South Carolina

FORT JACKSON, S.C. (AP) — Chaz Andrews has wanted to join the Army since he was 19, but he has failed the service’s academic test more than 10 times over the past decade.

Now, at age 29, Andrews thinks he has a real shot to pass, thanks to a new Army program that gives lower-performing recruits up to 90 days of academic or fitness instruction to help them meet military standards.

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — President Joe Biden will sign Democrats’ landmark climate change and health care bill on Tuesday, delivering what he has called the “final piece” of his pared-down domestic agenda, as he aims to boost his party’s standing with voters less than three months before the midterm elections.

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — First lady Jill Biden tested positive for COVID-19 and was experiencing “mild symptoms,” the White House announced Tuesday. President Joe Biden continues to test negative after recently recovering from the virus but will wear a mask indoors for 10 days as a precaution.

NORTH CHARLESTON, South Carolina (AP) — President Joe Biden arrived in South Carolina on Wednesday to begin what is expected to be at least a seven-day vacation with members of his family outside of Washington.

The first couple was planning to be in Kiawah Island, noted for its private beach and golf resort, through Tuesday, according to Federal Aviation Administration advisories.

The White House did not respond to requests to provide details on Biden’s vacation schedule, activities or when he planned to return to Washington.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh was charged with murder Thursday in the deaths of his wife and younger son, who were fatally shot outside their home more than a year ago.

Murdaugh is already jailed and faces dozens of criminal charges that have piled up in the months since his wife Maggie, 52, and their 22-year-old son, Paul, were killed. But until now he had not been charged in connection with his wife and son’s deaths.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Tom Rice of South Carolina has been ousted from Congress in his Republican primary after voting to impeach Donald Trump over the Jan. 6 insurrection. He is the first of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump to lose a reelection bid.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A prosecutor in South Carolina decided Tuesday not to charge two police officers in the fatal shooting of a Black man who lunged at them with a broken piece of wood from a chair after family members warned them the victim was mentally ill.

The Richland County deputies were justified to shoot Irvin Moorer Charley because he was a danger to the officers and family members who called police to their home, initially telling them Charley was armed with a knife, Solicitor Byron Gipson said in a statement.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham won the Democratic nomination for governor Tuesday, setting up a November showdown with Republican Gov. Henry McMaster, who easily defeated his opponent in the primary.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Two Republican U.S. House incumbents in South Carolina who have drawn the ire of former President Donald Trump now find themselves facing tough primary challenges on Tuesday from candidates he has endorsed.

Reps. Nancy Mace and Tom Rice criticized Trump after the Jan. 6 insurrection, with Rice among the 10 House Republicans who crossed party lines to vote to impeach him.

HAMPTON, S.C. (AP) — Authorities in South Carolina are investigating a shooting at a nightclub early Sunday that wounded at least nine people. It was the second mass shooting in the state and the third in the nation during the Easter holiday weekend.

The shootings in South Carolina and one in Pittsburgh, in which two minors were killed early Sunday, also left at least 31 people wounded.