The Gazette from Cedar Rapids, Iowa • 2

Wm Appal staflnfii- wl 5 yeairs I 0518 chain could be attached for the tow truck to yank them out of the way, Rodman said. "We worked several days without going home," Rodman said. "You couldn't get home. And if you did, you might not get back." Gazette files tell how the storm began as rain over central and southwest Iowa on a Saturday night. It continued as snow over much of the state through Sunday, Monday, and into Tuesday morning.

Schools, plants and stores closed Monday. An ambulance attendant donned skis to get around. Snowmobiles and toboggans helped carry pregnant women in labor to hospitals. More than a dozen Iowans died in the storm, most due to their attempts to shovel wet, heavy snow. Snowfall records were shattered.

At Dubuque, 19.2 inches fell and drifts of up to 16 feet were common. Although temperatures dipped into the teens that Tuesday, they reversed themselves nearly as quickly. Wednesday saw temperatures in the 40s. Similar warm weather continued into the weekend. The snow melted away, assisting the last of the road-clearing efforts, and patches of green grass began to peek through everywhere.

A week or so later, all that remained were snowbanks and memories. By Kurt Rogahn Gazette staff writer It was deep. It was shocking. And it was April. Snow paralyzed Iowa 15 years ago this week.

More than a foot of snow fell in the violent spring storm of April 8 and 9, 1973. But it wouldn't stay put. Pushed by stiff winds, the snow drifted over highways faster than plows could scrape it away. Cars and trucks stopped in their tracks. Scores of travelers were stranded.

Even the plows got stuck. In some counties, those plows had been removed from trucks just a week or so earlier for summer storage. They were hurriedly remounted as the surprise storm grew worse. Drifts in some places stood higher than the top of the motor grader. Don Rodman of Cedar Rapids remembers driving through the city's northeast side as he tried to keep the roads clear.

"I couldn't see over the top of the V-plow," Rodman recalled Friday. Now art assistant program director in the Streets Department, Rodman remembers working long shifts on the road grader during that storm. At one point, the grader made its way through northeast-side streets accompanied by an end loader and a tow truck, Rodman recalled. The end loader was there to dig around abandoned cars just so a 1 rvr" -4 T- I v. I I.

Gazette file photo Snowbound cars littered Blairs Ferry Road near Council Street fifteen years ago today, after a storm dumped over a foot of snow in Iowa. Sale of KOCR-TV nullified; owner buys back property -All Look out Siskel Ebert: Here are the real picks jT 11 right, cinema buffs, let's end the suspense. The winner of the most coveted Oscar at the Academy Awards presentation Monday night: "In the Wee Wee Hours. Best Documentary Short. Like virtually everyone else in the world, including many of the people who will be voting, I have not seen this film.

I predict it will win because it is described as a "searing film" about the homeless, photographed in alleys and under downtown freeways in Los Angeles. It sounds suitably depressing, gloriously relevant, and I'm sure it provides all sorts of damning evidence of society's callous attitude toward the less fortunate. Plus, it was made by two students at USC. I don't see how it could possibly lose, unless they made the mistake of filming in color. I haven't seen most of the other nominees, either, which makes me feel particularly confident about the predictions that follow.

In the past, particularly when I was regularly reviewing movies, I frequently let my predictions be influenced by the quality of the performances or films involved. That's almost always a mistake because quality is only one of the factors involved in the balloting, and not a very big one, at that. FOR INSTANCE, a few years ago I said in a review of "Breaking Away" that the award for best supporting actor was no longer up for grabs: Paul Dooley had an absolute lock on it with his touching, funny, unforgettable portrayal of the-young bicyclist's father. I'll stand by that statement even today, and I don't think there's any question he would have won if he'd been nominated. He wasn't.

A few months ago I came stumbling out of "The Big Easy" certain it would be a top contender for best picture, best cinematography, best musical score and a few dozen other "bests." It wasn't nominated for anything. So, unhampered by first-hand knowledge, I hereby present the likely winners. Best Picture: The only one of the five I saw was "Broadcast News," which was sort of interesting but not the kind of movie to get the top award. No chance. Of the others, "The Last Emperor" seems pretentious and expensive enough, but it wasn't a David Lean picture.

"Fatal Attraction" was too popular, and "Hope and Glory" was a John Boorman film, so it was probably too sensitive and understated. The winner by default: "Moonstruck." Best Actor: Steve Martin in "Roxanne" is 1988's Paul Dooley: outstanding, and not nominated. William Hurt and Jack Nicholson were Oscared only recently, so they're out of the picture. Everybody says Robin Williams just played himself in "Good Morning Vietnam," and besides, Vietnam was last year's hot topic. Marcello Mastroianni could win, but the voters are unlikely to take a chance on honoring both him and director Bernardo Bertolucci in the same year.

