this (explicit language) place again,” per her termination letter.
Her termination comes after former Executive Director of the South Carolina Elections Commission, Howard Knapp, was also fired on Sept. 17.
SLED is currently investigating Salonich’s placement of the unauthorized device.
The full letter can be found below.
This is a developing story. Stay with WIS for the latest details.
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South-Carolina
Firefighter hospitalized after McDonald’s restaurant catches fire in South Carolina

SPARTANBURG, S.C. (WBTV) – A firefighter was hurt after a McDonald’s restaurant caught fire in South Carolina on Tuesday.
The Sept. 23 fire broke out around 12:30 a.m. at the McDonald’s on Cedar Springs Road in Spartanburg, per sister-station WHNS.
The local fire marshal told WHNS that the injured firefighter was taken to the hospital, but was released later Tuesday morning. The nature and extent of the firefighter’s injuries were not immediately clear.
According to online information, that McDonald’s was open until 12 a.m. Despite the fire starting only a half hour after closing time, WHNS reported that nobody was inside the restaurant when flames broke out.
The fire marshal said the fire started in the restaurant’s HVAC system above the ceiling tiles. Drone video taken by WHNS appeared to show black marks on the McDonald’s roof; however, officials said the roof did not collapse.
Once the fire was put out, two paper signs were taped to the restaurant door. One said “CLOSED” while the other said “WARNING THIS BUILDING IS UNSAFE.” It is unclear how much damage was caused by the flames, or long the McDonald’s could be closed.
The restaurant is about 15 minutes off I-85 Business, on the southern side of Spartanburg.
Also Read: Historic train depot burns down amid early-morning fire in South Carolina
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Copyright 2025 WBTV. All rights reserved.
South-Carolina
South Carolina High School Football Top 25

There wasn’t a lot of shakeup in the fourth. week of the 2025 season. We did see ac top five battle between Northwestern and South Pointe that produced a new No. 2 in Irmo. Two new additions to the Top 25 are A.C. Flora and Stratford.
Previous rank: 1
Defeated Gray Collegiate 42-14; next at Oceanside Collegiate
Previous rank: 3
Defeated Carolina Forest 51-21; next at Myrtle Beach
Previous rank: 4.
Defeated then-No. 2 Northwestern 27-23; next at No, 24 A.C. Flora
Previous rank: 5
Idle; next at Chapin
Previous rank: 2
Lost 27-23 to then-No. 4 South Pointe
Previous rank: 6
Defeated Strom Thurmond 37-13; next vs. Gilbert
Previous rank: 7
Defeated Westside 42-6; next vs, Palmetto
Previous rank: 8
Defeated North Myrtle Beach 53-14; next at Socastee
Previous rank: 10
Defeated Woodmont 48-6; next vs. Chesnee
Previous rank: 11
Defeated Lexington 36-30; next at T.L. Hanna
Previous rank: 12
Defeated Chapin 45-22; next vs. Fairfield Central
Previous rank: 13
Defeated Chester 34-14; next vs. Southside Christian
Previous rank: 14
Defeated Cane Bay 34-14; next at St. James
Previous rank: 16
Defeated Crestwood 28-0; next vs. Spring Valley
Previous rank: 17
Idle; next vs. Gray Collegiate
Previous rank: 19
Defeated Fort Dorchester 65-7; next vs. Crestwood
Previous rank: 20
Idle; next vs. Riverside
Previous rank: 21
Idle; next at Woodmont
Previous rank: 23
Defeated then-No. 9 Camden 56-13; next idle
Previous rank: 22
Idle; next at Cane Bay
Previous rank: 24
Idle; next vs. Boiling Springs
Previous rank: 25
Defeated Wren 40-27; next vs. Greenwood
Previous rank: 9
Lost 56-13 to Ridge View; next at Richland Northeast
Previous rank: unranked
Defeated Laurens 49-0; next vs. No. 3 South Pointe
Previous rank: unranked
Defeated Socastee 56-12; next vs. Colleton County
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