The Desert Sun from Palm Springs, California • 23

C6- Hit ntstn Sill filn Sprint Cain-Tittfi) Fiknri 21 1110 CHICAGO MISSED SNOW BATTLE Everyone in town grateful except firms who invested in expensive removal equipment By JAMES LITRE Associated Press Writer CHICAGO (AP) The full-pitched battle Chicagoans waged last year against mountains of snow and temperatures that made the air crackle has de-escalated to a skirmish this winter Everyone is grateful except the folks in snow business Richard Czech president of RMC Enterprises one of the biggest snow-removal firms has $250000 worth of brand new snow-fighting equipment and no snow to fight Czech meet the interest payments on his new machines but he still scans the want ads because many competitors are worse off and selling equipment at offers even a man in hock finds hard to refuse Steve Breault a local snow blower retailer was doing fine last fall as people anticipated another severe winter November came and phffft business dropped The Villa Olivia Country Club and Ski Resort in nearby Bartlett has as many golfers these days as skiers making do on artificial snow A good portion of the country stretching from the Midwest to Maine is normally buried in snow by this time each winter This year has been almost snow-free Ski resorts from the Poconos to the Green Mountains are struggling to survive this winter But in this metropolis people are relieved to get a breather from shoveling and shivering The National Weather Service said last was the worst winter since the agency began keeping records in 1870 It was the second coldest winter on record and the snowiest ever 874 indies overall including a one-day depth of 29 inches and 94 consecutive days with an inch of snow or more on the ground As of mid-February this year the temperature was averaging 4 degrees above normal and 15 degrees above last year winter was more of a panic than anything else and people were talking 200 inches of snow this winter Boy were they ever off the mark" said Czeck know three maybe four people who thought build empires overnight with a jeep a plow and a couple pieces of fleet moves when three inches of snow falls An average season means seven or eight plow joos Last winter RMCs fleet responded 20 times including major storms of 8 10 11 and 18 indies bought endloaders I bought payloaders I bought said deck customers told me point-oianx after the winter that if I wanted to keep the account better get this RMC has hit the streets Just five times this winter Total snow accumulation? Just 194 inches This winter tension in Chicago has come from teacher and firefighters strikes Last winter it was the snow and cold A snowplow driver after 18 straight hours on the job drove his vehicle into dozens of cars killing one man One man froze his car inside solid ice because the neighbor took the parking spot Peoples Gas Light A Coke Co the major supplier said current orders for natural gas are down by 105 percent 1 Melted away with the anger and frustration is the shut-in phenomenon that made eating and sleeping major indoor sports in Chicago and produced a minor autumn Social service agencies like Little Brothers of the Poor which last winter handled three times the normal 1400 calls from elderly shut-ins are breathing easier are still up above average but nothing like last a spokeswoman said lot of what we do are home calls and last year we got snagged just trying to get essentials to people that desperately needed them This year we get out a little But others bemoan the mild temperatures and snowless skies has been the most devastating year you could dream of" said Dan Corrado owner-manager of the Bartlett ski center a bright side to this and you think so if you could see the linings of my pockets that got as many people playing golf here now as Breault said it long ago that customers lined up outside Southwest Lawn Mower and Snow Blower Co to buy snow off the track we sold three times as many this year as last Everyone armed themselves during the summer and fall months Nobody wanted to get caught without Breault said snow throwers go maybe two a week now Service is down even more But got to snow Mayor Jane Byrne certainly thought so For $15 million the city bought 60 highlift trucks 20 snowblowing trucks 200000 tons of rock salt 125 tow trucks 90 plows and 165 four-wheel drive vehicles with small plows for residential streets The sight of sanitation department crews going through their paces in a parking lot on a warm dry fall afternoon left little doubt as to where priorities lay Refuses to pay 6-Month Certificate 30-Month Certificate Woman still pushing drive to kill the IRS rM i I 111 i iP- ry A To protect your future two investments may be better than one By CYNTHIA KYLE Associated Press Writer UNADILLA Mich (AP) Lynn Johnston is certain the Internal Revenue Service has shadowed her read her mail picked over her garbage and scared off would-be beau At 33 ha- hair is slowly turning gray but nothing is slowing her self-proclaimed campaign to put the IRS out of business Miss Johnston author of Afraid of the IRS?" remains a on She always pays property taxes late and paid income taxes in years She is orchestrating seven legal battles against taxes Six of them are in federal courts and one is headed to the Michigan Supreme Court Her first court fight in 1975 in Grand Rapids was over $1634 in federal taxes she refused to pay went to trial picked my own jurors did my own research and won It was says the vivacious self-employed lecturer writer and researcher In the past she has modeled sold antiques peddled advertising and worked for Michigan Bell Telephone Co Her latest fight