DURANT PICKS WARRORS NBA/2B 79/53 ‘Mystery Show’ a podcast you’ll want to discover What to know about NASA’s trip to Jupiter OPINION/6A SPACE/4A TUESDAY, JULY 5, 2016 140th Year, No. 187 Ag trade gears up for fi ght against IP28 By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau SALEM — The Oregon agricultural industry is gearing up for battle against a campaign to pass a corpo- rate sales tax measure on the November ballot by shed- ding light on how the tax will affect individual companies and farmers. Under Initiative Petition 28, the Mt. Angel-based Wilco farm supplies and fuel cooperative faces a 1,388-percent increase in its state corporate income tax bill, from $168,000 to $2.5 million per year, CEO Doug Hoffman said. The tax would apply only to the $100 million in sales at Wilco Farm Stores in Oregon; direct sales to the cooperative’s 3,000 members are exempt, Hoffman said. The ballot measure targets C corporations, imposing a 2.5 percent tax on their Oregon gross sales exceeding $25 million. It’s expected to raise about $3 billion a year in new state revenue. The nonpartisan Legis- lative Revenue Offi ce says the tax will act largely as a consumption tax, raising prices for consumers and businesses. The union-backed campaign A Better Oregon says the state needs that revenue to bolster support for education, health care and senior services. Proponents also note that corporations’ income tax contributions to state revenue has declined as a percentage from 18.5 in the mid-1970s to 6.7 now, according to a study by the Oregon Public Policy Center. While the campaign says the tax targets big out-of-state corporations, it also affects One dollar WINNER OF THE 2015 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Bicentennial born By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian M atilda Williams of Pendleton shares her birthday with the United States of America. She came into the world July 4, 1976, on the nation’s bicentennial. The East Oregonian even ran a small front page story about the birth on the July 5, 1976 edition. Her parents, Robert and Ruth White of Pasco, were on their way to Hermiston’s Good Shepherd Hospital at the time when the car broke down in Umatilla. “Dad had to walk a mile-and-half to get help,” Williams said. The paper reported a nurse from the hospital delivered 6-pound Matilda at 10 a.m. in the car. An ambulance then took mom and baby to the Hermiston hospital. Williams said her birth is still quite the story to her two daughters, ages 13 and 15, but she also feels a deep connection to the national holiday. She has grandparents that served in the military, she said, and her brother did two tours in Iraq as a member of the Army National Guard. Signifi cant birthday connection don’t stop there in her family, Williams said. Her brother was born on Dec. 25, and a cousin who also has a Christmas birthday gave Staff photos by E.J. Harris Matilda Williams, left, celebrates her 40th birthday with her family in a small backyard BBQ on the Fourth of July in Pendleton. Williams was born on the way to the hospital on the U.S. bicen- tennial. More inside For photos from today’s Fourth of July celebrations, see page 8A. See BIRTHDAY/8A BELOW: A 1928 Model A Ford Roadster Pickup owned by Jim Smootz drives under- neath a U.S. Flag on Main Street during the Fourth of July parade in Pendleton. See AG/8A PAUL SHERMAN OF MILTON-FREEWATER Enjoy a free trip to the Pendleton Underground Tours. PENDLETON Couple celebrates platinum anniversary By WILL DENNER East Oregonian Jim and Carolyn Hendricks have a marital philosophy they believe has kept them together for 70 years. Jim calls their ability to compromise “rounding off the corners.” “When a situation comes up between (us), instead of being sharp, you have to round off the corners and be mellow,” he said. “But sometimes it helps if you get your way,” Carolyn said. The couple celebrated their 70th wedding anniver- sary Thursday at the Sun Ridge Retirement Commu- nity in Pendleton with two of their three children, daughter See PLATINUM/8A TSPC drafts rule change for teacher-student relationships Would consider teens ‘students’ for 90 days after graduation By ALEXA LOUGEE East Oregonian Staff Photo By Will Denner Jim and Carolyn Hendricks share a laugh while celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary Thursday In the wake of increasing sexual misconduct complaints about Oregon teachers, including a former local educator, the line between appropriate and inappro- priate student-teacher relationships may soon become better defi ned. Since 1994, Oregon’s Teacher Stan- dards and Practices Commission has investigated 136 educators for sexual conduct with a student. Fifty-one of those cases have been instigated in the last six years. TSPC is Oregon’s licensing agency for all educators, and also takes See TSPC/8A