The Times from Shreveport, Louisiana • Page 11

METRO EDITOR: PATRICK RICE.459-3264 i EMERGENCY HEWS BRIEFS red of on 1 1 es away Help rain! ti ti Shreveport operator a heroine to Tennessee woman would make it worse for her," Miller said. About 15 minutes later, the niece arrived and the police and paramedics arrived soon afterward. Scoby didn't find out the operator's identity until the next day when Miller called to inquire about her. Two months later, Scoby is recovering, but must wear an arm cast for another month. She has nothing but praises for Miller.

"I tell you Rose Miller was just wonderful. She saved my life," Scoby said. "I think she is a marvelous, wonderful person to take time out from her duties. "God bless her. She kept me on the phone until help got here." floor.

From the fall, she suffered a concussion, a broken arm and facial injuries. Going in and out of consciousness and bleeding profusely, she drug herself across the floor to the kitchen where she pulled a telephone from the table. That's where Miller enters the story. Scoby, 82, thought she was dialing the local 911, but her call ended up hundreds of miles away in Shreveport in Miller's hands. Miller, 39, has been an operator for more than 13 years and works in a service group handling calls from Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana.

Miller now believes Scoby must have dialed 000 instead of 911. BRIDGE 'ft Swimmers enioy railroad bridge Tt i. 'rv A nw New commander installed at plant MARSHALL, Texas A new commander has been installed at Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant Lt Col. Robert W. Bringman was installed as the Army's top officer at the munitions plant Bringman returned in -April from a tour of duty as a munitions officer in Operation Desert ShieldDesert Storm.

He replaces Lt Col. Jeffrey Russell, who volunteered for a seven-month assignment in Saudi Arabia. Russell served two years as head of the Long-horn plant, during which the plant supplied American troops in the Persian Gulf and completed missile eliminations under the INF Treaty with thrSoviet Union. Russdleceived the Army's Legion of Merit Award for his service at Longhorn. 1 Officers seeking hit-and-run driver PLANTERSVILLE, Texas (AP) Authorities were searching for the driver of a vehicle that struck and killed two Magnolia women who were walking to a friend's house after their car broke down.

The hit-and-run accident occurred sometime between midnight Saturday and 2 a.m. Sunday on Farm-to-Market -Road 1774 about five miles south of Plantersville, which is about 20 miles northwest of Magnolia. The victims were identified as Dawn Marie Lamont, 17, and Lacretia Gail Jordan, 18, said Mike Cox, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety. DPS Trooper Gary Shaw said Tuesday the two women apparently were roommates in Magnolia, about 30 miles northwest of Houston: Conference calls' legality questioned DALLAS (AP) Reaching out and touching fellow council members will likely have to be done in person. Lawyers will have to call a special meeting of City Council members if they want to discuss as a group a possible settlement to a 1988 redisricting lawsuit that has delayed city elections, officials said.

Mike McKool a lawyer for the city in the lawsuit, had suggested a telephone conference with council members, who are on a monthlong recess. But Assistant City Attorney Sam Lindsay said Monday that he believed a conference call would not comply with the state's open meetings law. City Manager Jan Hart said that although she hasn't discussed the matter with attorneys, "I think there's been a general understanding that conference calls can't constitute a legal meeting." She said if there is urgent need for the council to meet, a special meeting would have to be called. 3 Tourist industry changes strategy HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (AP) -The United States is no longer the top vacation choice for European travelers and that change has allowed state travel offices to market at home, a travel official said.

Robert Whitley, president of the United States Tour Operators Association, said the change lets state travel offices get involved in other areas, including economic development And economic development agencies are beginning to realize that the tourist industry can be a boon to the economy, he said. He also said foreign visitors have spent more in the United States than Americans have spent abroad in the last two years. Whitley was the keynote speaker Monday at a conference sponsored by the Travel Industry Association of America's National Council of State Travel Directors. Hold on: Telephone operator talks elderly woman through ordeal. By GWEN KELLY The Times Rose Miller is one of the most talked about telephone operators in Shreveport.

And for good reason. She's a heroine at least to Blanche Scoby of Brownsville, Tenn. "The doctors told me she probably saved my life by keeping me talking," Scoby said Tuesday in a telephone interview from her home. On May 26, a misstep caused Scoby to crash on her living room POLICE Officer punished for his remark By MARCIA ROBERTSON The Times A veteran Shreveport police officer was suspended Tuesday after an Internal Affairs investigation found him guilty of making a racial slur while on duty. The unindentified white officer was issued a 30-day suspension without pay after making the comment to a KSLA Channel 12 cameraman who recorded the comment on tape while covering a traffic accident Police Chief Steve Prator refused Tuesday night to release the name and shift of the patrol officer, saying it would violate the officer's rights.

