Cathy Haynes, Charleston County's director of emergency operations, said county schools will be closed Friday.

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First, consider that Charleston County -- the heart of the 1st Congressional District -- voted for Obama in 2008 and 2012.

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But Tim Scott, former chairman of the Charleston County Council, may eclipse them both in his bid to be the first black Republican in Congress since Rep. J.

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Ulmer talked about the phone call at a Monday evening picnic rally in his Democratic-leaning rural county located between Columbia and Charleston.

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Joseph Brown, 62, has been held in the Mecklenburg County jail since his arrest Sept. 14 in a Charleston, S.C.

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