European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 13, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 the stars and stripes Friday september 13, 1985 Reagan promotes fax plan to senior citizens Tampa Fla. A president Reagan noting his own age and approaching retirement explained his tax overhaul program to senior citizens thursday As a Way to better the lives of their children and grandchildren. If Congress approves his program Reagan said younger americans would keep More of their incomes through lower taxes find More jobs in a healthy icon omy and Benefit from a rising Standard of living. In t that what we want for our children and grand children he asked. Speaking to the senior citizens forum on tax re form the 74-year-old president commented you and i have much in common. We be lived out a great part of our  but now he told his audience he needs their help in winning congressional approval for his program. Before the president spoke meeting organizers passed out stamped pre addressed Post cards and asked Mem Bers of the audience to sign the printed message urging passage of the tax plan and Send the cards to their congressional representatives. Reagan repeated the request then Knelt on one knee to sign a giant copy of the card. Warning that special interests arc fighting his proposals Reagan said that preserving tax shelters and loopholes now in the tax Laws would make the rest of us pay for the special treatment that they and their big Money clients  if you re going to out flank those special interests and get this tax Reform passed a certain senior citizen is going to need your help a Fella named Ronald Rea Gan the president said. He also charged that present deductions had failed to keep up with inflation. The tax code has in effect made it More and More expensive to care for older parents or give children the Good upbringing and education they deserve he said. The president also repeated his pledge to the senior citizens that nothing in our tax plan would affect your social Security checks in any Way period. The president derided an unnamed prominent National figure for saying that his tax plan would Hurt the Middle class. If i May use a word that people our age will remember Balderdash Reagan said. He was apparently referring to remarks Over the weekend by new York gov. Mario Cuomo a Democrat that the Reagan tax plan would be devastating to the Middle class because it says to the Middle class that with one hand we want you to reach Down and help us lift the poor. And with the other we want you to boost the  draft verification Rule for colleges retracted Washington a the depart ment of education has quietly dropped its controversial Rule requiring colleges to ver Ify that male students receiving Federal financial Aid have registered for the draft. The Rule had been set to go into effect this fall. A department spokesman Aid thursday the rate of compliance among Young men it so High that it in t necessary to have col lege Aid administrators police the require ment. It s been going about 98 percent perfect so there s no need to verify said Duncan Helmrich. There s just no reason to hold the schools up on awarding Aid he said. Things Are going so Well that we re not going to bother to have the schools seek  Congress in 1982 passed an amendment sponsored by rep. Gerald Solomon r . Requiring student Aid recipients to sign forms certifying that they had registered for the draft. The education department then pro posed a Rule holding colleges accountable some students and civil liberties group challenged the Solomon amendment but the supreme court upheld the Law 6-2, on july 5, 1984. Chief Justice Warren e. Bur Ger said it was plainly a rational Means to improve compliance with the registration requirement con Man jailed Tor ordering victims deaths Jacksonville Fla. A a Confidence Man who operated a bogus overseas jobs Agency was sentenced to 12 years in prison wednesday after he pleaded guilty to hiring a policeman posing As a contract killer to silence 29 disgruntled clients. Howard Wayne Crawford 43, accepted More than $300,000 from some 800 clients charging them $650 to $750 each for for eign jobs that did t exist assistant state attorney e. Mcrae Mathis said. Apparently All the Money Crawford collected has been spent. We know he bought a Bow police detective Claude Locke foraging skunks part of the Charm of sunny California los Angeles a skunks foraging for scarce food and moisture Are making a stink in unusually High numbers on sunny Southern California s affluent coast this year turning up in houses garbage cans and streets. From Santa Barbara to san Diego it s the affluent Beach communities with watered lawns and tasty garbage that the creatures seem to favor. Complaints about skunks have risen As much As so percent officials say. Skunks Don t like coming Down where we Are but when they Don t have a Choice they take their chances. Threat ened by a Lack of food Supply there is no area they won t go in said Bruce Richards assistant director of the los Angeles county department of animal care and control. Our Calls increased 50 percent or More Richards said. We find skunks very Active even to the Point that we will pick them up in people s trash cans in their houses in the streets. We find them in surprising places. A month ago we picked up one in someone s  two species the common striped Skunk and the smaller spotted Skunk live in Southern California. Skunk stench a Complex mix of More than 100 organic Fulfur com pounds is one of the most powerful scents known. Bob Nickolson a retired Northrop Engineer who lives in Palos Verdys estates has kept Busy catching 16s skunks in traps at his Home in the past 24 years. They seem to come into my Yard. I Don t know Why Nickolson said. Another resident of Palos Verdes estates Ward Proudfoot said that definitely skunks arc part of the Charm of living on the picturesque Peninsula 25 Miles South of los Angeles. A Skunk is a Beautiful animal. Sure it smells proud foot said. We Don t say that is a terrific experience but it can be  testified wednesday. When 29 clients complained about not getting work or interfered with his attempts to bilk others Crawford hired a police offi cer posing As a hit Man to silence them authorities said. The killer was supposed to take the disgruntled clients to Thailand and kill them there. The plan was to stage a disaster on a boat or bus excursion Mathis said earlier. Crawford was to pay $500 for each kill ing and Locke said Crawford told the undercover Man that the 29 killings would be just the beginning. Crawford was arrested when he provided $500 for the hit Man s expenses and gave the officer a list of clients to be killed. None Ever was harmed. Under a plea bargain 29 counts of solicitation to commit murder were merged into one count listing the names of the intended victims. Crawford also pleaded guilty to one count of organized fraud bilking clients out of at least $50,000. Circuit judge r. Hudson Olliff sentenced the Jacksonville Man to 12 years in prison on each count to be served concurrently. The victims of Crawford s Tran world careers inc. Came from 20 different states and Canada. Most were from Missouri Louisiana California and Washington a this said after the sentencing. Typically Crawford would rent space in a Motel and advertise foreign jobs in a local newspaper Mathis said. He would bold meetings for interested clients and give them a sales pitch. Some of the 29 persons he later plotted to kill however began showing up at the meetings complaining that they had not been Given jobs. They were costing him business said Locke. Winter wonderland Darlene Elbe Tarriett of Norden calif., measures the depth of the Snow outside her Delicatessen monday after the season s first Snow fell in the Sierra nerd As. The town of Norden receded six inches of Snow while Many roads throughout the sierras were close because of the storm