You can't have an Oscar winning list looking like the appetizer menu at Pasta-R-Us, right? I'll give it to Michael Douglas for "Wall Street," even though I've seen that movie and thought he did an excellent job. This was a big-budget Hollywood production dedicated to exposing the crassness of millionaire lifestyles, and if that isn't hypocritical enough to win an Oscar, nothing is. Best Actress: Not the legendary Meryl Streep for "Ironweed," nor Holly Hunter, who was good in "Broadcast News" but who, unlike Streep, is going to have to display some range before she becomes a legend. Female homicidal psychopaths aren't what the Academy looks for, so scratch Glenn Close in "Fatal Attraction." Nobody saw Sally Kirkland in "Anna." That leaves, unlikely as it may sound, Cher. Supporting Actor: Sean Connery was great in "The Untouchables." I didn't see it, but Sean Connery is always great.

He was great in "Robin and Marian" and "The Man Who Would Be King" and "The Wind and the Lion" and "Outland" and I'll bet you haven't seen any of them. The Academy voters have, though. He'll get it. Supporting Actress: Olympia Dukakis is supposed to be the best, and "Moonstruck" has all the momentum this year. Still, I'll hedge that a little bit, and only partly because the voters may be unwilling to play favorites in an election year.

The thing to remember is that this is the category that most frequently goes to the least likely candidate. Remember Beatrice Straight in Of course you don't. She only had about four lines. Ann Sothern, whose movie and TV credits includes the title roles of "Maisie," "Private Secretary" and "My Mother the Car," is the sentimental favorite for "The Whales of August," no offense intended. But if the trend toward inexplicability continues, expect Anne Ramsey to win for her performance in the title role of "Throw Mama from the Train" She played Mama, not the train.

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This year, he's a contender for the Heisman Trophy. Read Sports to see what a difference a year has made for Iowa's senior quarterback. PUT SOME SEOUL IN YOUR VACATION. With the Summer Olympics in South Korea five months away, now's the time start making plans to attend. Get the details in Leisure.

Fitzgerald said was not happy with some of the dry wall work and that the amount owed represented a partial payment he had not made. "It was a lien on a contract, that's all, and it was taken care of," Fitzgerald said. "It is not a big thing, over and done with." Friday's sale would not have interfered with the station's efforts to get back on the air or with its operation, if permission is obtained from the Federal Communications Commission to resume programming, Swift added. KOCR, channel 28, was ordered off the air by the FCC March 25 because of expired licenses. An attorney for the FCC said the station found itself without a license because a $150 check accompanying the license application "bounced." Fitzgerald said there were funds in an account to cover the check.

Fitzgerald said plans are progressing to get the station back on the air. He said KOCR officials hae met with the FCC and received the assurance from the FCC that "they want us back on the air." All that remains to be done, he said, is "a matter of going through the paperwork required." By Dick Hogan and Nancy Stevens Gazette staff writers KOCR-TV owner Jerry Fitzgerald didn't use a check Friday to settle a dispute with an unhappy contractor. Instead, he plunked down almost $5,000 in cash to get rid of -a mechanic's lien against station property. Fitzgerald's interest in the station's real estate at 605 Boyson Rd. NE was sold at public auction Friday morning for $1,102.79.

That sale was nullified late Friday afternoon when Fitzgerald paid that amount plus the mechanic's lien. Fitzgerald said last night court papers were not served on compa-t ny officials and he was unaware of the auction until contacted by the successful bidder's attorney. The sale, conducted by Linn sheriffs Lt. David Webster, was forced by a mechanic's lien filed by Jim Baskerville of Baskerville Dry Wall of Cedar Rapids. Baskerville claimed he was not paid for $3,785 worth of work done last August.

Attorney Steve Swift, acting on behalf of Baskerville, was the lone bidder at Friday's sale at the Courthouse. He offered $1,000 plus the sheriff costs of $102.79 for Metro Program Network (the corporation's name) interest in the real estate. Webster said he was not aware of any other outstanding liens. Fitzgerald had one year to redeem his property interest by paying the $1,102.79 to Baskerville, plus $3,844.68 (the original bill plus interest and other costs), Swift said. Late Friday afternoon, Swift said, Fitzgerald paid off the entire judgment $4,947.47 in cash, canceling the sale.

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