"This is an internal affair," Prator said. "Normally we would not have released anything on this but we needed to let other officers as well as the public know that this type of thing will not be tolerated." Cindy Chadwick, Shreveport police spokeswoman, said the penalty will place the officer behind seven other officers in line for seniority promotions. Prator, who requested the inquiry into the incident, said there was no precedent to judge the case by, but he issued the strict punishment because he wanted to send a message: "Even a hint of racism is not going to be tolerated." The incident does not mark the tip of a racist iceberg within the department, said Prator, who has been a police officer for almost 19 years. "I have never heard of anything like this," Prator said. "You can talk to black officers as well as white officers and they will tell you this is not a prevalent problem in this department.

"We are talking about a department with more than 500 employees and this is the first time I have heard about something like this. It is an isolated incident. I didn't like it because it was derogatory and it was uncompassionate." All of the officers questioned Tuesday night refused to comment on the incident. The accident occurred on July 8, when a black young male was struck by a car, Prator said. After the officer had finished working the accident, the cameraman arrived and asked the officer what had happened.

The comment was made during the officer's reply. YOUTH YEP Whom to call: To enroll your child in the Youth Enrichment Program, call 226-0761 The after-school program has assisted more than 2,600 elementary students in Caddo Parish since July 18. 1986. In 1991, 18 schools participated in the program at an average cost of $7,768 per site. Times graphic I She probably saved my life by keeping me talking, Blanche Scoby On local operator "I could tell by the tone of her voice something was wrong," Miller said.

"She said, 'Please, help Scoby asked Miller to call her niece Rebecca "Teny" Cummings, who lived nearby. Miller obliged and stayed on the line. "I just told her to talk to me and don't cry because I thought that on Caddo Lake. The track and 3 Times photoBILLY UPSHAW said Robert Johnston, president of the program's board since 1990. "I didn't think it would survive this long." Johnston's daughter, 10-year-old Hillary, was enrolled in the program from October 1987 to June 1991.

Within one year, her grades improved to an A average from a B. "I couldn't have done it without (the program)," said Hillary, a student at Turner Elementary and Middle School, 5904 W. 70th St. "I like the teachers there because they give you more confidence in yourself." Hillary will be in the sixth grade i rv W' A i chool im i nr iri-m i Times photoMIKE SILVA Rose Miller, operator at at her work station. P'i' Times PhotoBILLY UPSHAW Timas Map The bridge work is expected to be gin sometime next year and take about a year to complete, said Dave Franz.

KCS bridge engineer. soaring offers a variety of activities ranging from arts and crafts to kick tall. About 15 students participate at each site, which is supervised by at least one teacher and one assistant Some sites, such as Turner, have about 65 participants. Keeping the program running has been an uphill battle, Johnston said Donations have decreased because of an ailing economy. I "For what they had to work with" it's amazing what they've said Sally Cox, member of Shreveport's Women Commission.

The commission started the program in 1986. Bridge work Lake tip I I 0 I 10 miles Tj bridge will be replaced next year. KCS to replace span i iff. Kansas City Southern Railway Company has plans to replace its single track bridge over Caddo Lake at Mooringsport. The project calls for replacing the existing single track swing span bridge with a fixed span bridge.

The old bridge will be removed in sections to allow minimal interruption of rail traffic. The Department of Environmental Quality has received the company's application for a water quality certification, but has not yet taken any action. The certification is required under the nation's Clean Water Act because of potential effects on water quality. "It looks like pretty routine bridge replacement," said Larry Wiesepape, of the DEQ's water quality office. "I am not saying it is guaranteed.

I can't say at this point what the final decision would be." A Kansas Citv Southern Railroad train crosses a Caddo Lake bridge slated for replacement. Aft er-s rogram in fall 1991 and will not be eligible to participate in the after-school program. So she plans to volunteer her time as a teacher's aide, Hillary said. Cost of the program is $70 per month for the first child enrolled. The second is enrolled at $60 per month and the third is enrolled at $35 per month.

In 1991, 18 schools participated in the program at an average cost of $7,768 per site. The program accommodates latchkey students children whose parents aren't at home in the after-school hours. For three hours after school during the year, the program By THAO HUA The Times In its fifth year, a youth program that some said wouldn't get off the ground is flying high. The Youth Enrichment Program is an after-school program providing day care, food and educational assistance to more than 2,600 elementary students in Caddo Parish since its beginning on July 18, 1986. Because of funding shortages in its early days, some advocates of the program thought it wouldn't last.

"We started in a bad economy,".