
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.
Ozarks at Large’s Christina Thomas visits the office of Ability Tree, an organization that not only helps children with special needs, but also their immediate families.
More information about Ability Tree is available at www.abilitytree.org.
An Arkansas Judge in Pulaski County has fined pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson and a subsidiary nearly $1.2 billion dollars for concealing risks associated with the anti-psychotic drug Risperdal. Winnings from the suit, likely be appealed, will be deposited into the state’s Medicaid Trust Fund.
Monday afternoon, the statue of former United States Senator and Fayetteville native J. William Fulbright was returned to its rightful place at the west entrance to Old Main on the University of Arkansas campus. The event also celebrated the 107th birth anniversary of Fulbright.
"Tip of the Iceberg" by The Farewell Drifters
Chase Stoudenmire, a graduate student at the University of Arkansas and a former Fulbright Scholar to the Republic of Georgia, visited KUAF’s Firmin-Garner Performance Studio with Professor Kate Mamiseishvili, who encouraged him to go to Georgia, to talk about his experiences.
Professional Actor Keith Scales is staging a midnight theater production at the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs based on the life of Norman Baker, who operated a popular and unorthodox cancer hospital at the Crescent in the 1930s. Shrouded in mystery, Baker has finally been brought to light, based on Scale’s historical research.