Circuit

Univision.com offers FirstGov channel
The most visited Spanish-language Web site among Hispanic users in the United States now includes a Web page with content from FirstGov en español, the Spanish-language version of the government’s official home page.

Univision.com’s FirstGov section is titled El Gobierno te ayuda, which means “the government helps you.”

According to recent research, nearly 10 million unique visitors click on Univision.com each month.

“Univision.com will enable Hispanics to use FirstGov en español to access the official government information and services and will let this community know that the federal government works for them,” said Lee Vann, principal of Captura Group, a consulting company that specializes in interactive marketing targeted to Hispanics.

Catch tax evaders with better IT
Advances in information technology could help the Internal Revenue Service close the $345 billion gap between the taxes that are due and the taxes collected, according to a new Treasury Department report.

The report, “A Comprehensive Strategy for Reducing the Tax Gap,” urges the IRS to replace its antiquated account management systems with an infrastructure more suitable for enforcing tax compliance.

“Continued improvements to technology would provide the IRS with better tools to improve compliance through early detection, better case selection and better case management,” the document states.

President Bush’s fiscal 2008 budget request will outline planned steps to improve IT at the IRS, according to the report.

Archives welcomes millionth visitor, but then…
Tourist Nate Wolters, traveling with his family from Concord, Calif., became the one-millionth visitor to the National Archives at 3:15 p.m. Friday, Sept. 29.

When the staff congratulated 4-year-old Nate, he shouted, “Awesome!”

Officials at the National Archives and Records Administration said the milestone surpassed initial projections. The facility was closed during peak attendance weeks because of flood damage in late June and early July.

Nate and his family came to the National Archives as part of a three-generation, month-long American history field trip along the East Coast.

Less than a week after Nate’s visit, the National Archives started shutting the doors to its research rooms early as a cost-cutting measure. New research hours at the Washington, D.C., building are Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Regular Saturday and evening hours have been eliminated, in accordance with a final rule posted in the Sept. 27 Federal Register.

Once a month, the National Archives will provide extended hours on Thursday and Friday evenings and all day Saturday.

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