Florida Today from Cocoa, Florida • Page 1

UF, AUBURN SEEK SEC TITLE Gators coach Steve Spurrier and his team try to recover after FSU loss two weeks ago, 1 C. DEAL LETS O'BRIEN AVOID CHARGES, 1B. QE2 WILL VISIT PORT Prestigious ocean liner plans daylong stop at Port Canaveral on Jan.2,12C. BAMBOO PROVIDES PRIVACY, 1E. pur mm L' 1 Steve Spurrier Queen Elizabeth 2 BREVARD EDITION SATURDAY, Dec.

2, 2000 Man dies in Rockledge plane crash craft goes down in subdivision 1 TODAYS NEWS AT A GLANCE 2 of 3 Brevard teams advance Experimental By Sara Paulson-Camodeca FLORIDA TODAY ROCKLEDGE A Merritt Island man was killed Friday when his single-seat, experimental airplane crashed in a residential subdivision. Authorities identified the pilot as Robert Gerald Barber, 73, of 1510 Holiday Blvd. The Aventura plane he was flying crashed at 1:33 p.m. in an empty lot in the Ashwood Lakes subdivision, about 200 yards from occupied homes. The crash occurred at LaFlor Drive and Orion Way in the sul division, which is on the southeast corner of Barnes Boulevard and Murrell Road.

Police could not confirm where the plane took off, but the plane crashed about a quarter-mile south of the Rockledge Airport. "We don't know the reason for the crash," said Officer Donna Seyferth, a spokeswoman for hL. I Rik Jesse, FLORIDA TODAY POLICE TECHNICIAN Robin Maynes takes photos of the experimental plane that crashed Friday in a Rockledge subdivision south of Rockledge Airport. Rockledge police. "A witness did tell investigators they heard the engine ninning." Barber was in critical condition when he was taken to Wues-thoff Hospital in Rockledge, but he died shortly afterward.

Seyferth said Rockledge police would contact the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board. See CRASH, 2A 1 i-- JrJ 1 1 I 4 Florida high court deals double blow U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments Craig Rubadoux, FLORIDA TODAY PALM BAY HIGH'S Trevor Howard returns an interception during Friday night's Class 6A playoff game against Tampa Gaither. Palm Bay won 28-7. In Brevard County's two Class 3A playoff games: Astronaut beat Tampa Jesuit 38-0.

Belle Glades Central edged Rock-ledge 20-17. Coverage, 1-2C. tl fl I1 t- x.ihtflkiAUlif i imwrr mrrt- wn i mm mm tum tml rilil i ft, i HEW A via. i 4 55 I QSPACE Next shuttle launch: Shuttle Atlantis on Jan. 18 from Kennedy Space Center on an International Space Station assembly flight with the U.S.

Laboratory module. Launch time: About 2:44 a.m. Next rocket launch: Air Force Atlas 2AS on Monday with a National Reconnaissance Office payload from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Launch window: 8 to 10:30 p.m. WEATHER Partly cloudy today with a high in the mid-70s.

Low tonight in the mid-50s, 16A. r-rw "rnwi If Lwmni wiiiim iwiim -v. AP ptlOtOS POLICE SEPARATE supporters of George on Friday. The justices conducted a hearing W. Bush, left, and supporters of Al Gore in on whether the court should intervene in the front of the U.S.

Supreme Court in Washington disputed presidential election. COMHIG SUNDAY A y-y t4 Endeavour set to dock with station By Steven Siceloff FLORIDA TODAY CAPE CANAVERAL Endeavour's crew will dock with space station Alpha today, after spending most of Friday testing systems and equipment Alpha's residents released the unmanned Russian Progress cargo ship in anticipation of the docking. Endeavour could not maneuver up to the station safely if the capsule remained attached. Today's docking, scheduled just before 3 p.m., is the first significant step that must take place before a massive set of solar arrays is to be added to the space station Sunday. The arrays are essential to the future growth of Alpha and the $60 billion program.

The Russian supply ship joined the. station Nov. 18, prompting a race by Alpha's crew, Commander Bill Shepherd and Russian cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev, to unload its two tons of equipment, clothing and food before Endeavour's docking. The shuttle launched from Kennedy Space Center Thursday night Progress was unloaded on time, and the capsule was moved away from the station Friday. Russian flight controllers wUl park the cargo ship about 1,200 miles from the station, rather than sending the craft on an incinerating dive into the atmosphere.

It may be brought back after Endeavour leaves. But NASA officials are wary of the risky plan, particularly because the craft's automatic docking system failed the first time it attempted to dock with the station. Gidzenko had to dock Progress remotely. The capsule was in the way of Endeavour's docking. The space station will be directly above the nose of Endeavour when the two dock.

Shuttle flight director Bill Reeves said he has no doubt the maneuver is safe, even though Endeavour Commander Brent Jett will have an unusual view of the statioa Once docked, Canadian astronaut Marc Garneau will lift a 49-foot-long, 17-ton tower of solar arrays from the shuttle's cargo bay. It will be suspended over the shuttle while the crew sleeps. On Sunday, two astronauts will make a spacewalk to attach and unfurl the 240-foot-long arrays. More space news, 2A. and vowed a government of tolerance for all viewpoints.

