Florida Today from Cocoa, Florida • Page 22

1 WMTm, FLORIDA 10B Thursday Sept 22, 2005 floridatoday.com NEWS EDITOR JIM LEVEHAN, jlinehanflatoday.net or 242-3643 LONGWOOD Navy jet crashes into park Pilots killed during attempted landing in rain Police charge man with 982 counts of child porn. A former Longwood resident faces nearly 1,000 counts of child pornography after computer discs filled with sexual pictures of young children and toddlers in diapers were found among his possessions, police told Local 6 News. Longwood police arrested Frederick Gallagher, who now lives in Vero Beach, after his estranged wife said she found the porn images while cleaning out some of his items. Officers said after an investigation, Gallagher was charged with 982 counts of child pornography the most in Florida a if- M'l IlN i family members are notified. The jet was part of Sea Control Squadron 32, also known as the Maulers, at Jacksonville Naval Air Station.

The crash occurred as Jacksonville was being buffeted by heavy rains from the outer bands of Hurricane Rita. "We saw a flash, heard a boom and then we went outside and saw smoke," said Deena Trent, owner of a seafood restaurant near the crash site. "It was louderthan thunder." Police were blocking entrances to Westside Regional Park and a few businesses across the highway from the naval station. Dougherty said the crash is under investigation. The S-3 is used for many mis- sions, including surveillance, electronic countermeasures, warfare and search and rescue.

All three of the Navy's East Coast squadrons of Vikings are based at Jacksonville Naval Air Station. President Bush landed on the USS Abraham Lincoln in a S-3B Viking off the coast of California in May 2003 to mark the end of major combat operations in Iraq.a ASSOCIATED PRESS JACKSONVILLE A Navy jet crashed Wednesday into a park near Jacksonville Naval Air Station as it attempted to land in a rainstorm, killing the pilot and co-pilot. The S-3 Viking went down about noon in Westside Regional Park, across a highway from the landing strip, said Bill Dougherty, a Navy spokesman. Dougherty said the names of the two Navy pilots were being withheld until relatives are notified. Navy policy bars releasing the names until 24 hours after ORLANDO U.S.

Navy Crash. An S-3 Viking like this one crashed Wednesday while trying to land in bad weather in Jacksonville. 4 025 Dentist charged with lewd act near school. A family dentist in Orlando was charged with indecent exposure after he was allegedly caught with his pants down, performing an indecent act on himself near an elementary school, Local 6 News reported. A neighbor said he spotted Tony Clement, 60, inside a white Suburban parked outside Hill-crest Elementary School performing a lewd act, police said.

Orlando police stopped Clement while the vehicle was still in the neighborhood. Clement did not return calls from Local 6 News, but detectives said the evidence and the witness statement were enough for them to charge the dentist with the misdemeanor offense of indecent ex ACLU targets same-sex marriage BY AARON DESLATTE FLORIDA TODAY v. I 17 posure. If i ilf I 1 Jt i AP TALLAHASSEE Florida civil rights groups say a proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage amounts to a "sneak attack" on domestic benefits available now to state and some local government workers. A brief filed Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union, government employee unions and six same-sex couples claims voters aren't told the amendment's effect could be to ban same-sex couples from hospital visits, making medical decisions or planning funerals.

The Florida Marriage Protection Amendment under state Supreme Court review would define marriage as "the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife," and render other legal unions "treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent" moot. "The term 'marriage protection' is political rhetoric and is designed to appeal to an emotional response," ACLU lawyer Randall Marshall said. "There's no explanation how marriage is protected when what the practical effect may be is to take away health benefits from families in Florida." The Orlando-based group be-hind the ballot question, Florida4Marriage, which is supported by Christian televangel-ist James Dobson and other religious organizations, said its language was "crystal clear." See MARRIAGE, 9B High marks. Gov. Jeb Bush, talking to Debbie Harrison on area, earned praise during last year's hurricane season and has Wednesday in Marathon after Hurricane Rita moved through the kept his approval ratings high during his tenure.

State still likes governor Support remains strong despite sligKt fall among church-goers ResuKs SurveyUSA polled adults in all 50 states to judge how they liked their respective governors. In Florida, Jeb Bush scored a 53 percent approval rating. South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds scored highest with a 76 percent approval rating. Louisiana Gov.

Katherine Blanco received a 56 percent disapproval score. Gannett-owned WTLVWJXX in Jacksonville. Other Florida sponsors include WFLA-TV in Tampa and WKRG in Pensa-cola and WKMG in Orlando. Those surveyed put the Florida governor 30th among his gubernatorial cohorts, on a list where South Dakota's Gov. Mike Rounds is at the top with a 76 percent approval rating.

Ohio's Bob Taft is at the bottom with support from just 17 percent of those asked. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger fell in at 48th, with 65 percent of those polled voicing disapproval. In Florida, the poll shows 79 percent of Republican voters approve of their governor, a feeling shared by only 28 percent of registered Democrats. See POLL, 9B BY PAIGE ST.

JOHN FLORIDA TODAY TALLAHASSEE Republicans still love him, Democrats still hate him, and Gov. Jeb Bush still finds enough love among independent voters for Florida to be a friendly state. A new poll by SurveyUSA gives Bush a 53 percent approval rating, still strong though down from an August high of 56 percent and well within his usually comfortable range. One of the biggest dips came among regular church-goers, for whom the governor lost a little of his luster, despite his stand on socially conservative issues. In August, 63 percent of those who attend church regularly approved of Bush.