which so far has reached the state Court of Appeals where she lost is over the federal excise tax on her telephone bill Miss Johnston went without a telephone for 22 months at me stretch missed two funerals I missed lectures I missed dates I was stood up five times and a single woman she says with a grin In every case her own lawyer arguing complicated court rules and tax laws despite no formal legal training you know what your rights are you don't have any she says you you get confused real The personal war against taxes started as part of a Vietnam War protest when she was 18 headed for a teaching degree at Western Michigan University She refused to pay excise taxes on telephone calls then I want my money spent for the When the fighting was over her low-risk tax protest wasn't By then she had decided that taxes on telephone conversations are like the First came to realize the excise tax was wholly inappropriate You're held back from talking that much more if on a limited budget like I am most of the She paid income taxes I owe refuses to pay into Social Security but eventually comes up with property taxes because they go toward basic services never been convicted of tax evasion and has only once been questioned at home by IRS agents you have to do is tell them to get off your property and they she says She lives with a pedigreed angora rabbit in a weatherbeaten 1837 house that leans has no closets and is cluttered with Victorian-era finishings Her income how much she tell conies from writing research and contributions While saying she would rather spend her time pursuing quieter research about such things as human health Miss Johnston insists her anti-tax days over Internal Revenue Service has always seemed confiscatory to me Freedom is my highest Miss Johnston says either free or not free not going to give up as long as I think freedom being properly she says am going to live all my life as a free person Hard choices in life develop character The best way to protect your savings today is to diversify your investments That way you know you're protected whether interest rates go or down Come to Coast and let us show you how tAnnual yield when fundi held for 1 year on US Treasury Bill diieounl tales Rates effective Feb 2K to Mir 5 fRetc effective Mar 1 through Mai 31 Federal regulations require a aubatantia! penalty for early withdrawal on term certificate accounts (This is an annual effective yield assuming reinvestment of principal and interest at maturity at the lame late However reus are subject to change at renewal datel Federal regulations prohibit the compounding of interest If your savings total more than $10000 this suggestion may surprise you: Don't deposit it all in a 6-Month Certificate account Do consider splitting the deposit Put some of money in a 6-Month Certificate 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Coast 6-Month Certificates are excellent shortterm high-yield accounts The fact is however that the rates do fluctuate from week to week We can quote you the rate we'll be paying for accounts opened today But there's no way of predicting what rate we'll be quoting in six months wnen the account you open today matures The rate could be more than your account earns now Or it could be less Coast 30-Month Certificates are more of a long-term alternative The advantage of course is that while 6-Month Certificate account rates could fluctuate up or down during the next 30 the Coast 30-Month Certificate segment of your savings is guaranteed to continue earning at today's high rates That's especially important to people who depend on Coast Federal's regular interest checks This combination has a distinct advantage for you as a saver because it takes a lot of the uncertainty out of having to make a decision every six months And you lock in high interest earnings COAST FEDERAL SAVINGS BBSS FSOC THE MONEY Ceasiriiiial taWnga ana Lean asasrlaUiin OWuaa amiiQinia raWamla Assam oust tty Ulan WflWiRllNM9l9MMN IIHMIHMWaW Coast has the answers to your questions Call 800-252-0037 toll-free CH-60NU COLORVWEO CASSETTE KCOHDH Santa Monica: 718 W9rtwaBM (213)3634746 San Pedro: 10lh and Pndtic Am (213) 631-2341 Sun City: 27190 Sun City BM (714) 6784605 teUDK 117St UmluraBM (213) 3454614 IbfUd I fifty 10101 Rfiftrakto Dl (213) 965-3400 HMk lansfo Sq Shopping Ctr (714) 6324610 Waal Covina: 100 North Cams St (213) 967-1591 2 CiiyBtvd East (714) 534-1061 464 SouthnUn Canyon Dr (714) 3234626 Panorama CHy 6450 Vhn NuysW (213) 892-1171 Pooadana: 123 South Laha Am (213) 7824164 Ban Bernardino: 245 MM Highland Am (714) 68S46B1 Bon Dingo: 8778 Lara San I 120 Lai Via Dr (213) 2 Log Angefet Main Office: 9th ana HO (213) 623-3233 Diamond Bar 379 South Diamond Bar BM (714) 595-7525 Downey: 10033 Paramount El Monte 11001 East Valley UA 1213)443-9941 El TbroLaguna HMr 23562 El lSoRd (714) 7706066 Fulforton: 1 72 North Raymond Am (714) 992-4200 Glendale: 22S West Colorado Si (213) 246-2491 Hornet 40548 East Florida Am (714) 652 4404 Vermont (213) 662-3151 nIOWAiM714) 948-1131 Huntington Bho 19693 Broofctxjrsl La Mirada: 15220 RoMCram Am (714) 522-6751 Long Baach: (Downtown) 400 PacAc Am (213) 437-7481 Long Booch: (El Dorado Porfc) 6551 East Spring 8L (213) 421-1781 Loo Angoloo: 1130 South Bavarty Dl (213) 5534622 Loo Angoloo: (Chdc Contor) 201 South Broadway (213) 625-1102 l3S8KreBM (213) 386-1266 St (213) 6374625 1 1 Anoalai' IKOSouthSotosT (213) 296-4510 Norttwldgo: 16601 Dewnehire SL (213) 3564551 Q7KIS SHSMOS' PORTABLE COLOR CAMERA ANO RECORDER CASSETTE RECOAOES TELE VIDEO SYSTEMS' llVBEOMSTAUAnONSWVmgO ICMjNgf 12407 SouBiHawthoma DM (213 6794266 762 VELLA RD: PALM SPRINGS l323-4206f.