Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
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• October 15, 2010 50¢
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Health reform’s effect on local business Candidates Speakers outline pros and cons for STATE TREASURER
detail plans for office By Erin Golden The Bulletin
With many Oregon families and businesses still hurting from the recession and lawmakers making budget cuts, the candidates for state treasurer say the state’s top financial officer needs to be someone with the right kind of plans — and the right experience. But the major-party contenders, Sen. Chris Telfer, a Republican state senator from Bend, and Ted Wheeler, a Democrat who has served as treasurer since March, don’t necessarily agree on what that means. Both candidates say they want to boost Oregon businesses and keep more money in the state. They both want to help create more jobs and put the state’s finances on solid ground. And both candidates say their experience in financial management makes them better suited for the challenges sure to face the next treasurer. Telfer, 60, is a certified public accountant who made the move to state politics after several years on the Bend City Council. She also served on the Bend-La Pine Schools Budget Committee, the Central Oregon Cities Organization and with Economic Development for Central Oregon. See Treasurer / A5
Central Oregon employers at event By David Holley The Bulletin
Certain aspects of health care reform may be a boon to smallbusiness owners who pay portions of employees’ health premiums, earning them as much
as a 35 percent tax credit. But the reform legislation also has a couple of downsides for certain business owners, according to one Bend accountant, such as larger amounts of tax paperwork and an increased tax on
high-income earners. Todd Gerdes, a certified public accountant in Bend, said small-business owners now can access a tax credit through tax year 2013 if they pay more than 50 percent of employees’ health care premiums. As a nonrefundable credit, employers can earn back as much as 35 percent of the amount they pay on the health premiums. The credit lowers as the company gets
larger and pays higher wages. In 2014, the 35 percent credit rises to 50 percent. Tax-exempt organizations can receive a 25 percent credit, which rises to 35 percent in 2014. If a firm has 10 or more fulltime employees, the 35 percent credit lowers for each additional employee, until it is gone at 25 employees. The credit also lowers when employee wages rise above $25,000, disappearing at
Hitting the local haunts
ELECTION
The Bulletin
When Central Oregon Community College went out in November 2009 for what became a successful $41.6 million bond campaign to pay for a variety of new buildings on its campus and around the region, it received support from a political action committee called COCC Yes: Friends of the College. That committee received donations from a variety of community members, companies and nonprofits around the region. It also received a $10,000 cash contribution from the Associated Students of Central Oregon Community College (ASCOCC), the college’s student government. Now, with the college and ASCOCC seeking to clarify its ability to hand out student fees and its degree of autonomy, that donation — and whether it was a conflict of interest or even illegal — is the subject of some debate. Ryan Brennecke / The Bulletin
G
iselle Chesney jumps out from her hiding place to scare Jennifer Perry and John Gottfried. Perry and Gottfried were walking through the Dark Intentions Haunted House at the Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center on Thursday. The fourth annual event features two
haunted houses. Proceeds benefit the Oregon Athletic & Educational Foundation. The haunted houses are open this weekend. More information is available at scaremegood.vpweb.com.
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Student fees used to support COCC bond By Sheila G. Miller
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CHILE: Miners readjust to surface life, cope with celebrity status, Page A3
$50,000. Because it’s a nonrefundable credit, it cannot be used if the business owner owes no income taxes, Gerdes said. Only refundable credits give taxpayers a kickback when they owe no taxes. “It (the nonrefundable credit) is a carry-over credit, so it would go forward to a future year,” he said. See Reform / A5
Peace Corps pioneers look back on service By John Keilman Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO — It was well after midnight at the University of Michigan when presidential candidate John F. Kennedy gave a short speech that would, in thousands of small ways, reshape the world. “How many of you who are going to be doctors are willing to spend your days in Ghana?” he asked a crowd of students 50
years ago this week. “Technicians or engineers, how many of you are willing to work in the Foreign Service and spend your lives traveling around the world? “On your willingness to do that, not merely to serve one year or two years in the service, but on your willingness to contribute part of your life to this country, I think will depend the answer
whether a free society can compete.” Thus was born the idea of the Peace Corps, and when Kennedy took office the next year, he swiftly made it a reality. He called for volunteers to spend two years improving the health, education and economic prospects of some of the poorest people on earth. Thousands of Americans stepped forward. One was
Love’s litmus test revisited 28 years later By Lois Romano The Washington Post
My daughter informed me that she recently dumped a guy because, when she asked him the meaning of a word, he said, “Are you serious?” “It’s like a huge test for me. ... It told me he felt intellectually superior to me,” explained Jenna, a college sophomore. “He’s the kind of guy who would try to make me seem stupid in front of our kids.” Whoa ... give the guy a break, I thought. I twitched my mouth disapprovingly.
You ... don’t ... get ... it, she conveyed by rolling her eyes. In fact, I should have gotten it instantly. Twentyeight years ago, my article for The Washington Post, “Love and the Litmus Test,” essentially justified the kind of subjective, quick and seemingly irrational judgment that Jenna had made. I described it as the moment in every relationship when the euphoria of chemistry and promise gives way to the reality of everyday life — and a decision to be made. See Test / A4
Nomenee Robinson, then a young architect and city planner working in Chicago’s Water Department. He had an itch for adventure and a desire to help others. And by the autumn of 1961, he was in India’s Punjab state, assisting with building projects in a country struggling to gain its footing after centuries of colonial rule. See Peace Corps / A5
Government fees The $10,000 donation came from student fees collected by the college, which the student government then divides up among clubs, activities and programs. Students pay a $1.50 ASCOCC student fee for every credit they take each term. The maximum a student can pay is $18 per term. According to ASCOCC’s website, the student government expects to collect about $260,000 in student fees in 2010-11. College Relations Director Ron Paradis confirmed that a $10,000 donation was made to the committee on a COCC check signed by a COCC official. “Last year, members of ASCOCC were actively involved in the COCC Yes campaign. As part of that effort, the campaign asked for their financial support,” Paradis said in a prepared statement Thursday. “The question came to us (before the donation was made) about whether or not ASCOCC providing a contribution would be legal. We checked into it and concluded that it was.” See COCC / A4
Author Lois Romano revisited her rules about romance, outlined in a Washington Post article 28 years ago, with her daughters Jenna, left, and Kristen Holmes, shown in Washington. Bill O’Leary Washington Post