It is now 54 percent. The shifting numbers didn't trouble the'governor Wednesday. "Those ebb and flow, they go up and down," Bush said. "The question is, as a governor you can make decisions that upset people or you can be popular without making decisions. "I would prefer to be making decisions that are in the best interest of the state even if it might be perceived to be controversial." Bush contends he has no interest in public office after his gubernatorial term ends next year.

Nevertheless, he was cu- PORT ST. LUCIE Sex offender charged in missing teen case. Port St. Lucie police arrested a Miami-Dade County man at his home on charges he helped a Port St. Lucie teen run away from home, the Palm Beach Post reported.

The girl is now considered missing, and police say she last stayed at the home of a convicted sex offender who lives in the Opa-lockaarea. Eduardo Narvaez, 21, of northwest Miami-Dade, was jailed Wednesday on misdemeanor charges of contributing to the delinquency of a child and harboring a runaway. Police say Erin Nembhard, 15, met Narvaez in an Internet chat room. On Friday night, Nembhard sneaked out of her house and Narvaez picked her up and drove her to his home and possibly had sex with her, police said. FORT MYERS Police say hit-and-run suspect turned self in.

The driver police say left the scene of a traffic crash that killed a 46-year-old pedestrian Sept. 4 turned himself in, the Fort Myers News-Press reported. Jon Christopher Felts, 32, was charged with leaving the scene of a traffic crash involving death, said Fort Myers police Maj. Glenn Johnson. Felts has been released from jail and has a scheduled court appearance Oct.

24. LOTTERY No tickets match Mega Money jackpot. No tickets matched the four winning numbers plus the Mega Ball in the Mega Money game, meaning Friday's jackpot will be $2 million. Nine tickets won $1,987.50 for picking four. 62 tickets won $630.50 for picking three plus the Mega Ball number.

1,534 tickets won $76 for picking three. 2,065 tickets won $39.50 for picking two numbers plus the Mega Ball. 16,281 won $5 for matching one number plus the Mega Ball. 44,077 tickets won $3 for picking two. 37,566 won a free Quick Pick ticket for matching the Mega Ball.

The numbers drawn Tuesday night were 13-18-27-29 and the Mega Ball was 12. Winning Fantasy 5 ticket sold in Melbourne Two winners of the Fantasy 5 game will collect $92,393.48 each. The winning tickets were bought in Melbourne and Fort Lauderdale. 380 tickets matching four numbers will collect $78 each. 9,750 tickets matching three won $8.50.

85,352 tickets won a Quick Pick ticket for picking two. The numbers drawn Tuesday night were 4-8-16-20-25. FLORIDA TODAY wire report rious about the results, "particularly when they're someone else's numbers." The national poll included 600 adults in each of the 50 states called at home from Fri-' day to Monday. It was conducted on behalf of 50 television stations, including the 'Lucky Keys residents clean up after Rita i v'm'H. Nf ,1.

las' I I I a Parents may sue over bats ASSOCIATED PRESS PAXTON School and health officials say they have solved the bat problem at Paxton School, but some parents disagree and are planning a possible lawsuit. The parents have accused the Walton County School District of exposing children to health risks from the winged rodents and their droppings. "They say everything's fine, but the bats keep coming back," parent Donna Arnold said Tuesday. Officials say the bats are gone and so is any health risk at the school in this rural Panhandle town. The school has classes from kindergarten through 12th grade.

"We've done multiple tests and been assured by health experts that those rooms are safe," said School Superintendent Carlene Anderson. Anderson said the district followed Health Department instructions and cleaned the building, but a teacher returning Aug. 1 found 18 live bats in his classroom. Teachers and students said they could hear the bats in the ceiling and smell their waste. The building was cleaned again but more live bats were found throughout August including one captured at a meeting Anderson held with parents to discuss the pfcblem.B i -raw" vm 1 AP down plywood off windows on the main tourist drag, Duval Street.

Seaweed and sand were cleared from streets. Tourists and all 78,000 Keys residents were told to evacuate before the storm. Residents who actually left were told to come back Wednesday, while tourists were scheduled to return Friday. The Keys have been evacuated twice this year because of hurricanes. Seven hurricanes have brushed past or hit Florida in the last 13 months.

If state and local officials request it, the Federal Emergency Management Agency can send in assessment teams to determine whether damage was extensive enough to qualify for individual disaster aid, spokeswoman Frances Marine said. That aid wasn't available to South Florida residents after Hurricane Katrina hit there last month because damage was light, but it was after last year's four hurricanes in the stftte. ASSOCIATED PRESS KEY WEST Florida Keys residents found at least 100 homes with minor flooding from Hurricane Rita's storm surge Wednesday, but most considered themselves lucky to be largely spared from the storm that grew much stronger after swiping the island chain. Rita's eye and most destructive weather passed south of the Keys on Tuesday when it was a Category 2 storm. By Wednesday night, it was a Category 5 hurricane with 165-mph top sustained winds, but it was heading to Gulf Coast areas ravaged by Hurricane Katrina and had left the Keys behind by then.

"I'm turning on the AC and putting a vacancy sign up. We're really lucky," said Mona Santiago, the owner of the Southernmost Point Guest House, as she swept water off the front porch. "The sun is coming out. We're getting ready for business." Back to work. Sheila Tillman stands at the door of her ocean-front Key West restaurant surveying the damage to the outdoor area Wednesday after Hurricane Rita pushed ocean water and seaweed into her business.

Key West Mayor Jimmy Weekley said he found no structural damage after touring the island city Wednesday. He estimated damage to be in the millions of dollars, much below the devastation caused by other hurricanes that have hit the state. "The city of Key West will be open for business this afternoon he said. Crews worked to restore power to the about 7,000 homes and businesses without power, with Weekley expecting Key West to be fully restored later in the day. Store owners pulled.