Mercy Health used an innovative walking program to become one of the healthiest workplaces in the country.
Ozarks At Large
A roundup of events and news for the next few weeks include an alternative way to deliver a Valentine.


An administrative law judge with the Arkansas Public Service Commission on Friday ordered SWEPCO to proceed on its proposed plan to build a massive new power transmission line through portions of northwest Arkansas. Also, Governor Mike Beebe says that recent cost analyses of operating the state's Private Option expansion of Medicaid justifies the program's passage during last year's session of the state legislature. And the state Attorney General's office warns residents about rapid-refund tax providers.

Ahead on Ozarks, a conversation with young adult author An Na. Also, we learn what it takes to become a police officer.

We speak with An Na, author of A Step From Heaven, a book that was awarded the Michael L. Prince Award when it was published a decade ago. Critics and reviewers commended the book's characters for speaking like a child without being too precocious or condescending. The author will speak in Fayetteville later this month.
Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Ahead on this edition of Weekend Ozarks, we visit the kitchen of Jen Lewis, take a spin in a state-run clinic that aids veterans in rural communities, and we meet a recovering opiate addict who has found hope with methadone.
We talk with Charlaine Harris, the popular supernatural mystery writer, on whose stories HBO’s “True Blood” series is based. She was in town raising awareness about the Writer’s Colony at Dairy Hollow in Eureka Springs this past weekend.
“Scrapple From the Apple” by Miles Davis
On the list today – a concert on the lawn at Botanical Garden of the Ozarks, a reading and book-signing with author Cary Groner at Nightbird Books, and a performance by Trout Fishing in America at the Alma Performing Arts Center.
The blues and jazz lounge and restaurant in Fayetteville hopes to impress northwest Arkansans with great music, delicious food and elegant decor.
Crafts, dance, and musical performances will keep northwest Arkansans busy this month. Jodi Beznoska of Walton Arts Center has the details.
A beautiful preserve operated by the city of Eureka Springs could be a draw for green tourists, but some worry development could disturb a habitat home to a rare species of lizard called “Mountain Boomers.”
For more information: www.lakeleatherwoodcitypark.webs.com