The Miami News from Miami, Florida • 6

The Miami News Monday, June 27,1983 5A aw-) The Miami News Monday, June 27,1983 5A LO deny ce5 turrolls th fil 'opi Ow turens theo coll Bin Turnpike boxes lifeline for stranded motorists BETSY AUGUST Miami News Staff 6 We've set them up a mile apart, so the farthest you'd be from a box, a service plaza or an exit is a half mile 7 I John Black, Dept. of Transportation Teen sought for questioning after he reports shooting Metro Police are seeking the identity of a teenager who disappeared after he ran Into a laundromat and asked someone to call police to report his friend had been shot while the two of them rode together on a bicycle. The wounded youth, unidentified but believed to be in his late teens, ran into an adjacent field and died, police said. Police wish to question the youth in the laundromat to determine whether he knows who shot his friend. Police said a gray car drove up beside the two youths yesterday afternoon and opened fire.

Witnesses could not say how many were in the car or describe them, police said. No suspects had been arrested by last night. The shooting occurred at NW 93rd Terrace and 22nd Avenue, just a few feet from a killing Thursday night during a squabble between a youth gang and neighborhood residents. The victim in that shooting, Dennis Surmons, 17, of 2150 NW 93rd was shot in front of his house, according to Metro homicide detective Mark Forare. Forare said Freddy Bradley, 20, of 2125 NW 87th a member of the 22nd Avenue Players street gang, has been charged with second-degree murder.

He is in Dade County jail. Forare said police have found nothing to link the two killings. you'd be from a box, a service plaza or an exit is a half mile," said Black. "And they're on opposite sides of the road from each other, so you don't have to cross the highway." For the past few months, the motorist aid program has been operating along the turnpike in Central Florida and the Beeline Expressway in Orlando. Boxes along the Turnpike Homestead Extension should be working by this weekend, Black said.

The $3.45 million project, which was delayed four months by the Louisiana contractor, Jack Harper, was funded solely by toll revenues. "The only people actually paying for it are the people using the turnpike," Black said. "There's no tax money involved." Transportation officials say they don't expect the new system will be faced with the same problems that caused the demise of the 1-95 call box program during the early 1970s. That project was plagued by frequent breakdowns, vandalized boxes and dispatch operators who were not bilingual. Beginning this afternoon, help for motorists stranded on the Florida Turnpike will be no farther away than a half-mile walk and the touch of a button on a series of call boxes.

The blue and white boxes, attached to white steel poles, are not telephones. They are push-button computer systems which transmit microwave signals to Florida Highway Patrol stations in West Palm Beach and Orlando. To call for help, a motorist must open the front of the blue $3,500 box and press one of four buttons service, wrecker, medical assistance-police and cancel. Motorists should then release the handle and wait for a signal that indicates the Highway Patrol has dispatched service. "You can't use them to talk to anyone," said John Black, state Department of Transportation turnpike project engineer.

"You just walk up to the box and fol I low the instructions." There is no charge for using one of the 552 call boxes, but motorists will have to pay for roadside service, such as fixing a flat tire, said Black. State transportation officials say that by this afternoon when emergency boxes along the turnpike's southernmost 25 miles are switched-on all 265 miles of the highway, from Golden Glades to Wildwood, will be lined with working boxes. "We've set them up a mile apart, so the farthest I Striking a pose Relief near for lines at Justice Building LINDA JONES Miami News Reporter Rookie officer involved in crash Rookie Metro police officer William Fleming, 30, involved in a car crash while rushing to the scene of a fatal shooting at NW 93rd Terrace and 22nd Avenue yesterday, was charged with running a stop sign. The injured included Fleming, three women and two children, police said. Fleming was treated at North Shore Hospital for minor injuries and released.

Sharon Florence, 31, was admitted to Jackson Memorial Hospital with a fractured ankle. The following were treated at ti Jackson for minor injuries and released: Linda Ann Anderson, 25, Erica Wright, 3, Lori Bivins, 26, and Anttwan Crockett, 6. Sgt. Ronald Shaughnessy said Fleming was driving with his emergency lights flashing and his sirens screaming when he ran the stop sign. His view may have been obstructed by a concrete fence in the yard of a home, Shaughnessy said.

