Florida Today from Cocoa, Florida • Page 16

LOCAL NEWS INSIDE The Experimental Aircraft Association offers free airplane rides for kids, 2B. STATE NEWS INSIDE Jacksonville is giving CSX Transportation $7 million to stick around, 8B. LOCAL SECTION SATURDAY, July 1.7, 1999 Shelley Acoca, metro editor, 242-3631, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Three kids, 11, save neighbor from condo fire 30th ANNIVERSARY 1 Mraraiats latin exhibit Groundbreaking opens Apollo 1 1 anniversary event at KSC 1. "3 rl if if ltmii i kmiii li i i ii mill iT .4 By John McCarthy FLORIDA TODAY fa 1 1 TITUSVILLE As the an 'J.

i nouncer ran through the countdown, you could almost hear the crowd suck in its breath. 'i 7- With 10 seconds to go, all If, ''ft i A. i i noise ceased as everyone stared .1 w. r. i intently at the spot.

The brutal Florida sun beat down on them, but no one paid it any mind. The astronauts braced them selves, ready to react. Then came the final seconds. Three, two, one and they plunged Craig Bailey, FLORIDA TODAY COCOA BEACH Mayor Joe Morgan presents Christina Romanos, left, Sarah Lesmeister and Sean Weldon with certificates of appreciation for helping to save their neighbor from a fire. Cocoa Beach man not hurt By Kamika Dunlap FLORIDA TODAY COCOA BEACH It took three 11-year-olds to teach a 49-year-old Cocoa Beach man an Important lesson about fire safety.

Sarah Lesmeister, Sean Weldon and Christina Romanos saved neighbor Peter Bush's life by telling a parent they saw smoke in his apartment. They were honored this week by Cocoa Beach officials. Rod Donhoff, operations captain for the Cocoa Fire Department, commended the children for their efforts to do the right thing. "I think they were in the right place at the right time," he said. On May 16, Bush fell asleep in his condominium while smoking a cigarette.

"Christina and I saw a burner on, and it was foggy in Sarah said. "We thought it was incense, but then we saw smoke and knew it was a fire." Bush's couch caught fire and smoke filled the room, said Mary Lesmeister, who was alerted by her daughter and her daughter's two friends. Mary Lesmeister said she banged on the window repeatedly, but Bush didn't wake up. "I wasn't scared for myself I was more scared for him," she said. "His face was in the couch, where smoke was just pouring out." Shortly after, another neighbor called 911.

"(Bush) was fortunate the children notified an adult," said Stowe, a firefighter who helped put out the fire. "If not, he probably would not have woken up. Carbon monoxide can put you in a deeper sleep." DURING THE Apollo Exhibit groundbreaking in Titusville, astronauts Gene Cernan, left, and Wally Schirra get a sneak peek at a portion of Photos by Malcolm Denemark, FLORIDA TODAY the exhibit. They unveiled the bust of President John F. Kennedy, which will be a part of the display.

Today's schedule of events the shovels into the dirt. Thirty years to the minute after men first left Earth to land on the moon, hundreds of people gathered in Titusville to watch the groundbreaking for the Apollo Exhibit at the U.S. Space Walk of Fame. Among those with shovels were Apollo astronauts Wally Schirra and Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon. "I had goose bumps," Cernan said of listening to the tape of the actual Apollo 11 countdown tape.

"I could see that thing going up." The Apollo Exhibit, which will be unveiled next July, joins similar memorials for the Mercury and Gemini programs along the banks of the Indian River at Veterans Memorial Park. Just before breaking ground, Cernan, Schirra, Kennedy Space Center Director Roy Bridges and Cecil Stoughton, President John F. Kennedy's personal photographer, unveiled a model of the bust of Kennedy that will be at the center of the memorial. The bust depicts the late president delivering his 1961 speech in which he laid out the goal of "landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth" before the end of the decade. See ASTRONAUTS, 2B Carbon monoxide is a tasteless, odorless and dangerous gas emitted through smoke.

A full day of events is scheduled at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex today. The complex is open from 9 a.m. to dusk. Some events require a tour ticket, and others are free. For more information, call 452-2121.

Public briefings by Apollo 11 Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, as well as Apollo 7 Astronauts Wally Schirra and Walt Cunningham, Apollo 16's Charlie Duke, and the last man to walk on the moon, Apollo 10 and 17 Astronaut Gene Cernan. A pop concert by The Su-premes and the Byrds will begin at 1 p.m. at the ApolloSaturn 5 Center. An unveiling of the new U.S. Postal Service "Man Walks on the Moon" stamp will begin at 11 a.m.

Book signings and autographs at the main Visitor Complex area by Cernan and Andrew Chaikin, author of A Man on the Moon, the basis for the HBO Series, "From the Earth to the Moon." Signings will be held for Homer Hickam, author of October Sky, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.; Cernan will sign from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.; and Chaikin will sign from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Scale models of the ApolloSaturn 5 moon rockets will be launched from the main Visitor Complex area. "Most people think if you're sleeping you'll smell smoke, but smoke doesn wake you up, Stowe said. The fire department installed a smoke de pHnl ill i tector in his condominium, Bush said. But he hopes he won't need it.

