Some Oregonians who filed their taxes early may receive less than they thought as the Oregon Department of Revenue announced approximately 500 taxpayers will have their refund adjusted after receiving the state’s Kids Credit in error.

The agency provided incorrect instructions for tax forms and with tax preparation software partners at the start of the 2026 tax season regarding how to claim the Oregon Kids Credit.

“As a result, a small number of taxpayers who are not eligible for the Oregon Kids Credit calculated and claimed the Oregon Kids Credit on their returns,” the Department of Revenue said in a release. “An additional small number of taxpayers who are eligible to claim the Oregon Kids Credit claimed too large of a credit.”

Here’s what to know about the error and how it’s being corrected.

How many 2025 tax returns were impacted by the error?

Since the 2026 tax season opened on Jan. 26, the agency said it has processed about 135,000 returns, and the new federal deductions impacted fewer than 500 of those returns, according to the agency.

While the department expects that number to grow as the correction is updated across all filing systems, the agency anticipates that the total number of affected returns will remain low.

“Our IT team will work through the weekend to update our systems to make sure taxpayers don’t face delays because of this error,” DOR Chief Information Officer Jon Dolan said. “We expect Direct File Oregon to be accurately filing returns for Oregon Kids’ Credit claimants by early next week.”

The department recommends that taxpayers who plan to try to claim the Oregon Kids Credit wait to file until Direct File Oregon, or the tax filing software they use, has been fully updated.

What happens to Oregonians who may have received the tax credit in error?

The Department of Revenue is automatically adjusting any returns affected by the error.

Any Oregon taxpayer who may have received the Kids Credit or too large of a credit as a result of the error does not need to take any action. They will be notified of the adjustment by mail, as well as through their Revenue Online account.

I was sitting in the waiting room of the hospital reading the newspaper while my wife, Marianne, was having a routine outpatient procedure.

When a nurse finally came in to tell me the procedure was over and that we would soon be free to leave, she smiled and added, “Nice purse you have there.”

The purse was turquoise with dark blue, swirly images of palm trees, which was, I admit, appealing.

She, of course, was proffering a well-worn joke about a man and a purse, which, by custom in our country, is exclusive to women. It was Marianne’s, and I didn’t give a thought to holding it for her, a fact the nurse likely registered from my equanimous smile.

I have no anxiety about manhood or how I am perceived based on superficial manifestations, whether it’s a colorful purse or a pink suitcase, which I do happen to use since pink was the American Tourister selection discounted 40% on Amazon.

I also must confess to having taken pleasure, in my 20s, in upsetting stereotypes held by friends on the right about liberal, socially conscious English teachers, when I bested them in football and softball, and then afterward in the sports bar at arm wrestling.

I wasn’t always so confident. At 16, I practiced wearing an intimidating scowl in the bedroom mirror, rolled up my sleeves to accentuate my budding biceps, and suffered frostbite rather than wear the mittens my mother bought me for Christmas.

If any of that seems familiar, it’s similar to what Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth, Josh Hawley, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other Republican males have been doing to burnish their MAGA credentials. Hegseth, in particular, has been criticized for sophomoric bravado, though his arrogance more often comes off as whining.

Hypermasculinity is all the rage

Of course, these are not 16-year-old boys insecure about their testosterone levels. Instead, this is an administration trying to compensate for mistakes and an absence of vision and of policy successes with appeals of hypermasculinity.

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Can’t come up with a health care plan, a peace deal for Ukraine, or a defense for endangering American troops by divulging classified information to your relatives? Let’s do pushups on TV, announce plans to build the biggest warships in history, and blow up 35 boats in the Caribbean and Pacific that may or may not have been carrying drugs.

Can’t fix rising prices at home or bury incriminating Epstein files? Instead, let’s unleash swarms of armed, masked enforcers into American cities and launch a massive invasion of hapless Venezuela.

The GOP saw that the macho man appeal worked in getting 55% of male voters to elect Trump over female candidate Kamala Harris in 2024, including double the percentage of Black males who voted for him in 2020, and 54% of Hispanic men.

But Trump’s blatant bait and switch, promising peace and affordability on Day 1, but then goosing prices even higher with tariffs, and starting a needless war, is less likely to fool them twice.

When I became an adult, I learned that using common sense and being true to your principles are more important and less embarrassing than trying to mimic synthetic standards of manliness cooked up by Hollywood, Marvel Comics, or professional wrestling. I credit my perspective to my father, whose life-navigating ease I admired.

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Charles McGrath Sr. was an accomplished and athletic Army captain during World War II. Later, when he became a father, he would not have been mistaken for a macho man with his “dad bod” and hobby jeans. But he impressed upon me and my brothers that respecting his wife and our mother, caring about other people, especially those less fortunate, and solving problems with listening and logic and compromise, instead of tough talk, intransigence and violence, were the gold standards of manhood and leadership.

Rather than preach those truths, he taught by example, one of which I wrote about in 2023, when he showed how intellect and empathy inspire more confidence than machismo and braggadocio.

So, when President Trump has talked tough, threatened allies, belittled women, mocked the disabled, denigrated minorities and “s- – -hole countries,” and boasted about his power and cognitive tests, was he demonstrating authentic manhood? Or was he, instead, throwing up a smoke screen to occlude his broken promises, past and present failures, and future fears and insecurities?

I’d be less inclined to complain, were he not doing so at the expense of our country’s soldiers and the American taxpayer.

David McGrath is an emeritus English professor at College of DuPage and author of “Far Enough Away,” a collection of Chicago area stories.

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The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has released a new documentary examining the challenges of managing bighorn sheep populations across the state.

The film, Carrying Capacity: The Hunt for Resilience, premiered online Jan. 19 and is now available for public viewing. Produced and directed by Snowday, the documentary focuses on how wildlife managers balance population growth, disease risk and long-term sustainability, using two Wyoming herds as case studies — the Jackson Herd and the Ferris-Seminoe Herd.

The film features perspectives from scientists, wildlife managers and hunters, highlighting how hunting and disease management play interconnected roles in conserving bighorn sheep.

According to Game and Fish, the Jackson Herd continues to face ongoing challenges from pneumonia pathogens and recurring outbreaks, while the Ferris-Seminoe Herd has remained largely disease-free. However, the Ferris-Seminoe population’s ability to grow and expand increases the risk of future disease transmission if population levels exceed the area’s carrying capacity.

To manage herd health and prevent overcrowding, Game and Fish has implemented targeted ewe and lamb hunts. Officials describe the strategy as a proactive approach designed to maintain sustainable population levels while protecting the long-term viability of Wyoming’s bighorn sheep.

The film was made possible through partnerships with organizations and companies including the Wyoming Wild Sheep Foundation, Teton Conservation District, University of Wyoming Monteith Shop, and several outdoor industry sponsors.

Game and Fish also plans to host in-person screenings and panel discussions across Wyoming later this spring, with additional details expected to be announced soon.

The release of the film comes as research continues on the proposed Seminoe Storage Project, an area known to provide prime bighorn sheep habitat within the Ferris-Seminoe range. Wildlife officials say ongoing studies will help better understand how habitat conditions, population pressures and future development could affect the herd.