IN BRIEF

ODESSA, Texas (AP) Ä When Elbert Lewis got his draft notice, he told his wife goodbye. Then he thought of his children. And his seven grandchildren. And his great-grandchild.

The Selective Service was cracking down on potential draft dodgers, and government records showed Lewis failed to register as required by law when he turned 18 in November.

The problem: Lewis turned 18 in November 1932.

The records showed his birthdate was Nov. 11, 1976, instead of in 1914, which makes him 80.

What's more, Lewis did register for the draft Ä in 1941. He served on a Navy anti-aircraft cruiser during World War II and received a Purple Heart.

When Lewis got the draft compliance notice Saturday, he broke the news to his wife, Janie.

''He came into the den and said, 'Well, I have to tell you goodbye,''' she said. ''Then we called our kids. We just cut up and acted silly about it, really.''

''We really got a laugh out of it, and so did all four of my kids,'' Lewis said.

He dashed off a copy of his birth certificate and honorable discharge to the Selective Service. The agency removed his name from its list, spokesman Lou Brodsky said.

PHOENIX (AP) Ä Dallas Mayor Steve Bartlett says Dallas is the nation's 7th-largest city, and he has the backing of the Census Bureau. But Phoenix Mayor Skip Rimsza says they both are wrong.

New York-based Market Statistics puts Phoenix about 9,200 people ahead of Dallas, Rimsza points out. The study starts with Census Bureau statistics and plugs in birth, death rates and migration rates.

The study puts Phoenix's 1994 population at 1,055,100, compared with Dallas' 1,045,900.

Census estimates for 1994 have not been released.

Rimsza compared the rankings to watching a horse race: It all depends on where you sit in the stands.

''From the angle we look at, we're ahead,'' Rimsza says. ''We're clearly using the latest data.''

Dallas disagrees.

''I will tell you in all his speeches, he says that Dallas is seventh,'' Bartlett mayoral assistant Kristi Sherrill said. ''And there's going to be a big Forbes' (magazine) article that says we're seventh.''

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