Florida Today from Cocoa, Florida • Page 11

immximmmmmmm MARLINS END ON HIGH NOTE Manager John Boles' team improves over past season, ends with six-game winning WAL-MART PLANS TO ADD 300 STORES, 10C. VETERAN GRADUATES Chester Putnam receives high school diploma thanks to a state initiative, 1 D. STATION'S AIRLOCK PASSES TEST, 1B. ') "St 14 John Boles Chester Putnam I iMQiinnT in i mi Tmnn nmi mm miw i tuawn mimhi 1 flfmrmfolrmfSfrf PALM BAY EDITION TUESDAY. October 3, 2000 HEADLINES TODAYS NEWS AT A GLANCE Voters decide runoff races i lBllt(SlillDffD(SS 1 tfZat? Hr of Palestinian, Israeli fighting kills at least 51 Associated Press RAMALLAH, West Bank Israeli troops rolled out tanks in a show of force and sent helicopter gunships aloft Monday to battle Palestinians wielding rocks and automatic rifles, as riots raged through the West Bank and Gaza Strip, leaving scarcely a Palestinian town or village untouched.

The spiraling violence, now in its fifth day, has killed at least 51 people and injured more than 1,000, nearly all the casualties Palestinian, and left hopes for a Mideast peace accord in tatters. Both sides acknowledged that talking peace was becoming untenable with a full-scale war being waged in the streets. Even as pleas for restraint poured in from around the world, the climbing casualties fueled Palestinian fury and spurred revenge attacks against Israeli civilians, particularly Jewish settlers. On the road to the Jewish settlement of Ariel in the West Bank, a 24-year-old Israeli was shot and killed reportedly when he stopped to change a tire. Fighting also boiled over into Arab towns in Israel proper, rattling the nerves of Israelis who have long feared an uprising by Arab citizens of the Jewish state.

Eight Israeli Arabs were killed in Monday's clashes. The Palestinian lands remained the epicenter of violence, with a shifting battlefront that hopscotched from north to south and back again. In the West Bank r-. i- -nnturnnii i -ii 'tin if nniiiiii ii AP HAMAS MILITANT participates in an anti-Israeli march Monday in Gaza City, as Israelis and Palestinians continued to wage fierce gun battles. and Gaza, Israeli soldiers fought dozens of running battles many with live ammunition with Palestinian youths wielding stones and firebombs.

On both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian divide, rhetoric reflected a growing sense that events had moved to a war footing. Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who traveled into the West Bank to hold a news conference near Ramallah, was asked if the peace process could move ahead while the fighting went on at this level "Clearly not for long," he said. Faisal Husseini, the top Palestinian official for Jerusalem affairs, said to restore calm, the Israeli army would have to pull out of "all areas that were occupied during the incidents." Clinton urges peace, 4A. Malcolm Denemark, FLORIDA TODAY Ravehawk helicopter Friday at Patrick Air Force Base. Al Gore and George W.

Bush believe more money should be spent on defense. MASTER SGT. Stephen Schwarz, top, Maj. Tony Cunha, left, and Capt. Eddie Miller perform a preflight inspection on an HH-60 Brevard and Indian River County voters have a chance to vote in runoff primaries today.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Brevard County Supervisor of Elections Fred Galey says he expects between 8 percent and 10 percent of Brevard's 129,000 registered Republicans to vote. "This is where one vote really counts, with the low turnout." Republican voters in both counties will decide: State Representative, 32nd House District, Thad Altman vs. Bob Allen.

Alt-man earned 28.3 percent of the votes in the primary to Allen's 22.8 percent. The winner will face Rockledge Democrat Joe Lee Smith in the Nov. 7 general election. Brevard Republicans also will decide: Clerk of the Circuit Court, Scott Ellis vs. Charlie Crawford.

Ellis earned 36.2 percent of the vote in the primary to Crawford's 33.1 percent. The winner will face Democrat Dave Kershaw. Board of County Commissioners, District 5, Helen Voltz vs. Bill Lane. Voltz earned 49.8 percent of the vote to Lane's 42.1 percent.

The winner will face Democrat Jackie Colon. Kay Clem, supervisor of elections in Indian River, has predicted turnout at 17 percent or less. These races are being contested in Indian River: County Commission Seat 3, Ken Macht vs. Frank L. Zorc.

Macht won 29.81 percent of the vote to Zorc's 31.26 percent. This race is open to all voters. 80th House District, Carole Jean Jordan vs. Stan Mayfield. Jordan earned 26.8 percent of the vote to Mayfield's 26.1 percent SPACE Next shuttle launch: Discovery on Thursday from Kennedy Space Center on a mission to the International Space Station.

Launch time: 9:38 p.m. Next rocket launch: A Lockheed Martin Corp. Atlas 2A with a U.S. military communications satellite Oct. 12 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Launch window: 7:33 to 8:52 p.m. Space Update: For the latest on space program developments, visit Space Online at www.floridatoday.comspace or call NewsNow at 633-6397 in Brevard or 728-8118 in Barefoot BaySebastian and enter code 4321. WEATHER Mostly cloudy today with a 50 percent chance of showers. High in the mid-80s. Cloudy tonight with showers and thunderstorms likely.