Changing his habits should be enough. "I won't be smoking in the AT THE CONCLUSION of the groundbreaking ceremony, Vice President of the U.S. Space Walk of Fame foundation Ray Smith moves in to mark the groundbreaking shovels of Apollo astronauts Wally Schirra, left, and Gene Cernan. Hanging a masterpiece bed or on the couch, he said. Veterans clinic in Viera gets warm welcome By John McCarthy FLORIDA TODAY Man injured in explosion, fire VIERA More than 300 veterans made their way to Viera this week to be treated at try to determine if it was live.

Brevard County fire investigators and Brevard County Sheriff's Office general crime unit were called to the scene. "There are some questions as to how the fire got started," Maddox said. The man, 47-year-old Phillip Pagozalski, was taken to Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne. See FIRE, 2B Bomarc Lane. The sheriffs bomb squad was called to dispose of a large amount of ammunition that was stored in a container that heated up during the fire, sheriffs Sgt.

Todd Maddox said. They also were searching for the cause of the explosion. A sheriffs agent said Friday that something resembling a hand grenade was found in the house. After the bomb squad detonated the device, analysts will By R. Norman Moody FLORIDA TODAY SOUTH PATRICK SHORES Neighbors pulled an injured man from his burning home Friday afternoon after they reported hearing an explosion and popping sounds.

Investigators were trying to determine what happened in the house that led to the explosion. Neighbors saw heavy smoke pouring out of the house at 136 the new Department of Veterans Affairs uutpa tient Clinic. Rick Pugh, the clinic's administrator, said 312 patients made 350 visits to the clinic, includ ing 70 walk-ins to the urgent-care facility. "Things went extremely well," Pugh said. The clinic opened Mon day, ending a long wait for the local veterans who have been fighting since the 1970s to get a Woman clarifies intent of letter to police VA hospital built here.

Until an interim clinic opened in Palm Bay in 1997, the estimated 75,000 veterans in the county had to travel to Daytona Beach or Or lando for outpatient care. But the Faim Bay clinic could handle about 8,000 patient visits a year and offered limited services. Also, pa r- If 1 1 tients needing hospital services had to go to West Palm Beach or Tampa. 1 The new clinic should be able to provide many of those services locally, said Dr. Thomas Howard, chief meaicai onicer.

Pugh expected 9,000 patients to make 65,000 ment's reputation, Kenney said. "Just knowing her, I know her intentions were good," Kenney said. "She's extremely sorry for the problems it caused, especially for the negative press we received." Chief Paul Rumbley said he was relieved when he learned of the outcome. "I'm delighted that she had the integrity and the interest of the entire organization at heart to clear up this matter," Rumbley said. "This is just one more example of the high level of character of the men and women in our agency." The investigation determined that the woman did not violate the department's harassment policy.

"picnic," according to the internal investigation report, which was released Friday. In the letter, the author who is African American described how the Smithsonian Institution's Black History Archives detailed the word "picnic" as being derived from a lynching that doubled as a family gathering. "We should choose to use the word 'barbecue' or 'outing' instead of the word 'picnic'," the author wrote. "Please pass this on to all of your family and let us educate our people." The woman who wrote the letter stepped forward Wednesday after realizing that her well-meaning intentions had inadvertently sullied the police depart By Ed Garland FLORIDA TODAY PALM BAY Sometimes the best intentions can be misconstrued. That was the conclusion of the Palm Bay Police Department's internal investigation of a controversial letter left in the interdepartmental mail slots of three African American officers.

The investigation determined that the anonymous letter, discovered in the mail slots June 18, was written by a secretary in the department, said Lt. Robert Kenney, professional standards division commander. The author's intent was to educate minority officers on the racial overtones of the word visits to the clinic in its first year. For the first few months, the clinic will focus on primary care. The medical staff now is made up of seven primary care physicians, a gastroenterologist, two psychiatrists, a psychiatric nurse practi tioner, a podiatrist and a dozen nurses.

The clinic's pharmacy also opened Monday. Optometry and dental services are expected Malcolm Denemark, FLORIDA TODAY IN PREPARATION for an art show, Nicole Murdoch, 6, of Rock-ledge hangs her tissue paper collage called "Fish" on a line to dry. The students in the Summer Arts Program at Golfview Elementary School will host the show for their families. to be added during the next few weeks. Other specialists are expected to join the staff in the fall.

1 1 What to do OlgaSims Lottery Winners On the agenda Friday, July 16 Cash 3: 9-0-1 Play 4: 1-7-5-1 Fantasy 5: 1-7-10-16-26 Mega Money: 2-10-22-29 Club's goal: "Promote, help and educate women in business." Hobbies: Sewing and making crafts. Hungarian Orchestra The Hungarian Virtuosi Orchestra will perform at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Hene-gar Center, 625 E. New Haven Melbourne. All seats are reserved and admission is $15 for adults and $12 for students and seniors.

For more information or tickets, call 723-8698. Golf tournament A golf tournament to raise money to send winners of the Space Coast Soap Box Derby to Akron, Ohio, for a national competition will be held Sunday at Port Malabar Country Club. The 2- or 4-man scramble begins at 8 a.m. The $50 cost includes a lunch buffet. Call 729-6533.

Member of: Palm Bay Professional Women's Network. Got involved: "To expand my business." Best part: "Sharing information. Meeting people." 1 i Hi MimiS Mega can: i For updates and payoffs, call NewsNow. In Brevard, call 633-NEWS (6397)The call is free..