Shaughnessy said department policy requires police en route to emergencies to "yield the right of way at inter, sections. We don't have to stop but we have to slow down and check to see that the intersection Is clear." Relief may be in sight for traffic violators who go to the Metro Justice Building to pay traffic tickets and find they have a sweltering wait in long lines that often snake through the building's main lobby. With the completion of a nearly $200,000 renovation project in the county traffic division, the waiting time in those lines could be cut in half by summer's end, says Donna Ambrose, executive officer of the traffic division. The renovation, begun in February, is expected to be completed by the end of August, according to Don Crounse, head of Dade County's planning, design and engineering section. Cost is estimated between $150,000 and $200,000 with the money to come from the court facilities fund, Crounse said.

The way things are currently set up, 250 to 300 customers are served daily by the traffic division, with the highest number waiting during peak hours of 9 a.m. and about 2 p.m., Ambrose said. Those paying tickets go through the main entrance and form a line in the lobby, causing congestion in the lobby and security problems in the building that houses courtrooms on the upper levels, Ambrose said. Once those paying tickets get to the counter, time is wasted while clerks leave the counter to look up traffic records. When the renovation is completed, customers will be able to go directly to the traffic division through a new entrance adjacent to the main entrance.

The limited counter space will be expanded to accommodate 18 windows and a signal light will automatically indicate which of the clerks are available. Computer terminals will be situated at the counter to keep clerks from having to travel back and forth for files. Graham holds education hearing Gov. Bob Graham will hold one of a series of statewide public hearings on education at 3 p.m. today at American Senior 4' High School at 18350 NW 67th Ave.

in Hialeah. Frus- Ap. trated by the Legislature's refusal to fund education I. '-'t reforms, Graham is con- t-ivi ducting a two-day tour across the state asking 04,,, parents, teachers, busi- nessmen and community I. leaders to voice their corn- i mitment and concerns 2 about edudation.

Law-Gov. Bob Graham makers on Friday passed an education reform package but fell short of mandating the necessary-funding. Graham will also visit Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Tampa and Orlando today and tomorrow. 1 row5 c. 4 .::,.7:.:,..., i' '''J.

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Officer's bullet grazes man's head A man grazed in the head by a Metro-Dade policeman's bullet bonded out of Dade County Jail Saturday night after posting a $3,500 bond. John Self, 20, a recent graduate of Biscayne College, received only minor injuries when he was shot Saturday afternoon by rookie Metro policeman Juan L. Sanchez, 25. The bullet grazed the skin of Self's head but did not penetrate his skull. He was treated at Palmetto General Hospital and released.

Police said Self, a passenger in a car driven by Michael Ewart, 19, was arguing with Ewart as they drove out of a shopping center parking lot at NW 167th Street and 67th Avenue. Sanchez and his partner, officer Norman Nardi, 36 both in plainclothes and patroling in an unmarked car stopped the car, police said. Police said Self grabbed Nardi's arm while the driver pulled away, dragging the officer alongside the car. Nardi managed to draw his gun and shot out the rear tire. Sanchez fired twice into the rear windshield, striking Self.

Self was charged with aggravated battery. Ewart was not injured and has not been charged, police said. Little Havana police station petition gets 19,000 names i BILL GJEBRE Miami News Reporter Identities of two dead men sought Metro police are seeking the identities of two men whose decomposing bodies were found over the weekend. The body of a 25-30 year-old man, possibly Latin and clad in blue jeans and a long-sleeved plaid shirt, was found Saturday by fishermen near a remote field at SW 280th Street and 100th Avenue in South Dade, police said. He had been shot to death, police said.

Metro police called to a Pub lix store at 9041 SW 107th Ave. by patrons who noticed a foul odor found a man's body stuffed inside the trunk of a car. The exact cause of death has not been determined, pending an autopsy. Anyone with information should call Metro police at 547-7456. 1 The Miami News WILLIAM SNYDER performing with other members of the troupe to raise money for their trip to Israel this summer as representatives in the Cultural Olympics in Tel Aviv.

