
Ozarks At Large

Yesterday's release from the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics shows broad-based job growth in northwest Arkansas, sales tax revenue went up for the big four cities of northwest Arkansas in November. NWACC decides to buy land from the Arkansas and Missouri Railroad. The education given by the U of A is again described as a good value by the Princeton Review. A teaching farm in Fayetteville gets a grant from Ozark Natural Foods. And Arkansas' newest state senator doubles down on not renewing the state's Private Option expansion of Medicaid.
The Jones Center has plans to renovate some of its outdoor recreational facilities, while the city of Fayetteville has plans for expanding the city's trails network in 2014. And one Springdale-based poultry company issues a recall for more than a million pounds of frozen chicken products.
University of Arkansas Fort Smith's "Read This" 2014 book is "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien.
The Arkansas Department of Health continues to urge residents to get a flu shot as the number of people in the state who have died from flu-related illness continues to climb. The IRS reminds residents that tax season is about to get underway. The risk of wildfire continues to increase across Arkansas. And Sam's Club announces that it will lay off roughly 2 percent of its overall workforce.


Here is the list of clips for our Denver/Colorado montage. We'll have Seattle next week.
1. Ho Hey by Colorado-based band The Lumineers.
2. Robin Williams, as Mork, introduces himself to Boulder, Colorado (where the show was set).
3. Earth, Wind and Fire (with three Colorado natives) sings Boogie Wonderland.
4. Jack Nicholson crashes through in The Shining (at a Colorado hotel).
5. Voices from South Park, Colorado.
6. The song Colorado, My Home from the Broadway musical The Unsinkable Molly Brown.
7. Joan Collins and Linda Evans meet for the first time on the Denver-based soap opera Dynasty.
8. A 1970s commercial for Coors.
9. Colorado native Ralph Edwards surprises yet another celebrity on This is Your Life.
10. John Denver with Rocky Mountain High. Of course.
Apologies to: Lon Chaney and Douglas Fairbanks (how do you get silent stars into an audio montage?) and Hattie McDaniel.
1. Ho Hey by Colorado-based band The Lumineers.
2. Robin Williams, as Mork, introduces himself to Boulder, Colorado (where the show was set).
3. Earth, Wind and Fire (with three Colorado natives) sings Boogie Wonderland.
4. Jack Nicholson crashes through in The Shining (at a Colorado hotel).
5. Voices from South Park, Colorado.
6. The song Colorado, My Home from the Broadway musical The Unsinkable Molly Brown.
7. Joan Collins and Linda Evans meet for the first time on the Denver-based soap opera Dynasty.
8. A 1970s commercial for Coors.
9. Colorado native Ralph Edwards surprises yet another celebrity on This is Your Life.
10. John Denver with Rocky Mountain High. Of course.
Apologies to: Lon Chaney and Douglas Fairbanks (how do you get silent stars into an audio montage?) and Hattie McDaniel.

Web Extra: Images From Sleet City Signs
Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Ahead on this edition of Weekend Ozarks, a float along the Buffalo River nearly a year after a hog farm started business near the waterway, and a brand new water park in Siloam Springs is almost ready for the public. And speaking of being ready for the public, the Walmart AMP in Rogers last night had its public debut. Blake Shelton was the first headliner to perform in the new venue, but a few days earlier, we got a sneak preview of the facility.
Here is our salute to Seattle and Washington (Bronco fans, we did Denver last week).
1. Nirvana performs Come As You Are.
2. War Games, set in Seattle, begins.
3. Jimi Hendrix, Seattle native, plays Purple Haze.
4. Agent Cooper gives high praise in (and on) Twin Peaks, Washington.
5. Seattle native Bing Crosby sings You Are My Sunshine.
6. Frasier Crane plans to get even with Bulldog on Frasier.
7. Heart, another Seattle band, plays Crazy on You.
8. Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson discuss a possible romantic meeting in Sleepless in Seattle.
9. Detectives Holder and Linden, from the fictional Seattle police department, order lunch in an episode of The Killing.
10. Seattle native Sir Mix-A-Lot and Baby Got back.
Apologies to: Eddie Vedder, Modest Mouse, Macklemore and...oh, about five hundred other bands and musicians. Maybe next time.
Becca says that area residents will have an opportunity to learn about Muhammed Ali and other notable African Americans at an exhibit in Fort Smith.
Here, the quartet from Siloam Springs performs their song "Rosa Lee."
The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality has a new program designed to help landowners clean up hazardous substances without being fined. Senator John Boozman offers his thoughts on the Farm Bill that passed the House and is now on its way to the Senate. And the state's attorney general is being asked to clarify the state's new voter ID law.
"Extreme Ways" by Moby
Michael Tilley, from The City Wire, discusses financial numbers for Arkansas real estate, Tyson Foods, Walmart and the city of Fort Smith.