Between elections, Trent wrote a weekly political column (it had several names) for two years for the Columbia Flier/Howard County Times. One of her most interesting columns was called, "Divorce--Tax-Shelter Style". The topic was the now-infamous "marriage penalty" tax. Of course, Trent had the inside scoop on that issue because her Howard County friends, Dave and Angie Boyter, created the issue. Each year in late December, they would fly to Puerto Rico for their annual divorce and remain divorced through December 31st – the key date in the eyes of the IRS. Unfortunately, the IRS took a dim view of the Boyter's annual holidays and ruled that such short-term December divorces were a ruse intended solely to evade taxes. But their escapades brought the issue to the attention of the nation. Their case is black letter law – students study them in law school!
The highlight of Trent’s career as a newspaper columnist came on December 13, 1974. A gentleman from Falls Church Virginia liked her column, "The Voters are 700 Percent Wrong!" so much that he sent in a check for a year's subscription to this Maryland County's local newspaper!
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A second highlight was the letter she received from Mike Spear regarding her article "The Trouble with Liberalism". Mike was the CEO of Columbia’s developer, Howard Research and Development Corporation, and a brilliant young executive who died tragically in a small plane accident.
Trent Kittleman for Howard County 3000 Kittleman Lane * West Friendship, Maryland 21074 *(301) 661-3344 * Campaign Manager: Josette Wheatley (410) 206-9539 Trent@Kittleman2010.com * Josette@Kittleman2010.com