Jorge Pino, 18, and Deana Musa, 15, come to the dramatic end of their dance performance at Loehmann's Plaza, 189th Street and Biscayne Blvd. The teens, part of Rocky's Gang, were A Little Havana merchants group has collected 19,000 of the 25,000 signatures they hope will pressure the Miami City Commission to open a police mini-station in their area. Leonel Alonso, head of the Little Havana Merchants and Property Onwers Association, predicted his group will have 25,000 signatures ready for presentation on a petition to the City Commission in about two weeks. "The neighborhood wants to know the police," said Alonso, adding the group is willing to buy a trailer to house the mini-station until the city could find a permanent location. Jack Eads, Miami assistant city manager who oversees police matters, said the department is studying the concept of neighborhood police stations but no final decision has been made.

Police officials have said they are hoping to establish four mini-stations by fall in Overtown, Liberty City, Allapattah and Little Havana. Besides improving police-community relations, Alonso said the mini-station would be a crime deterrent. The merchants association urges that a mini-station be located on SW 8th Street, somewhere between 8th Avenue and 14th Avenue. Alonso said the group does not want the mini-station to have jail facilities. Eads agreed a mini-station would improve communications between police and area residents, "providing an opportunity for informal action." If the city establishes an office in one neighborhood it will do the same for a number of others, Eads added.

If and when mini-stations are established, police officials have said, they will operate eight to 10 hours daily, from three to five days a week. Each location will be manned by a police officer and a public service aide, according to police officials. Row leads to stabbing death A Liberty City man has been charged with second-degree murder following the stabbing death Saturday night of Timothy Smith, 34, of 3148 NW 59th Metro police said. Police said Smith was trying to break up an argument between his girlfriend, Barbara Binghams, and Cecilia Annetta Howard, in front of Juanita's Market at 3009 NW 62nd St. Smith was then confronted by the woman's husband, Charlie Howard, 32, of 3062 NW 61st St.

Police said Howard pulled a knife and stabbed Smith In the neck. Howard fled and was stopped by police a few blocks away at NW 60th Street and NW 30th Avenue, police said. Smith was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital where he died an hour Miami radio station is hit by belt tightening at public radio Airwaves plight: WLRN faces cuts ELLIS BERGER Miami News Reporter the present 24 hours a day to 18. But that step will be taken only if it's the only way to save the jobs of the station's eight full-time and seven part-time employes, he said. WLRN is owned by the Dade School Board, which provides half the station's 8300,000 annual budget.

Besides school board funding, about 10 per cent of WLRN's budget comes from public contributions. The state and federal governments kick in the rest. The station is currently paying about 88,500 a year to NPR for use of its programming services, Kobzina said. WLRN (91.3 FM) is one of 278 stations around the country that has depended on the faltering National Public Radio (NPR) for the past several years as its primary programming source. Founded in 1970 in Washington, D.C.

as a non-profit corporation, NPR is expected to be running a deficit of $9.1 million by the end of the year. A full third of its 400- plus employes were recently dismissed as part of its belt-tightening efforts, and reorganization under new officers has begun in a final attempt at survival. Kobzina says he doesn't believe these added costs will drastically affect the Miami station, although he concedes that on-air time may have to be reduced from Dade police break up cockfight Five men face gambling and unlawful-assembly charges in the wake of a Sunday evening cockfight broken up by Metro Dade police. The two officers who had been observing the fight In a makeshift wooden enclosure at the center of a field at SW 130th Street and 133rd Avenue also cited 18 others for unlawful assembly. They seized 9 fighting cocks, one of which was injured, and turned the birds over to Metro Dade Animal Control, police said.

With National l'ublic Radio skidding into dire financial straits, its Miami affiliate radio station WLRN may be forced to cut back its air time in order to save the jobs of Its 15 employes. The Miami station has been hurt by National Public Radio's cost-conscious cutbacks, and as a result, it will wind up spending more for less next year, said WLRN station manager Roger Kobzina. "Our assessment to NPR for networked service will probably double," said Kobzina. "At the same time, that service will be less than what we have been getting." Kathy McCarthy Please see RADIO, 8A 1.