Texas

Dispatcher apologizes for 911 comment

A 911 dispatcher was reprimanded for responding to a mother’s plea for help with an unruly child by saying: “OK. Do you want us to come over to shoot her?”

“I admit what I did. It was stupid, it was inexcusable and I’m sorry,” said dispatcher Mike Forbess.

The woman, identified only as Lori in Wednesday’s Fort Worth Star-Telegram, said she recently phoned authorities after coming home to find her daughters fighting. She told the dispatcher that her 12-year-old had kicked a hole in the door.

After Forbess’ comment, the woman fell silent for about five seconds.

Forbess, a dispatcher for five years at the Watauga Department of Public Safety, told her he was joking and apologized. But the woman was offended, and Forbess immediately told his supervisor what happened.

“This type of response cannot be tolerated, and this letter shall serve as notice that any future unprofessional responses while answering the 911 line will be cause for termination,” Police Chief David Van Laar wrote to Forbess.

Connecticut

Yale, Columbia students to strike

Graduate students at Yale and Columbia Universities approved strikes Wednesday to try to force administrators to recognize their right to unionize.

Students at both campuses voted to strike for one week beginning Monday, said Anthony Dugdale, a research analyst at UNITE/HERE, which represents workers in the apparel and textile industries, industrial laundries, hotels, casinos and other businesses.

During the strike, about 500 pro-union Yale graduate teaching assistants, and more than 1,000 at Columbia, will not teach classes, host review sessions or participate in research.

The strike will be the first by Ivy League graduate students since the National Labor Relations Board ruled last year that graduate students at private colleges are students, not workers, and cannot form unions.

Arkansas

Lead paint leads to karaoke recall

Wal-Mart is recalling about 220,000 children’s karaoke machines over concerns about lead paint on the control buttons, the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced Wednesday.

Bentonville-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has reported no injuries as a result of the paint, the commission said.

Lead poisoning in children is associated with behavioral problems, learning disabilities, hearing problems and growth retardation, the CPSC noted.

The recall affects the Nu-tronix Karaoke Cassette Player and Recorder with digital radio and alarm features. The gray and purple machine, which reads “Nu-tronix” on the front, comes with a microphone and two cassette tapes.

The karaoke machines, made in China, were sold in Wal-Mart stores nationwide from June 2003 through March 2005 for about $20.

Consumers should return the machines to the nearest Wal-Mart to receive a refund, or call Wal-Mart at (800) 925-6278 for more details.