News Digest:
Tuesday, November 20, 2007 11:12 AM PST
OREGON — Charities are hopeful that Oregonians will donate kicker checks
PORTLAND (AP) — About 1.7 million Oregon residents are set to receive a windfall this December, when the state returns $1.1 billion to taxpayers in the biggest ever refund of surplus income taxes in the state’s history. Now, charities across the state are lining up to benefit from that windfall. The so called ‘‘kicker’’ checks could trigger $100 million in donations to charities, experts say. The timing is perfect for nonprofits. Not only is the state putting an average of $612 into taxpayers’ pockets, but the checks will arrive during the peak giving season. So groups from the United Way to the Portland Art Museum are mentioning the kicker in their year-end requests for donations.
IDAHO
Board of Education to study fairness in dual credit system
TWIN FALLS (AP) — A State Board of Education official says the time may be ripe to re-examine the dual credit system that allows high school students to earn college and high school credit at the same time when they take college-level classes. State officials say they want to make certain the dual credit system is applied fairly and consistently across the state.
‘‘We haven’t looked at concurrent enrollment or dual enrollment in a comprehensive way in a while,’’ said Decker Sanders, the interim chief post-secondary academic officer with the Idaho State Board of Education.
STRANGE AMERICA
Developers plan
massive water park in Arizona desert
MESA, Ariz. (AP) — By tapping rivers and sucking water from deep underground, developers have covered Arizona with carpets of Bermuda grass and dotted the parched landscape with swimming pools, golf courses and lakeshore homes. Now another ambitious project is in the works: A new water park that would offer surf-sized waves, snorkeling, scuba diving and kayaking — all in a bone-dry region that gets just 8 inches of rain a year.
‘‘It’s about delivering a sport that’s not typically available in an urban environment,’’ said Richard Mladick, a Mesa real-estate developer who persuaded business leaders in suburban Mesa to support the proposal called the Waveyard.
