GOP reschedules meeting on Senate redistricting

State Sen. Ray Cleary will give an overview of Senate redistricting plans and the redistricting process Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Applewood House of Pancakes in Litchfield. The meeting was rescheduled from tonight because the Senate is still in session.

The program was arranged by the Georgetown County Republican Party and is open to the public.

“From my perspective, there are so many plans being put forth by the Senate, it’s confusing to a lot of people,” said Jim Jerow, Georgetown County GOP chairman. “A lot of people aren’t close to the redistricting process and they need to understand what’s going on here.”

The Senate has put forth 15 plans so far, Cleary said.

Discussion will include details about plans for a seventh congressional district for the state.

Air defense exercises planned over region

Military exercises are planned for today in the skies over South Carolina from Myrtle Beach to Walterboro, according to the North American Aerospace Defense Command. Flights are scheduled for midday, although the time could be changed due to weather conditions.

NORAD-controlled jet fighter planes will fly near other aircraft that will be acting as "tracks of interest" in the exercise. The goal of the exercise is to practice intercept and identification procedures.

In order to test responses, systems and equipment, NORAD continuously conducts exercises with a variety of scenarios, including airspace restriction violations, hijackings and responding to unknown aircraft. The exercises are carefully planned and closely controlled, according to the command.