It's snow joke: Suburban Chicago paper fools some

[May 10, 2011]  EVANSTON (AP) -- Talk about a snow job.

Some residents of a Chicago suburb who remember all too well having to dig out from February's historic blizzard apparently forgot the date Friday when they reacted angrily to a newspaper report that the city plans to charge for snow removal.

WBBM-AM says the Evanston RoundTable article provoked some irate calls to City Hall, whose staff explained that residents would not be required to pay $2.25 a day for snow removal and pointed out that Friday was April 1. April Fools' Day.

In a posting on its website, the city announced the article was a spoof and said it was considering forwarding all 311 calls to the RoundTable.

Chicago experienced its third-worst winter storm on record Feb. 3, with 20.2 inches of snow.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.