Briefly.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Journalist Curry receives

UO Pioneer Award

Emmy award-winning television journalist Ann Curry received the 2003 University of Oregon Pioneer Award on Saturday.

Curry is the news anchor for NBC's "Today" program and is a frequent fill-in anchor on "NBC Nightly News."

Curry, a native of Ashland, began her television news career in 1978 as a reporter and evening news anchor at NBC affiliate KTVL in Medford. She moved on to NBC's KGW in Portland, where she worked from 1981 to 1984 before joining KCBS in Los Angeles as a reporter.

Curry joined NBC News in 1990 and was appointed as the network's Chicago correspondent.

Started in 1979, the UO Pioneer Award is presented to UO alumni and others who have become leaders in their fields.

Tax scams target

U.S. military families

Con artists are targeting military families with two new scams, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

In one scam, a telephone caller posing as an IRS employee calls a family member of a person serving in the military. Claiming that the family member is entitled to a $4,000 refund, the caller requests a credit card number to cover a $42 "postage fee." The caller provides an actual IRS toll-free telephone number to make the call appear legitimate. The caller then makes unauthorized purchases with the family member's credit card number.

In the second scam, victims receive an e-mail that appears to be from the IRS. The e-mail contains links to a non-IRS Web site that asks for personal and financial information. This information is then used to steal the respondent's identity and gain access to financial data or accounts.

Both of these scams are being reviewed by the Treasury inspector general for tax administration.

Additional information on tax scams can be found on the genuine IRS Web site, IRS.gov, by going to the newsroom page and clicking on the "Scams/Consumer Alerts" link under the topics sidebar.

Taxpayers who have been the victim of one of these scams should call a toll-free fraud referral hot line at [phone]. Or they can fax a complaint to [phone] or write to the tax administration at P.O. Box 589, Ben Franklin Station, Washington, D.C. 20044-0589.

NORTHWEST

Benton activists press for tax for schools

CORVALLIS - Following the lead of their counterparts in Multnomah County, school activists in Benton County are pushing a countywide income tax to further fund schools.

The Multnomah County measure comes up for a vote on May 20 and would be the first such countywide tax in Oregon. The Benton County measure would be on the September ballot, if supporters can gather enough signatures to place it there.

If approved, the seven-year tax would raise about $8.1 million for Alsea, Corvallis, Monroe and Philomath school districts.