Heard on the Street

RUNNING A-FOWL OF THE LAW

Steve Hill, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced earlier this month that seven people, including a former human resources employee at the Monett Tyson Foods operation, were indicted Dec. 7 as a result of a continuing investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service into the unlawful trafficking and use of birth certificates and Social Security cards. Teresa Trevino and Salvador Trevino, both of Monett, and Maria Guevara-Morales and Rogelio Guevara-Barrera, both of Brownsville, Texas, are charged with conspiracy to unlawfully sell documentary evidence of citizenship and to possess with intent to transfer unlawfully issued birth certificates and Social Security cards. Teresa Trevino was employed in the human resources office at Tyson Foods in Monett.

HABLA ESPAOL?

The Home Builders Association of Greater Springfield will present a 10-week workshop titled "Spanish for the Construction Site" Feb. 5-April 19, 2001. The workshop will teach a basic working knowledge of on-site, functional construction Spanish, for example: el martillo = hammer, la cinta metrica = measuring tape and los ladrillos = bricks. The cost for the workshop is $100 for HBA members and $125 for nonmembers and includes refreshments and course materials. To register, contact the HBA by Jan. 19, 2001, at 881-3711.

CALLING ALL TWINKLETOES

Holiday ice skating will again be available downtown, this time indoors, noon-11 p.m. Dec. 23 and Dec. 26-Jan. 1, 2001, at the Newberry Building on Park Central Square. The cost is $5 for 45 minutes of skating on the artificial "ice," which includes skate rental. The program is sponsored by the city, the Springfield-Greene County Park Board, Springfield Area Arts Council and the Urban Districts Alliance.

SMALL BUSINESS, BIG REFUND

A release from Sen. Kit Bond's office said a newly completed study reveals that more than 2,000 small companies, either unaware or confused by the small-corporation exemption from the alternative minimum tax, may have overpaid their taxes by an average of $11,638. Bond, who is chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business, said in the release that he is alarmed by the findings, which are contained in a study prepared by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. "If these taxpayers had underpaid their taxes, the IRS would certainly notify them ... in this case, however, they will receive a refund only if they realize their own mistake and file an amended return," Bond said.