South Carolina
Official says no arson evidence in fire that destroyed judge’s home
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — State agents have so far found no evidence that a fire that destroyed a judge’s home on a South Carolina island was intentionally set, the state’s top law enforcement official said Monday.
The Saturday blaze nearly burned to the ground the house listed in property records as owned by Circuit Judge Diane Goodstein on a remote part of Edisto Island, authorities said.
The investigation is still active and ongoing and agents will issue a report when they are finished and determine the cause, State Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel said in a statement.
“At this time, there is no evidence to indicate the fire was intentionally set. SLED agents have preliminarily found there is no evidence to support a pre-fire explosion,” Keel said,
Keel and his agents released no other details.
Three people were hurt in the blaze and one of them was taken by helicopter to the Medical University of South Carolina, according to Colleton County Fire-Rescue. The names of the people hurt were not released.
The house’s first floor is elevated from the ground and the injured had to jump to the ground. Several then had to be rescued by kayaks from the swampy back yard, the St. Paul’s Fire District said in a statement on social media.
Video from the fire department showed the home fully engulfed in flames. Drone photos taken over the scene later showed only a few charred wooden supports standing amid the blackened rubble.
Goodstein has been a state judge for 27 years, handling thousands of cases. Speculation immediately settled on one of her most recent decisions where Goodstein blocked the Election Commission in South Carolina from releasing voter data requested by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Her restraining order was lifted about a week later by the state Supreme Court who said Goodstein failed to detail if the voter who sued would suffer irreparable harm or proved she was likely to win the suit on the merits.
Keel’s agency almost never releases statements while investigations are ongoing beyond the basic facts. But the last sentence of his statement on Monday indicated why he made an exception.
“I urge our citizens, elected officials, and members of the press to exercise good judgement and not share information that has not been verified,” wrote Keel, who has led the state police since 2011 and has been in law enforcement for 46 years.
The General Assembly elects judges in South Carolina and when Goodstein last ran for her seat in 2022, the Judicial Merit Screening Commission noted her sterling reputation and temperament and called her as asset to the state.
Nearly two decades ago, Goodstein presided over a civil lawsuit that led to a $12 million settlement between victims of sexual abuse and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston.
She also presided in 2014 over a property dispute trial between the national Episcopal Church and the breakaway Diocese of South Carolina which spilt over theological differences, including the authority of Scripture and the ordination of gays.
Wisconsin
Democratic AG won’t run for governor and will seek reelection
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin’s Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul announced Tuesday that he will not run for governor, opting instead to seek a third term as the state’s top law enforcement official.
The governor’s race is wide open after Democratic incumbent Tony Evers, 73, announced this summer that he won’t seek reelection. The race will be the highest-profile contest on the ballot, but it has even greater significance this cycle as Democrats look to hold the office and take control of the Legislature for the first time since 2010.
More than half-a-dozen Democrats have announced plans to run in the August primary. Kaul would have been the de facto front-runner had he joined, given his large base of support and two statewide election victories.
The most prominent candidates in the Democratic primary scramble include Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez; Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley; state Sen. Kelda Roys; state Rep. Francesca Hong; and former Wisconsin Economic Development Commission leader Missy Hughes. Former lieutenant governor and 2022 U.S. Senate candidate Mandela Barnes said Tuesday in the wake of Kaul’s decision that he’s “strongly considering” entering the race.
The most notable Republicans running are U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany and Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann.
Kaul said in an interview Tuesday that he seriously considered running for governor but was worried the job would take him away from his two sons, ages 8 and 11. The state also needs leaders willing to push back against President Donald Trump’s administration, he said.
“It’s vitally important that we have folks who are going to stand up and protect our freedoms and rule of law,” he said.
Kaul is nearly three-quarters of the way through his second term. He defeated incumbent Republican Brad Schimel in 2018 and held off a challenge from Republican Eric Toney, Fond du Lac County’s district attorney, to win a second term in 2022.
Toney is expected to run for attorney general again in 2026. Asked for comment on the race Tuesday following Kaul’s announcement, he said only that he was focused on a homicide trial.
Kaul has been an advocate for liberal causes as attorney general. He has repeatedly called on Republican legislators to enact gun safety measures, to no avail. He successfully persuaded the liberal-controlled state Supreme Court to strike down the state’s abortion ban this year. Kaul has launched an investigation into clergy sex abuse in Wisconsin and has worked to expedite testing of sexual assault evidence kits.
Kaul also has worked to create multiple legal obstacles for Trump.
Last year, he filed felony charges against two attorneys and an aide who helped submit false papers to Congress claiming that Trump had won Wisconsin in 2020. Democrat Joe Biden won the state by less than a percentage point. The case Kaul brought against the fake electors is still pending.
Kaul has also joined more than two dozen multistate lawsuits challenging edicts from the current Trump administration. The filings challenge an array of proposals, including dismantling the federal volunteer agency AmeriCorps, withholding federal education funding from the states and capping research grant funding.
Republicans tried to curtail Kaul’s powers ahead of his first term, passing legislation in a lame duck session before he took office that required the Legislature’s GOP-controlled finance committee to approve any court settlements his office might broker. Kaul fought the statutes all the way to the state Supreme Court and ultimately won a ruling in June that the legislation was unconstitutional.
