A few notes from a chocolate festival in Eureka Springs to dreams of warmer weather and the summertime sport of baseball and more.
Ozarks At Large

A legislative Joint Performance Review Committee Meeting held yesterday in Little Rock addressed how a $4 million deficit could occur in the University of Arkansas' Advancement Division. Michael Hibblen from our content partner KUAR has this report.
Arkansas Lieutenant Governor Mark Darr yesterday was adamant that he would not resign in the face of a number of ethics violations, though some state legislators say that impeachment proceedings are likely to occur. The Sebastian County Quorum Court has laid preliminary plans for expanding the county's Emergency Medical Service headquarters in Greenwood. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics posts November jobless numbers for Northwest Arkansas and the Fort Smith metro areas. And, the U of A Women's Basketball Team makes it onto a Top-25 list.


Becca Martin Brown, from Northwest Arkansas Newspapers, says there are many workshops this month to help hone a craft.
The inaugural Ozark Mountain Music Festival is all indoors in Eureka Springs. And it has a fun nickname, too.
Schedule Includes:
Friday, 1/24
6 p.m. Barefoot Ballroom -- HonkySuckle
8 p.m. Ozark Room -- Wink
10 p.m. Barefoot Ballroom -- 3 Penny Acre
Saturday, 1/25
Balcony -- Hogscalders
2 p.m. Ozark Room -- Pearl Brick
4 p.m. Ozark Room -- Tyrannosaurus Chicken
6 p.m. Barefoot Ballroom -- SxRex
8 p.m. Ozark Room -- Ben Miller Band
10 p.m. Ballroom -- National Park Radio
MIDNIGHT JAM -- Ron Landis and Chuck
Sunday, 1/26
NOON- Bloody Mary Morning Show Ozark Rooms -- Handmade Moments
Schedule Includes:
Friday, 1/24
6 p.m. Barefoot Ballroom -- HonkySuckle
8 p.m. Ozark Room -- Wink
10 p.m. Barefoot Ballroom -- 3 Penny Acre
Saturday, 1/25
Balcony -- Hogscalders
2 p.m. Ozark Room -- Pearl Brick
4 p.m. Ozark Room -- Tyrannosaurus Chicken
6 p.m. Barefoot Ballroom -- SxRex
8 p.m. Ozark Room -- Ben Miller Band
10 p.m. Ballroom -- National Park Radio
MIDNIGHT JAM -- Ron Landis and Chuck
Sunday, 1/26
NOON- Bloody Mary Morning Show Ozark Rooms -- Handmade Moments
If the weather allows, the second weekend of 2014 will be full of indoor and outdoor events.
Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
On this edition of Ozarks, Roby Brock talks to Senator Jane English about the deal she made to switch her vote for the private option. Plus, we have a report on last night's public input forum that was organized by Ozark Regional Transit
Bill Parry, from the cast of Memphis, talks to us about the musical, life on the road and the changes theater has had in the past couple of decades. Memphis is at Walton Arts Center through the weekend.
"Big Love" performed by Will Mann, from the Memphis soundtrack
The Valley of the Vapors music festival turns Hot Springs into a hotbed of DIY and experimental music each March. There's a new documentary film out about the fest making its Northwest Arkansas debut at Nightbird Books in Fayetteville this Saturday. Ozarks at Large's Katy Henriksen has more.
The Arkansas Legislature considers a ban on the parental rights of convicted rapists, as well as a bill barring school districts from considering home school students as public school students. Plus, University of Arkansas chancellor G. David Gearhart calls for an independent audit of the university's advancement division.
"We Will Become Silhouettes (Matthew Dear's Not Scared Mix)" by The Postal Service
In reaction to the Newtown, Connecticut elementary school massacre, Arkansas schools continue to bolster security—from hiring armed guards to installing heavy surveillance. We check districts around the region, talk with school security experts, look at current state legislation, and hear from former U.S. Congressman Asa Hutchinson on the status of his National School Shield Emergency Response Program, commissioned by the National Rifle Association.
We talk to an expert who has studied norovirus for 10 years about the symptoms and conditions to lead to its exposure to humans.