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.
Author Michael Downs talks about his book “The Greatest Show” which is a collection of short stories based on the 1944 Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey circus fire.
To listen to more of this conversation, click here.
“Hartford Circus Fire, 1944” by Curtis Eller
Last autumn, Arctic Snowy Owls began to move south of their usual winter range. The brilliant white-feathered raptors, with five-foot wingspans, flew as far south as Hot Springs. Our essayist Joe Neal describes an encounter with the bird. His latest book “In the Province of Birds, a Western Arkansas Memoir,” is published by Half-Acre Press.
Jodi Beznoska from Walton Arts Center discusses upcoming Walton Arts Center programming.
The University of Arkansas’ Full Circle Campus Food Pantry came in second in a nationwide contest launched by the White House called “Campus Champions of Change Challenge.” Representatives from the pantry will visit the White House tomorrow to be honored for innovation and determination.
Tomorrow’s events will stream live at www.whitehouse.gov. Students will also tweet about their experiences at their Twitter page @UAFullCircle.
The River Valley Food Bank in Fort Smith now has a new logo, and a new facility.
“Don’t Worry, Be Happy” by Humble Pie