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UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
IN BRIEF
Military members may get
new state tax breaks
SALEM — Oregonians serving in
the National Guard and military re
serves would get new state tax
breaks under a bill that is headed
for the governor's desk.
The House unanimously ap
proved Senate amendments to the
measure Tuesday, sending it to Gov.
Ted Kulongoski, who is expected to
sign the bill.
All military pay for active duty
served within Oregon would be ex
empt from state income taxes under
the bill.
Current law excludes from taxes
all pay for duty served outside the
state, but the existing exemption is
limited to $3,000 of the pay for ac
tive duty served in Oregon.
The bill also allows survivors of
service members to pay no state tax
on federal military death benefits,
which Congress this year has raised
to $100,000. The law now exempts
$3,000 of such benefits from taxes.
Under another provision of the
measure, if a service member dies
while on active duty, any taxes,
interest and penalties owed for
the period of active duty would
be eliminated.
The bill is one of a number
that the Legislature has crafted
to help returning veterans. Thou
sands of Oregonians from the Na
tional Guard and the regular mili
tary have been sent to the Middle
East and Afghanistan.
Woman held without bail
for murder of 4-year-old
OREGON CITY — A woman
charged with murdering her 4-year
old step-grandson and dumping his
body in the forest along a rural road
was ordered held without bail at a
brief court appearance Hiesday.
Christine Coffman, 43, was ar
raigned by closed-circuit television
from her cell at the Clackamas
County jail.
Coffman stared ahead without ex
pression as Clackamas County Cir
cuit Judge Ronald Thom read the
charge of aggravated murder. She
confirmed her name, but did not
enter a plea.
In documents filed with the
court, Greg Horner, the county's
chief deputy district attorney, said
that Coffman "unlawfully and in
tentionally caused the death of
Matal Sanchez, a human being un
der the age of 14 years.”
After the hearing, Horner said the
child's age led prosecutors to file
the aggravated murder charge,
which carries a possible death
penalty. A grand jury was expected
to return a formal indictment on
July 12.
An autopsy by the state medical
examiner concluded the child died
of one or more blows to the head.
The boy disappeared from his
home in the Portland suburb of Mil
waukie last Wednesday.
Three days later, Coffman led
police to the body in the forest off
a rural road near Estacada in
the foothills of the Cascade Range,
about 25 miles from the
boy's home.
Investigators said Matal
disappeared about the same time
Coffman left to run an errand, lead
ing police to believe the child was
with her.
When Coffman returned several
hours later, she was alone and her
clothes were stained red, according
to witnesses.
Police have not provided any de
tails and have declined to say
whether the stains were blood.
New school funding plan
proposed for Oregon
SALEM — Gov. Ted Kulongoski
proposed a new school funding plan
Wednesday that would earmark
a fixed share of general revenue
for all education, from pre-kinder
garten through graduate programs
at state universities.
The Democratic governor’s plan
is a much broader version of a
measure sponsored by Republican
House Speaker Karen Minnis.
Minnis’ plan would give 51 per
cent of personal income tax revenue
to K-12 schools. Kulongoski recom
mends a budget floor for state-fund
ed education of 61 percent of all
general revenues, which includes
corporate income taxes, cigarette
taxes and other revenues.
Kulongoski’s plan would not af
fect the next two-year budget now
being crafted but would take effect
for the 2007-09 budget.
The governor said his plan
ends the traditional practice of
funding education in separate
pieces and “instead moves the en
tire education system forward as a
seamless continuum.”
Kulongoski praised Minnis’ ef
forts to bringing stability to school
funding but said a broader
approach is needed.
“While we agree on the concept,
we disagree on the details,” the
governor said.
The House, meanwhile, took a
three-day break, on grounds that
the Senate was lagging in its work.
Rep. Dennis Richardson, R-Cen
tral Point, said lawmakers should
not just be “sitting around looking
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busy” for lack of work while leaders
try to break a lengthy stalemate deal
on the 2005-07 budget.
But Rep. Jeff Merkley, leader
of the House Democratic
minority, said Richardson’s claim
was nonsense.
“We have plenty to do. There’s
been so little momentum
toward getting to adjournment,”
Merkley said.
The House quit until 5 p.m. Sun
day. The state constitution prohibits
either chamber from quitting for
more than three days without
approval of the other house.
Voyeurists may face
lawsuits if new bill passes
SALEM — High-tech voyeurs
who use cell phones with cameras,
hidden video recorders and other
gadgets to spy on their victims may
soon face lawsuits, following the
passage of a bill expected to be
signed by Gov. Ted Kulongoski.
Lawmakers were prompted to
pass the bill following several
shocking cases of invasion of priva
cy, including a 2001 incident in
which a man taped the Astoria High
School girl’s swimming team. The
lens he used could see through the
girls’ bathing suits.
Under current law, the
videotaped swimmers would have
had to file criminal charges. The
bill headed to Kulongoski would al
low the victims to also sue for
compensatory damage.
The legislation targets anyone
who knowingly takes images of a
person’s “intimate areas” without
their consent. It only applies if the
victims are in places — such as
bathrooms, locker rooms and tan
ning booths — where they would
have a “reasonable expectation” of
personal privacy.
“I just hope it gives these women
a measure of comfort, knowing the
disturbing situation they went
through paved the way for the Leg
islature to respond,” said one of the
bill’s sponsors, Sen. Betsy Johnson,
D-Scapoose, who fielded calls from
the families of the Astoria girls fol
lowing the 2001 incident.
The new law would also apply to
a recent Beaverton case, in which a
couple photographed each other in
sexual positions. When the relation
ship ended on a bad note, the man
posted his ex-girlfriend’s images on
the Internet, along with her name
and work address.
“We just think this is a little
measure that can help us keep up
with the technology,” said Ron
Brown, Clatsop County’s chief
deputy district attorney.
—The Associated Press
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