NORTHWEST
Things to know: Multiple proposals
headed for Oregon’s Nov. ballot
Page 8A
East Oregonian
PORTLAND (AP) — Citizen groups
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initiatives to the Oregon Secretary of State,
which has until early August to determine
which proposals make the cut for the
November ballot.
So far, only one proposal — the Initiative
Petition 28 corporate tax measure — has
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Five are statutory initiatives, which amend
state law and therefore can be changed any
time; one is a constitutional initiative, which
amends the state Constitution and therefore
requires voter approval for any changes
thereafter. Statutory initiatives require
88,184 valid signatures and constitutional
initiatives require 117,578.
Here’s a summary of the citizen
proposals:
APPROVED
IP 28: A Better Oregon
TYPE: Statutory
WHAT IT WOULD DO: Raises an esti-
mated $3 billion in additional tax revenue
each year broadly earmarked for public
education, health care and senior services
through the largest corporate tax hike in
Oregon history. The state’s largest 1,000
businesses registered as C-corporations with
at least $25 million in annual sales would
pay a minimum $30,000 tax, plus a so-called
gross receipts tax of 2.5 percent on any sales
above that threshold.
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a sales tax and some of the nation’s lowest
corporate taxes, Oregon’s tax base depends
heavily on personal income. IP 28’s public
union-backers say a tax hike on big business
would make things more equitable and help
restore some of the recession-era funding
cutbacks to key public services. Businesses
say it’d deal a blow to the local economy
and consumer prices, while conservative
lawmakers call it a “blank check” to the
government.
WHO’S BEHIND IT: Our Oregon, a
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by public employee unions
2016 FUNDRAISING: $338,100 raised,
mostly from Our Oregon, which hasn’t
disclosed the sources of its contributions.
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reported that Defeat The Tax On Oregon
Sales, a coalition of business interests, has
raised more than $5.2 million to defeat
the ballot measure. The Defeat the Tax on
Oregon Sales Political Action Committee
reported more than 500 contributions
through July 11.
SIGNATURES PENDING
IP 65: Oregonians For High School
Success
TYPE: Statutory
WHAT IT WOULD DO: Diverts $140
million of annual state funds, or $800 per
high school student, to a newly-created fund
for high school career and technical educa-
tion. Requires schools to submit plans for
relevant programs and funding to the state
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measure performance and hold educators
accountable.
ISSUE: Oregon has one of the nation’s
worst high school graduation rates, and
the initiative’s supporters want to turn that
around by boosting vocational programs,
which often appeal to students who aren’t
bound for a four-year university and
incentivize them to stay in school. Critics
such as the Oregon Education Association,
among the biggest backers of IP 28, say it’s
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bandage over a broader problem.
WHO’S BEHIND IT: Stand for Children,
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supported by the Walton family and Bill and
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2016 FUNDRAISING: $4.2 million
raised, mostly from Stand for Children,
which hasn’t disclosed the sources of its
contributions
IP 50: Voter Privacy Act
TYPE: Statutory
WHAT IT WOULD DO: Bans the release
of a registered voter’s personal information
without their written consent.
ISSUE: Currently, Oregon voters’
personal data — such as birth dates, email
addresses and phone numbers — and
information on whether they’ve received
or mailed in their ballots ahead of Election
Day are public information. The initiative’s
supporters want to limit the information
available to political campaigns, while
critics such as public union SEIU Local 503
say it’d dampen ongoing efforts to boost
voter turnout.
WHO’S BEHIND IT: Richard White-
head, an Aloha resident and Libertarian
party member
2016 FUNDRASING: $167,300 raised,
largely from the Taxpayers Association of
Oregon
IP 49: No More Fake Emergencies Act
TYPE: Constitutional
WHAT IT WOULD DO: Requires a
two-thirds supermajority vote by the Oregon
Legislature in order to include emergency
clauses on bills.
ISSUES: Emergency clauses accelerate
a bill’s effective date — usually 90 days
after signing into law — and subsequently
prevent citizens from challenging it by
referendum. IP 49 backers say the clauses
are being overused by the Oregon Legisla-
ture, where more than half of the bills had
emergency provisions last year.
WHO’S BEHIND IT: Eric Winters, a
Wilsonville attorney, and Jason Williams,
executive director of the Taxpayer Associa-
tion of Oregon
2016 FUNDRAISING: $562,400 raised,
largely from the Taxpayers Association
IP 68: Save Endangered Animals
TYPE: Statutory
:+$7,7:28/''20DNHVLWLOOHJDO
to buy or sell parts and products made
from 12 wildlife species in Oregon, such as
cheetahs, elephants and sea turtles. Includes
exceptions for certain antique items and
tribal members, among others.