Low in the low 70s, 10A. NATION Birth defects in which the fetal brain and spine are malformed have dropped by half in South Carolina since a statewide campaign to increase women's folic acid intake began eight years ago, 6A. Federal investigation that prompted the huge Firestone recall focuses attention on tire safety and also helps clear the way for the first federal vehicle rollover ratings, which could be out by year's end, 5A. WORLD Hurricane Keith topples homes, rips roofs off hotels and causes flooding throughout Belize as it swirls off the country's Caribbean coast with 80 mph winds, 6A. OPINIONS Approval of abortion drug RU-486 adds a new medical option for U.S.

women, 8A. Bush, Gore think alike on many military issues Campaign 2000 first in an6 ISSUES Female shuttle pilot puzzled by attention occassional series of sto ries about issues of interest to Brevard County voters as the SHIII'J, rtiiiill Space Online For coverage of the 1 00th shuttle mission, visit: www.florida today.comspacetoday mm favor of Bush's plan. "I think the Clinton-Gore team had an opportunity to do right by the military and it failed. Why should we expect them to do it now?" Gore says hell increase military spending by $100 billion over the next 10 years. And despite the fact he's made military readiness a campaign issue.

Bush says hell add only $45 billion to the defense budget over the same period. "I don't see either making any dramatic changes in foreign policy or defense policy," says Ivan Eland, director of defense policy at the Cato Institute. The Pentagon says it still can carry out its defined mission of fighting two major wars at once, a claim some independent analysts doubt. "I think we'd have a hell of a time fighting one," Cleland says. See MILITARY, 2A 2000 election draws near.

More coverage, 2-3A, 8B. Presidential debate The first debate between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore begins at 9 tonight and will be aired on ABC, CBS, CNN, CSPAN1, FNCand PBS. Story 3A. womea The first woman pilot did not fly un-til Feb.

3, 1995, when Eileen Collins served aboard Discovery. Col Melroy By John McCarthy FLORIDA TODAY George W. Bush says America's military readiness has eroded under the Clinton-Gore administration. Gore counters that the United States has the best-trained, best-equipped, most powerful military force on the planet. Who's right? They both are.

The number of men and women in uniform has shrunk by a third since 1990 and the defense budget has been cut by tens of billions of dollars under Clinton. But the U.S. still fields by far the most potent fighting force in the world. Still, Bush and Gore believe it's time to start pumping more money into defense. "It's absolutely a good thing" the candidates are paying attention to defense matters, says John Cleland, a retired Army major general.

The Indian Harbour Beach resident still follows the military closely and says he is in Surfer, 14, disappers in rough waters By John McCarthy and Patricia Walsh FLORIDA TODAY MELBOURNE BEACH Rescuers searched late Monday for a 14-year-old Melbourne Beach boy who disappeared while surfing Monday afternoon. As midnight approached, an HH-60 helicopter with night lights scanned the surface of the waters off south Melbourne Beach and farther south, following the path of the currents, said U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Joe Moskal. No sign of the boy had been found at press time. Earlier Monday, a 41-foot Coast Guard vessel hclx.il patrol the waters with a Brevard County Sheriffs Office boat.

The boy had been surfing with two friends in rough surf when he A. By Steven Siceloff FLORIDA TODAY CAPE CANAVERAL Pam Melroy wants to be known for being a shuttle astronaut but realizes she will get a lot of attention because she will be only the third woman to pilot an orbiter. "I hope someday it won't be a big deal," Melroy said recently about the attention she's getting for being a female shuttle pilot. As an Air Force pilot, Melroy said she strove to make her flying set high standards for men or women. "It's a little disconcerting," she said.

"It's a little strange to have that thrown right back at you. It's the kind of thing you want everybody to forget about." Melroy will pilot Discovery on the shuttle program's 100th mission. Liftoff is scheduled for 9:38 p.m. Thursday. Brian Duffy, mission commander, said Melroy's gender has never been an issue.

"We are professional. It doesn't matter what sex you are. It's professional competency based," he said. "And you add that she has such a wonderful, warm personality and she brings so much to the crew." Duffy said he was baffled at first about the attention that came with having a female pilot. "I think the fact that Pam's the third (female) pilot is just a function of how our society has changed," he said.

Sally Ride became the first American woman to fly in space in 1983, serving as a mission specialist. Several women followed, including Kathryn Sullivan, the first American woman to walk in space, and it has been common for shuttle crews to include v. -am, i i-ri floridatodaycom Your complete online guide to news across the Space Coast and space news from around the world at: www.floridatoday.com lins became the first female shuttle commander last year when she flew Columbia into orbit to release the Chandra X-ray telescope. Susan Still became the second female shuttle pilot in April 1997 on a shortened Columbia mission. A fuel cell crucial to the shuttle's power supply failed shortly into the flight, and Columbia came home after only four days.

Still returned to orbit aboard Columbia in July 1997 in a re-flight of the first mission. As a rookie astronaut, Melroy said she is much more excited about making her first space flight than in becoming the third woman to pilot a shuttle. "It's exciting for me; it's interesting," she said. "It's kind of surprising to be doing what I've always wanted to do and to be thrust into the position of maybe being a role model for girls. But I do think I'm seeing a huge difference between the young women today I think the doors are really starting to open, and it won't be a big deal in a few years." Craig Rudadoux, FLORIDA TODAY FRIENDS OF a missing 14-year-old surfer watch as the Melbourne Beach Fire Department unloads gear from a rescue boat Monday night.

9-1 0C Business 1-8E 8D Classified oo Or Local, State 1-6B Lottery 2A, 5B 10A pull the boy to shore, they lost him in the rough waters and then ran to a nearby home to summon help, he said. "It's very heavy surf. Our best shot in trying to find him will be the helicopter," Scragg said, adding that the 2 to 3-knot currents off the beach could carry a person a considerable distance south." disappeared about 4:30 p.m. Monday and his friends noticed his board sticking up out of the water, said Maj. Doug Scragg, a watch commander with the Brevard County Sheriffs Office.

One of the boy's friends found him on the ocean floor, still tethered to the surf board, Scragg said. When the friends tried to O- Mitt Obituaries Opinions People Sports. 3B ASSOCIATES i nm tiff -in--'1n 1 4-.