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Dateline Florida

By TIMES WIRES
Published June 7, 2007

FORECAST GOOD FOR SHUTTLE LAUNCH FRIDAY

There's a good chance the space shuttle Atlantis will be able to lift off Friday. How good? NASA officials Wednesday estimated the chances for good weather at 70 percent for the planned 7:38 p.m. launch. On Wednesday, NASA was watching for thunderstorms and even the possibility of hail, the same thing that damaged the shuttle's external fuel tank in February and caused a three-month delay. NASA also was preparing for a possible strike by workers for a key contractor, United Space Alliance. However, they said a strike would not affect the launch.

Kids offered course on Internet safety

Cartoon characters "Clicky" and "Nettie" are among those who walk kids through a computer Internet safety course Hillsborough County will launch at many of its public computers beginning Monday. The NetSmartz workshops, which include stark true-life testimonials for teenagers about Internet predators, are offered at county libraries through a $20, 000 sponsorship from Verizon. The software program, designed by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, is available to school-age kids, who can win prizes for trying it out.

Correction

Rebecca McKinney, a 16-year-old Clearwater High School student, was killed in 2004 shortly after getting off a school bus. A story Wednesday gave the wrong year.

[Last modified June 7, 2007, 00:22:56]