ISSUES: It’s already illegal in the U.S.
to import endangered animal parts and
products, but there’s no law in Oregon
banning sales and purchases of items
already smuggled into the country. IP 68’s
backers say Oregon would follow states
such as California, Hawaii and Washington
state that have passed similar bans on animal
parts.
WHO’S BEHIND IT: U.S. Rep. Earl
Blumenauer, D-Portland; former GOP state
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Tom Hughes
2016 FUNDRAISING: $520,500 raised,
largely from the Humane Society
IP 67: Outdoor School for All
TYPE: Statutory
:+$7 ,7:28/' '2 *LYHV ¿IWKRU
sixth-graders in Oregon one week of
outdoor education by setting aside 4 percent
of lottery funds not to exceed $22 million
annually.
ISSUES: Outdoor School has been a
Portland-area tradition since the 1960s that’s
funded by nearby school districts, although
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recent years. Lawmakers expanded outdoor
education statewide last year, but without
funding. IP 67’s backers are therefore eyeing
lottery revenue, which critics say is already
limited.
WHO’S BEHIND IT: Save Outdoor
School For All, a grassroots coalition of
outdoor advocates, parents and educators
2016 FUNDRAISING: $61,500 raised,
mostly from the coalition
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
AP Photo/Reid Blackburn, file
In this Feb. 13, 1980, file photo, FBI agents scour the sand of a beach of the
Columbia River, searching for additional money or clues in 9-year-old D.B. Cooper
skyjacking case in Vancouver, Wash.
FBI ends D.B. Cooper case
SEATTLE (AP) — The FBI said Tuesday
it is no longer investigating the enduring
mystery of the skyjacker known as D.B.
Cooper, nearly 45 years after he vanished
out the back of a Boeing 727 into a freezing
Northwest rain wearing a business suit, a
parachute and a pack with $200,000 in cash.
Calling the investigation one of the longest
and most exhaustive in the agency’s history,
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was time to focus on other cases. The agency
said it will preserve evidence from the case
at its Washington, D.C., headquarters, but it
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parachutes or Cooper’s money.
“The mystery surrounding the hijacking
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November 1971 by a still-unknown individual
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and a decades-long manhunt,” the FBI said.
“Although the FBI appreciated the immense
number of tips provided by members of the
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On Nov. 24, 1971, the night before
Thanksgiving, a man described as being in
his mid-40s with dark sunglasses and an olive
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Oregon, to Seattle-Tacoma International
Airport. He bought his $20 ticket under the
name “Dan Cooper,” but an early wire-service
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and the name stuck.
Sitting in the rear of the plane, he handed a
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I have a bomb and would like you to sit by
me,” it said.
The man demanded $200,000 in cash plus
four parachutes. He received them at Sea-Tac,
where he released the 36 passengers and two
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again at his direction, heading slowly to Reno,
Nevada, at the low height of 10,000 feet.
Somewhere, apparently over southwestern
Washington, Cooper lowered the aircraft’s
rear stairs and jumped.
He was never found, but a boy digging on
a Columbia River beach in 1980 discovered
three bundles of weathered $20 bills — nearly
$6,000 in all. It was Cooper’s cash, according
to the serial numbers.
Over the years, the FBI and amateur sleuths
AP-Photo, file
This undated artist’ sketch shows the
skyjacker known as D.B. Cooper from
recollections of the passengers and
crew of a Northwest Airlines jet he hi-
jacked between Portland and Seattle.
have examined innumerable theories about
Cooper’s identity and fate, from accounts of
unexplained wealth to purported discoveries
of his parachute to potential matches of the
agency’s composite sketch.
The 40th anniversary of the case in 2011
brought a wave of attention. An Oklahoma
woman told the FBI about a late uncle who
showed up to Thanksgiving dinner in Oregon
that year with serious injuries. A team that
included a paleontologist from Seattle’s
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pure titanium found in the hijacker’s clip-on
tie suggest he worked in the chemical industry
or at a company that manufactured titanium.
A book that year, “Skyjack: The Hunt for
D.B. Cooper,” by Geoffrey Gray, posited
several theories, including that Cooper might
have been a transgender mechanic from
Washington state.
The most promising leads in recent years
have come from amateurs, Gray said —
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illustrator at the University of Chicago that
Cooper might have taken his persona from a
French comic called “Dan Cooper,” a series
about a test pilot in the Royal Canadian Air
Force.
In one issue from 1963, the character
boards an airliner wearing a dark suit and a
mask over his eyes and sits in the back of the
plane. He demands to be given a briefcase
that’s in the cockpit, and then, wearing a
military parachute, he jumps out — over a
wooded area, at night, in the rain.
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