After naming a Cabinet heavy with conservative businessmen, Fox's speech seemed intended to assure Mexicans he will attack poverty and social injustice, and that the fight against crime, drug smuggling and corruption would go beyond muscle. "No police force can stop hunger and unemployment he said. In contrast to the stiff delivery of past presidents, Fox showed touches of humor. Often accused of overly grandiose promises and famed for his cowboy boots, Fox playfully assured Congress: "I have my boots firmly planted on the ground." More coverage, 12A. y- Associated Press Nine U.S.

Supreme Court justices heard arguments on a narrow question of Florida election law Friday while, hundreds of miles away, the Florida Supreme Court denied Vice President Al Gore's petitions for immediate recounts. Florida's high court also refused to order a new election in Palm Beach County, where a "butterfly ballot" drew protests from Democratic voters. Gore was not formally involved in the case, but a new election would have thrown the contested election into turmoil. A senior Gore adviser acknowledged it was a bad day for the vice president, though Democrats remained hopeful His team was pointing toward a trial today in Florida on the central issue: Should the state's official election results showing George W. Bush the winner be reopened for further recounts.

"The most important thing is whether or not they count the ballots," Gore campaign chairman William Daley said. Daley is in line for a top White House job if Gore wins, most likely chief of staff if he wants it, according to several Gore advisers. The vice president's lawyers came up empty on two rulings handed down Friday that spurned his bid to force an immediate manual recount of 14,000 contested ballots in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties. In an emergency hearing, Leon County Circuit Judge N. Sanders Sauls refused for the third time in less than a week to order a manual recount of disputed ballots, at least until he hears arguments beginning today.

The Florida Supreme Court, which was implored to intervene, refused without comment Court spokesman Craig Waters said merely that the petition was "dismissed without prejudice," meaning it could be filed again. "There can be no ruling until there is evidence taken, said Sauls, setting the stage for a historic weekend trial on Gore's contest -T -wry -A AP MEXICAN PRESIDENT Vicente Fox gives the victory sign Friday while greeting supporters after his Inauguration in Mexico City. More iEROUS 1 Fif it i i 2 2 See SETBACKS, 3A I fold and said, Txx)k, there's the sea. There's the she said. "Now let's see if the sea is blue, like they say it is." Fox took the oath of office before a joint session of Congress, breaking a 71-year string of presidents from the Institutional Revolution Party.

Fox, a member of the National Action Party, won the election July 2. The inauguration was the first event in a threelay series of celebrations in four Mexican cities. On Friday, he showered the nation with populist promises, and pledged "to demolish all vestiges of authoritarianism." He appealed for national dialogue something he will need as he works with the most divided Congress in a century ARTIST'S SKETCH shows Theodore Olson, lawyer for George W. Bush, arguing Friday before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Ironically, it was complaints of a confusing design, some vot- about the design of the butterfly ers who intended to cast ballots ballot in Palm Beach County that for Gore wound up inadvertently Gore's aides first cited more fog for Reform party candi- than three weeks ago when the Buchanan, election controversy flared. inside coverage The undecided election has turned neighbor against neighbor, at least at one Cape Canaveral condominium, 3A. Brevard County is among 10 counties sued for counting overseas ballots up to 10 days after Election Day, 4A. For 90 calm minutes Friday, the ever-bitter dispute over the presidency took refuge in the hallowed chambers of the Supreme Court. Analysis, 4A.

Editorial, opinions, 14-1 5 A. Highly motivated people often have a tough time admitting defeat, 10. Gore's lead attorney, David Boies, said, "On one hand, we're disappointed the Supreme Court didn't take this up immediately. On the other hand, we understand it would have been a very unusual step." Fox takes Associated Press MEXICO CITY A towering businessman in custom cowboy boots strode into Mexico's presidency Friday, ending a seven-decade political dynasty and thrusting his nation into a new, democratic era. Raising his right hand and swearing to uphold the Constitution "for the poor and marginalized people of this country," Vicente Fox brought to a close a political system that dates to the Mexican Revolution.

"What is at stake over the next six years is not just the change of a party in power," Fox said. "What is at stake is much more significant and profound: the hopes of millions of Mexicans." Democrats said that because 7orrfa Today will publish a special report on the increasingly dangerous 382-mile stretch of Interstate 95 that runs through Florida. A team of reporters and editors spent three months examining areas where deaths and injuries from crashes have been rising steadily. office, vows change for Mexico floridatodayQi'oii! Your complete online guide to news across the Space Coast and space news from around the world at: www.florldatoday.com Thousands of those Mexicans lined the streets of the capital, wanting somehow to be a part of what Fox calls "the change." An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.5 and a burst of smoke from the nearby Popocatepetl volcano, both before dawn, underscored the seismic shift in Mexican political life and in the style Fox is bringing to the country. "I've never lived under any other system.

Neither has my mother or my grandmother," said Mirel Orozco, a 27-year-old college student who went into the streets with her mother to catch a glimpse of Fox passing. "Imagine someone blindfolded you for 70 years. Today, they suddenly took off the blind Business 11-12C Classified 1-24G HELPI 7B Home and Garden. 1-4E Life 16A Local, Lottery People Sports Stocks Weather 1-8B 1-11D 1-5C 16A O- o- model Yocjf iu LTs-Zuu- uioearcanco oculog r-. HIGHWAY US I And MASMOUA AYEWI In MRBOTOji 321-2544283 www.kellyferd.com.