South Carolina

LANCASTER, S.C. (AP) — Two men were fatally shot early Saturday at a South Carolina sports bar and eight other people were wounded in the gunfire, authorities said. A suspect was being sought.

The shooting occurred in Lancaster, a community about 45 miles (72 kilometers) south of Charlotte, North Carolina. Coroner Karla Deese told news outlets that the dead have been identified as Henry Lee Colvin, 39, of Rock Hill, South Carolina, and Aaron Harris, 38, of Kershaw, South Carolina.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Mark Sanford, the former South Carolina governor and congressman, joined the Republican race against President Donald Trump on Sunday, aiming to put his Appalachian trail travails behind him for good as he pursues an admittedly remote path to the presidency.

“I am here to tell you now that I am going to get in,” Sanford said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday.” ″This is the beginning of a long walk.”

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Republican leaders in Nevada, South Carolina and Kansas have voted to scrap their presidential nominating contests in 2020, erecting more hurdles for the long-shot candidates challenging President Donald Trump.

“What is Donald Trump afraid of?” asked one of those rivals, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld.

Canceling primaries, caucuses and other voting is not unusual for the party of the White House incumbent seeking a second term. Doing so allows Trump to try to consolidate his support as Democrats work to winnow their large field of candidates.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Hurricane Dorian , back to a Category 3 storm, began raking the Southeast U.S. seaboard late Wednesday, threatening to inundate low-lying coasts from Georgia to southwest Virginia with a dangerous storm surge after its deadly mauling of the Bahamas.

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Thursday defended his faulty description of a tale of military heroism and his interactions with the service members who carried it out.

The “essence” of his recollection is correct, the former vice president told a South Carolina newspaper Thursday after a Washington Post story detailed how an emotional anecdote Biden told recently while campaigning in New Hampshire contained inaccuracies.

ANDERSON, S.C. (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence told South Carolina conservatives Monday night that another four years for the Trump administration is a far better choice than anything the Democratic Party might offer from its nomination race.

“Have faith in the American people,” Pence told about 3,000 people attending a fundraising barbecue in the town of Anderson. “When the American people are given a choice between more freedom and more government, they’ll choose freedom every time.”

HAMPTON, S.C. (AP) — President Donald Trump told American congresswomen of color to “go back” to where they came from. He vowed to revive a racial slur to tear down Elizabeth Warren, promoted a wild conspiracy theory linking a past political opponent to the death of a high-profile sex offender and blamed Friday’s stock market slide on a low-polling former presidential candidate.

And that was just over the past six weeks.

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Joe Darby, a South Carolina pastor in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, pondered a sensitive question that he knew was on the mind of his congregation. Would black voters be able to reconcile their conservative religious doctrine with voting for a gay candidate for president?

“It’s a heavy lift in the black church,” says Darby, who is also a Charleston-area NAACP leader. “Just as nobody who is racist likes to say, ‘I’m a racist,’ nobody who is homophobic in the black community likes to say, ‘I’m homophobic.’”

EDGEFIELD, S.C. (AP) — Attorney General William Barr on Monday accused Democrats of trying to create a “public spectacle” by subpoenaing Special Counsel Robert Mueller to testify before Congress about the Russia investigation.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Barr said the Justice Department would support Mueller if he decides he “doesn’t want to subject himself” to congressional testimony. Barr also said the Justice Department would seek to block any attempt by Congress to subpoena members of the special counsel’s team.

EDGEFIELD, S.C. (AP) — Attorney General William Barr said Monday he sees a way to legally require 2020 census respondents to declare whether or not they are citizens, despite a Supreme Court ruling that forbade asking the question.