Show OGDEN UTAH : SERVING NORTHERN UTAH SINCE 1888 50 CENTS LDS missionary contributions not deductible Standard-Examine- r staff and wire reports WASHINGTON — Monies giycn directly to Mormon missionaries by the church’s members are not deductible donations under federal tax law the Supreme Court ruled unanimously today The court said Congress did not intend to make such direct contributions “The court has spoken and church members will be counseled to abide by the ruling” Mormon Church spokesman Don LeFevre said today LeFevre said church leaders were working on a more detailed statement Ruling against an Idaho couple who was denied the tax deductions for subsidizing their two sons’ missionary service the justices resolved conflicting federal appeals court rulings that allowed such tax deductions in six states and banned them in nine states Writing for the court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor said that under federal tax law “a taxpayer may claim a deduction for a charitable contribution only if the contribution is made to or for the use of a qualified organization" Giving money directly to a church missionary is “not a contribution to or for the use of the church under federal tax law O’Connor said She said such contributions if could qualify as held in “a legally enforceable trust for the qualified organization or in a similar legal E MORE RULINGS: Operation Rescue handed setback 2A arrangement” The decision is a defeat for Harold and Enid Davis of Idaho Falls A lawyer representing the couple Gene Schaerr in Washington DC said that despite the Davis’ defeat the decision “makes clear the church can continue to operate as it has in the past as long as it jumps though one legal hoop “The church has to make clear that missionaries are literally trustees of the church when they accept donations from the members of the church” Schaerr said “It’s simply a matter of formalizing the relationship” The Davises spent about $9100 subsidizing two sons’ missions “As the Davis’ attorney I’m obviously disappointed that they won’t get the deduction” Schaerr said “But from the church and IRS perspective the court’s decision does what everybody needed which is to clarify what the church needs to do to run its missionary program as it’s always done” Idaho Sen Steve Symms has drafted a bill by Utah Sen Orrin Hatch to provide for tax deductions on money spent to subsidize missionaries “It’s not only the LDS Church this would effect but all religions” said Symms spokesman Dave Pearson Former communist winning in Romania BUCHAREST Romania (AP) — Interim President Ion Iliescu a former Communist appeared headed for a landslide victory today after Romania’s first free elections in S3 years but opponents complained of fraud The first official returns showed Iliescu with an overwhelming lead in the presidential race His National Salvation Front appeared to be headed for victory in the parliamentary elections which would allow him to govern without forming a coalition with the opposition With more than 2 million ballots counted from Sunday’s election Iliescu won 89 percent to 8 percent for the National Liberal Party’s candidate Radu Cam-peaand 3 percent for Ion Ra-nu tiu of the National Peasant Party A West German exit poll of 14539 voters showed Iliescu winning 83 percent of the votes nationwide Campeanu was second with 1 percent and Ratiu had 6 percent The chief US observer of the elections said Romania had taken “a very giant step toward democ-Se- e ROMANIA on 2A 1 Little hopper Domestic frog leaps past big competition ANGELS CAMP Calif (AP) — Three giant African frogs touted as potential were big flops at the Jumping Frog Jubilee beat out by a puny domestic pounder named Help Kir Wizard “I wasn’t afraid of the African frogs" said Gregg Jaschek who took home the $500 first prize Sunday “I saw them on TV They record-breake- rs weren’t so a capacity crowd of 8000 thanks to the controversy over Koffman’s frogs The event was inspired by Mark Twain’s short story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” about a frog that couldn’t jump because its belly had been filled with lead shot Jaschek an auto parts clerk from Concord said he captured Help Mr Wizard in the San Joaquin Valley Its win was just luck he San Francisco drew the principal scientist for the camera used in the first photo exercise said Sunday “We are just as pleased as punch at this point Our image is significantly better than we were concerned that it might be” Westphal said the Hubble pictures clearly show that an image that appeared in ground-base- d photos to be only a single star was in fact a rare binary star The space telescope pictures showed two overlapping points of light instead of a single blob as See HUBBLE on 2A said hot" Some veterans of the annual Calaveras County competition had complained the giants from Cameroon had an unfair advantage but organizers voted in March to let Seattle animal collector Andy Koffman bring on his burly outsiders Three of Koffman’s Goliaths made it to the finals but he couldn't get a decent leap Gregg Jaschek holds up his winning out of the They were too big frog ‘Help Mr Wizard’ to fit on the starting pad and were disqualified or slipped and slid their way to' “I’ll be back” declared Koffman who had lackluster hops his frogs could leap 30 feet in a sinclaimed 19 A dripping Help Mr Wizard soared feet 3 inches in three jumps to best 72 other gle bound ' The 62nd annual jubilee 150 miles east of finalists three-pounde- giants out-jum- ps Telescope transmits ‘fantastic’ star photo rs ch f “I’ve been trying for 19 years and if I knew the secret of winning I would have won long before this" he said kissing his frog as friends poured champagne on him Second place went to an leap in three jumps by a frog named Cho Cho Third place was won by Jumpin’ Jack 18-fo- ot ch Koffman brought 27 Goliaths to the frog jump The big frogs can weigh up to 15 pounds and range up to three feet in length His three finalists — Johnny Carson: Jay Leno and Sue — weighed in at about three pounds each The average domestic frog weighs about a pound and is about eight inches long Koffman was done in by a rule that frogs must have all four feet on the pad f V ( |