Across South Carolina

SC treasurer: 21 cities have yet to submit audits

COLUMBIA, S.C. - The South Carolina Treasurer's office has identified 21 towns which could miss out on state money for not turning in their annual audits.

State law gives municipalities and counties up to 13 months after the fiscal year ends to send the treasurer's office their audits. A measure approved by the Legislature last year allows Treasurer Converse Chellis to withhold quarterly payments if they don't, starting Feb. 1.

The names of the 21 small towns not complying were posted Monday on the treasurer's office Web site.

Spokesman Scott Malyerck said the payments will be withheld from the towns starting next quarter. He could not immediately detail how much each town is slated to receive.

Municipal Association spokeswoman Reba Campbell notes 93 percent of cities are in compliance.

Cops hope billboards will yield SC woman's killer

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Authorities hope a new billboard campaign will help find the killer who shot a South Carolina woman in the chest and left her dead in her car on an interstate exit.

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott says a digital billboard campaign began Monday in an effort to find out who killed 24-year-old Natasha Warren.

Authorities say Warren got a flat tire on Interstate 26 near downtown Columbia as she drove to work last August. Her body was found inside her car two days later.

Lott says he hopes the billboard will encourage anyone with information on Warren's death to come forward.

Lamar Advertising donated the billboard space.

Troops in Iraq help grant SC girl's Disney wish

ANDERSON, S.C. - Some U.S. troops serving in Iraq are helping a 4-year-old girl from Anderson battling a tumor realize her dream of meeting the Disney princesses.

Haley Burns and her family kicked off a seven-day trip to Walt Disney World near Orlando, Fla., on Monday.

Haley has a tumor on her brain stem.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation says the Hawaii-based troops selected her wish from hundreds submitted from across the country.

The troops raised $8,000 for Haley's trip.

SC man sent to prison for exposing woman to HIV

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - A South Carolina man has been sentenced to more than four years in prison for infecting his girlfriend with HIV.

WYFF-TV reports Monday 40-year-old Gregory Sean Martinez pleaded guilty to knowingly exposing others to HIV.

Martinez learned he was HIV positive when he was hospitalized in 2002. Police say he did not tell his girlfriend he had the virus or suggest using protection during sex.

Authorities say the woman became pregnant with Martinez's twin babies and learned about the disease during a prenatal checkup. She took medicine that prevented it from being passed to her babies.

Martinez will serve his sentence in Florida where he is already in prison for a similar crime.