Governor Mike Beebe yesterday released the results of an investigation into the Arkansas Department of Community Correction, and that systemic problems exist within the department. Excess state revenue in October may be needed later this year, according to a state economist. Work gets underway at Fayetteville's Wilson Park, as renovations begin to the buildings at the park's pool. A longtime lobbyist for the U of A announces his retirement. And the Walton College of Business gets another favorable ranking.
Ozarks At Large

Here are some of those events taking place in the coming week
We speak with Marcos Villatoro, the director of "Tamale Road," a documentary about his quest to find out more about his heritage.
Becca discusses new performers added to the Walton Arts Center's season including Ronnie Milsap and Cherish the Ladies.

Housing sales numbers for September show positive improvement in the housing market across Arkansas. Governor Beebe warns state lawmakers about the implications of defunding the state's Private Option expansion of Medicaid during the fiscal session in a few months. And Rogers-based Ozark Mountain Poultry opens a second facility in Batesville.


Becca Martin Brown tells us that the U.S. Marshals' Museum in Fort Smith will soon have a cornerstone ceremony for its hall of honor.
Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Friday, January 17, 2014
On this edition of Ozarks, the efforts continue to place a statue of General William O. Darby on the edge of Fort Smith. And the work is just beginning to move a Frank Lloyd Wright house from New Jersey to Bentonville. We’ll hear how that task will be done. And Pearl Brick sings inside the Firmin-Garner Performance Studio…and talks about leaving college to travel to Key West, losing her voice and her recent return to performing.
Governor Mike Beebe and the state legislature tie up some loose ends at the conclusion of the legislative session, the Northwest Arkansas Council holds a summit for area leaders to figure out how to connect immigrants--either international or domestic--to resources in the area. A group of concerned area residents held a protest on the U of A campus yesterday in an attempt to draw U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack's attention to the confined animal feeding operation set to operate in the Buffalo River Watershed, and a group of UAFS students plan a run to benefit victims of the Boston Marathon Bombing.
"Sounds Like There's a Pacman Crunching Away at Your Heart" by Haiku Salut
Tom Vilsack, the country's Secretary of Agriculture, was the esteemed speaker of yesterday's Dale and Betty Bumpers Distinguished Lecture at the University of Arkansas. He took the opportunity to speak candidly with the standing room only crowd about short-, medium-, and long-term ag public policy goals, and about opening lines of communication.
The University of Arkansas at Fort Smith and the Northwest Arkansas Council yesterday announced that the college is now the sixth member of the higher education consortium.
Becca Martin Brown says the rumours are true. Fleetwood Mac is coming close enough to see several times.
For the past few months there have been meetings, open to the public, to discuss making Fayetteville a city of compassion. We met with two of the organizers of the meetings to find out what it might take for a more compassionate place.
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