Heard on the Street

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|bold_on|TUNE IN. A live panel discussion of the April 4 school-bond election will air at 7 p.m. March 30 on Ozarks Public Television; KOZK in Springfield and KOZJ in Joplin. Participants will include Springfield Public Schools Superintendent Jack Ernst, School Board Vice President Connie Ess and Jack Gentry, representing the Springfield Area Manufacturers Association. The program will feature an opportunity for callers to address their questions about the bond issue to panelists.|ret||ret||tab|

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|bold_on|TURN OUT. The Springfield Area Manufacturers Association will sponsor a public forum March 20 to allow voters in the Springfield Public School District to meet school board candidates. During the event, to be held at the Library Center, 4653 S. Campbell, each candidate will be allowed to present individual campaign platforms, and the audience will also be able to ask questions of the candidates. Three members will be elected April 4 to serve on the school board.|ret||ret||tab|

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|bold_on|GRANT. The Watershed Committee of the Ozarks has received a $5,000 grant from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to upgrade its Greene County Adopt-A-Spring Program. According to a statement from the organization, the money will be used to purchase monitoring and laboratory equipment and to provide training. The funds will also enable the Watershed Committee to hire a volunteer coordinator. |ret||ret||tab|

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|bold_on|PORK. The city of Mountain View will receive a $75,000 loan from the Missouri Department of Economic Development to fund the start-up of Pampered Pork Products and create 16 new jobs in the area. The folks at DED, which recently approved the loan, said the money will be an Action Fund loan to the city on behalf of Mountain View Processing LLC, a local hog-producing operation. Pampered Pork Products is a new company that will process and market pork products directly to wholesalers, who will deliver the products directly to consumers and upscale restaurants. Hogs will be provided to the new company by West Plains Feeder Pig Co. LLC.|ret||ret||tab|

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|bold_on|MALL NEWS. New Jersey-based children's clothing and accessory store The Children's Place plans to open a store at the Battlefield Mall late this summer, according to company spokesman Glenis Jos. The Children's Place offers clothing and accessories for children from birth to 12 years old. The store's merchandise can be viewed and purchased online at |ret||ret||tab|

|bold_on|www.childrensplace.com.|ret||ret||tab|

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|bold_on|TAXING SERVICE. Commerce Bank has announced that it is participating in the Quicken Tax Freedom Project, a public-service initiative that offers free online tax preparation and electronic filing to taxpayers with annual adjusted gross income of $20,000 or less. Under the program, which applies to both state and federal taxes, the free services are also available to anyone filing a Form 1040EZ. Commerce is offering the access to online tax preparation and electronic filing in conjunction with financial software company Intuit Inc. Commerce will make Quicken TurboTax for the Web and TurboTaxEZ available on the bank's Web site at |ret||ret||tab|

|bold_on|www.CommerceBank.com.|ret||ret||tab|

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|bold_on|SEYMOUR HEALTH. Cox Health Systems has reopened its clinic in Seymour. Seymour Family Health Care is located at 202 Commercial. The clinic will be staffed 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Dr. Teresa Troy will see patients at the clinic on Tuesdays. Dr. Mark Chambers will see patients at the clinic on Thursdays. Both physicians are board certified in family practice, treating patients of all ages. Plans for the clinic include adding a nurse practitioner to offer health care services on two additional days.|ret||ret||tab|

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|bold_on|JOB STATS. Unemployment in Missouri increased less than seasonally expected during January, according to statistics from the Missouri Department of Economic Development. The jobless rate in the state was 2.8 percent in January, 0.1 percent higher than the state's revised December unemployment rate. The rate was below the state's 4.1 percent unemployment rate in January 1999. The January unemployment rate for the Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area was 1.9 percent, compared to 3 percent in January 1999.|ret||ret||tab|

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|bold_on|SLICE OF NICE. The North Springfield Betterment Association holds its sixth annual Two-Person Scramble Golf Tournament April 28 at Greene Hills Country Club in Willard beginning at 8 a.m. The entrance fee is $130 per team. All proceeds fund college scholarships for Hillcrest High and Central High students, and the Elementary School Attendance Program. For more information, call Todd Lutes at 863-7445.|ret||ret||tab|

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