Sheriff: South Carolina church volunteer, sex offender arrested | #childpredator | #kidsaftey | #childsaftey

It’s 6:45 and time for news to go. We have *** look at today’s top news stories, your traffic, and your weather all before you head out the door. We begin with breaking news out of Asheville where police were involved in *** deadly shooting. Officers say they responded just before 2 o’clock this morning to North French Broad Avenue for *** report of *** weapon being fired in the parking lot. Police say officers heard gunfire when they arrived and found the person firing *** weapon. Officers returned fire, killing the person. No officers were hurt. The name of the person who was killed has not been released. Late Senator Lindsey Graham’s younger sister was sworn into the Senate on Tuesday. Senator Darlene Graham will serve out the remainder of her brother’s term after his sudden death over the weekend. The governor of South Carolina appointed her to the seat. She will remain in the Senate until January 2027. The special primary election will take place August 11th to nominate *** Republican to replace Lindsey Graham in the upcoming November general election. Darlene Graham has never held elected office, but has *** long history of public service in South Carolina. Fourth District Congressman William Timmons is responding after he says there was speculation on whether he would run to replace late Senator Graham. In *** social media post on X. He says in part, quote, I’ve told Speaker Johnson that I will not do anything that increases the number of votes he must secure to be re-elected Speaker in January. He went on to say, on other potential candidates, quote, I also want to say this plainly, I cannot support Ralph Norman or Nancy Mace as Senator Lindsey Graham’s successor. This is not personal. It is about what South Carolina deserves, end quote. For more coverage on the passing of Senator Lindsey Graham as we wait for the announcement about funeral arrangements and the upcoming special election, you can visit WYFF4.com and the WYFF4 mobile app. Well, developing now out of Columbia, lawmakers will meet this afternoon to discuss *** state budget. Now *** new version hasn’t passed even though the current budget expired two weeks ago. Right now, resolution to use the current budget is keeping the state government running, but new funding, including teacher pay raises and tuition freezes, can’t take effect until. new budget passes. The budget conference committee says they’re still debating over property tax relief and community investment projects. House Budget Chairman and Greenville County Representative Bruce Banister says most of the new budget is agreed on, and the debate is down to *** small number of disagreements. Meanwhile, Buncombe County is making changes to how it will evaluate property taxes for the 2027 fiscal year. The Board of commissioners approved the changes during its meeting yesterday, and that move was necessary after the passage of two state laws. Property values will be the same ones that were used last year, which include any adjustments made due to impacts from Hurricane Helene, and the tax rate will be $61.54 per $100 of assessed value. The county says the mailing of tax bills will be delayed due to those late changes. 6:47 now and Prisma Health is expanding healthcare access to more rural parts of Greenville County. The health company broke ground on *** new medical facility that will offer specialty care. Our Naomi Popa joins us live at the site in Fountain Inn. Naomi. Erin, Destiny, good morning. This medical facility will span 160,000 square feet. You can actually see some of the construction behind me. I’ll step out of the way. Maybe you can hear it. You can see it, those cranes in operation right here now. This will offer various different components, notably *** large outpatient surgery center with various specialties. On your screen are some of the photos and videos. That we’ve got to the scene as it stands now. The new medical park will be located along the I-385 and McCarter Road corridor. This will be in areas of Simpsonville, Fountain Inn, and the surrounding areas. The facility will offer radiation, medical oncology, neurology, ear, nose, and throat physicians, and expanded services like gastroenterology and cardiology. Uh, as we’ve seen Greenville and the upstate and the state of South Carolina continue to grow, access to health care has become *** growing challenge. So, uh, Love Prisma’s mission of taking care to the patients and so it will help reduce commute times. Uh, it will definitely expand our, uh, access points to not only the primary care but also the, the specialties. Now you just heard from Prisma Health CEO of Lawrence and Hillcrest Hospital. He tells WAFF4 this area will see access to healthcare that has not been available to them without the long commute or other factors. He expects this facility to decompress some of the pressure that other facilities are feeling in the area. Additionally, Prisma Health’s primary care practice here in Fountain Inn will be expanding as well, offering access to pediatric specialties and adult endocrinology. I’m also told by Prisma Health officials that they will begin taking patients at this exact facility in December of next year. Live here in Fountain Inn, I’m Naomi Popa, WIFF News 4. Naomi, thank you. BMW has issued *** recall for more than 29,000 vehicles, and *** notice from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration says the cars pose *** fire risk. Take *** look at your screen. The recall applies to four different BMW models, including the 2018 to 2020 BMW 530EX drive. And the i Performance and the 2017 to 2019 BMW 740 LEX drive and also the 2016 to 2018 BMW 330 EI performance. Owners will be notified by mail with information on the recall until repairs can be made. Officials say owners should park the cars outside and away from structures. *** parasite you can’t see with the naked eye is making people sick all across the country, including in the Palmetto State. The South Carolina Department of Health says there have been 16 confirmed cases of cyclospra this year, and half of those have been in the upstate. Public health leaders say those cases are not connected to the current multi-state outbreak, Victoria. And we’re waking up to sunshine for most of us across the area this morning. 71 degrees in Greenville, 70. Good morning, Spartanburg. Asheville, seeing some dense fog out there. Visibility down to less than half *** mile. Please keep that in mind heading out the door. Anderson, 73 degrees, gorgeous sunrise over Lake Hartwell as we go through the next couple of hours. We are warming back up closer to average for this time of the year after *** bit of *** cooler start to our week. We are heading towards the upper 80s, low 90s, touching near about 90 degrees for most of us, and then mid to upper 80s for Western North Carolina. Feel like temperatures will sit in the low 90s. We have that light breeze coming in from the south, and that of course kicks up the humidity. Most of this week is actually dry, and then as we go towards the weekend, that’s when we start to see scattered showers and storms return. It’s not *** washout though, so don’t cancel, cancel those outdoor. Plans and again towards 56 o’clock evening hours by Saturday, scattered storms develop for the upstate, much more likely for Western North Carolina Sunday, similar story, but then by Monday we do keep rain chances in because we watched this low pressure system develop, move up the East Coast, and potentially could be, uh, our next tropical system worth watching. So we’ll keep you updated and one more look at your 4 day plus here in *** couple of minutes, Leah. Hey Victoria, we’re starting off our Wednesday morning, if you’re heading out the door here anytime soon, good news is you’ve got *** beautiful sunrise waiting for you. However, definitely starting to see that 7 o’clock hour traffic, and you’re seeing it live from Sky 4 I-85 right now, right at Highway 14. Good morning, Spartanburg County. Certainly starting to see those northbound lanes back up just *** tad heading out of, or excuse me, southbound lanes heading out of Spartanburg. We’ve been tracking some slowdowns around that area all morning long, but now starting to. See those northbound lanes out of Greenville pick up definitely as we head into that 7 o’clock hour. So expect the typical traffic rush, nothing out of the usual. Rest of the area is looking really good. The only color I’m seeing on my map there is that Highway 76, but that’s *** bridge closure that we’ve been used to by now. I’ve been seeing that for quite some time. So let’s get one last check at those travel times. 85 southbound, *** little slower than we usually like to see it. However, 26 and 385 still in the green. And speaking of bridge closures, *** bridge closure in Greenville County is happening after *** routine inspection revealed it was in need of repairs. The South Carolina Department of Transportation says the Latimer Mill Road bridge over Horse Creek will be closed until further notice. As those crews begin those repairs, you can detour around the bridge using the green routes highlighted right now on your screen. Those are highways 25 and 33.