Official says no arson evidence in fire that destroyed judge’s home
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — State agents have so far found no evidence that a fire that destroyed a judge’s home on a South Carolina island was intentionally set, the state’s top law enforcement official said Monday.
The Saturday blaze nearly burned to the ground the house listed in property records as owned by Circuit Judge Diane Goodstein on a remote part of Edisto Island, authorities said.
The investigation is still active and ongoing and agents will issue a report when they are finished and determine the cause, State Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel said in a statement.
“At this time, there is no evidence to indicate the fire was intentionally set. SLED agents have preliminarily found there is no evidence to support a pre-fire explosion,” Keel said,
Keel and his agents released no other details.
Three people were hurt in the blaze and one of them was taken by helicopter to the Medical University of South Carolina, according to Colleton County Fire-Rescue. The names of the people hurt were not released.
The house’s first floor is elevated from the ground and the injured had to jump to the ground. Several then had to be rescued by kayaks from the swampy back yard, the St. Paul’s Fire District said in a statement on social media.
Video from the fire department showed the home fully engulfed in flames. Drone photos taken over the scene later showed only a few charred wooden supports standing amid the blackened rubble.
Goodstein has been a state judge for 27 years, handling thousands of cases. Speculation immediately settled on one of her most recent decisions where Goodstein blocked the Election Commission in South Carolina from releasing voter data requested by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Her restraining order was lifted about a week later by the state Supreme Court who said Goodstein failed to detail if the voter who sued would suffer irreparable harm or proved she was likely to win the suit on the merits.
Keel’s agency almost never releases statements while investigations are ongoing beyond the basic facts. But the last sentence of his statement on Monday indicated why he made an exception.
“I urge our citizens, elected officials, and members of the press to exercise good judgement and not share information that has not been verified,” wrote Keel, who has led the state police since 2011 and has been in law enforcement for 46 years.
The General Assembly elects judges in South Carolina and when Goodstein last ran for her seat in 2022, the Judicial Merit Screening Commission noted her sterling reputation and temperament and called her as asset to the state.
Nearly two decades ago, Goodstein presided over a civil lawsuit that led to a $12 million settlement between victims of sexual abuse and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston.
She also presided in 2014 over a property dispute trial between the national Episcopal Church and the breakaway Diocese of South Carolina which spilt over theological differences, including the authority of Scripture and the ordination of gays.
Wisconsin
Democratic AG won’t run for governor and will seek reelection
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin’s Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul announced Tuesday that he will not run for governor, opting instead to seek a third term as the state’s top law enforcement official.
The governor’s race is wide open after Democratic incumbent Tony Evers, 73, announced this summer that he won’t seek reelection. The race will be the highest-profile contest on the ballot, but it has even greater significance this cycle as Democrats look to hold the office and take control of the Legislature for the first time since 2010.
More than half-a-dozen Democrats have announced plans to run in the August primary. Kaul would have been the de facto front-runner had he joined, given his large base of support and two statewide election victories.
The most prominent candidates in the Democratic primary scramble include Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez; Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley; state Sen. Kelda Roys; state Rep. Francesca Hong; and former Wisconsin Economic Development Commission leader Missy Hughes. Former lieutenant governor and 2022 U.S. Senate candidate Mandela Barnes said Tuesday in the wake of Kaul’s decision that he’s “strongly considering” entering the race.
The most notable Republicans running are U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany and Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann.
Kaul said in an interview Tuesday that he seriously considered running for governor but was worried the job would take him away from his two sons, ages 8 and 11. The state also needs leaders willing to push back against President Donald Trump’s administration, he said.
“It’s vitally important that we have folks who are going to stand up and protect our freedoms and rule of law,” he said.
Kaul is nearly three-quarters of the way through his second term. He defeated incumbent Republican Brad Schimel in 2018 and held off a challenge from Republican Eric Toney, Fond du Lac County’s district attorney, to win a second term in 2022.
Toney is expected to run for attorney general again in 2026. Asked for comment on the race Tuesday following Kaul’s announcement, he said only that he was focused on a homicide trial.
Kaul has been an advocate for liberal causes as attorney general. He has repeatedly called on Republican legislators to enact gun safety measures, to no avail. He successfully persuaded the liberal-controlled state Supreme Court to strike down the state’s abortion ban this year. Kaul has launched an investigation into clergy sex abuse in Wisconsin and has worked to expedite testing of sexual assault evidence kits.
Kaul also has worked to create multiple legal obstacles for Trump.
Last year, he filed felony charges against two attorneys and an aide who helped submit false papers to Congress claiming that Trump had won Wisconsin in 2020. Democrat Joe Biden won the state by less than a percentage point. The case Kaul brought against the fake electors is still pending.
Kaul has also joined more than two dozen multistate lawsuits challenging edicts from the current Trump administration. The filings challenge an array of proposals, including dismantling the federal volunteer agency AmeriCorps, withholding federal education funding from the states and capping research grant funding.
Republicans tried to curtail Kaul’s powers ahead of his first term, passing legislation in a lame duck session before he took office that required the Legislature’s GOP-controlled finance committee to approve any court settlements his office might broker. Kaul fought the statutes all the way to the state Supreme Court and ultimately won a ruling in June that the legislation was unconstitutional.
