Ozarks At Large
Tonya Lewis Lee helped bring Christopher Paul Curtis' novel The Watsons Go to Birmingham to Tv this month. Tonight the film is being shown, for free, at Bentonville High School and today we talked with Ms. lee about the project that premiered earlier this month on the Hallmark Channel.
Late last week, the federal Department of Health and Human Services accepted Arkansas's plan for Medicaid expansion. The city of Bentonville will give away compost and wood mulch this week. A couple of roads close or otherwise reroute in the River Valley starting today. And gas prices dropped slightly in Arkansas over the past week.
With this morning's montage, we say several goodbyes; to Summer, to a famed Yankees pitcher, and to one of our longest-tenured colleagues at KUAF. Here are our 10 pop culture references we used to say goodbye.
- "So Long, Farewell" from the Sound of Music
- Lou Gehrig's farewell speech
- "Goodbye my Lover" by James Blunt
- ET says his goodbye
- The famous words from Gone With The Wind
- "Hello, Goodbye" by The Beatles
- The Friends leave the apartment for the final time
- "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" by Elton John
- Jim Carey tells his fare goodbye at the beginning of Dumb and Dumber
- Leaving Casablanca for the final time
- Johnny Carson bids his final farewell to the audience during his final time hosting The Tonight Show
The Arkansas Center For The Book this week made its selection for the 2013 If All Arkansas Read The Same Book Program. Kyle Kellams spoke with Vivienne Schiffer, the author of the novel Camp Nine, this year's selection.
State officials continue to seek a solution to the teacher insurance crisis in Arkansas. New numbers are out regarding Arkansas students' achievements on Advanced Placement tests. And, the Connecting Arkansas Internet Conference is being held in Little Rock this week.
You can go to a workshop at NWACC to learn about the state's Freedom of Information Act, or you can participate in one of many lake and other outdoor cleanups in the next few days.



Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Friday, May 9, 2014
Ahead on this edition of Ozarks, Michael Tilley talks about a new owner for some long-abandoned real estate in Fort Smith, and the official announcement of a Whole Foods in Fayetteville. Plus, Cletus Got Shot gets ready to perform at a few festivals in the next month.
The story of the first African American policeman in Fayetteville led two graduate students at the University of Arkansas to uncover other stories for their documentary Oak Cemetery: A Forgotten Place.
“Strong as Oak” by Watsky
The band Caroline Rose will perform during the weekend festival on Mulberry Mountain. Here, they perform "Roll On" inside our studio as the festival gets underway today.
at end of show: “Flying Dreams” by Birds of Chicago
Officials with the U.S. Marshals Museum yesterday approved its 2015 budget, which includes allocations for architectural, exhibit and operational costs. President Clinton speaks to the role presidential libraries serve in providing historical context, and state revenue numbers for May came in below what economists expected.
"All the Trees" by Curtis Harvey
Leslie Rutledge and David Sterling are seeking the Republican nomination for Arkansas Attorney General. You can see the entire interview here.
Memorial Day marks the opening of public swimming pool season across America. And this summer, an article about pools and race will be published in the Arkansas Historical Quarterly, titled “Going off the Deep End: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Desegregation of Little Rock’s Public Swimming Pools.” Jacqueline Froelich spoke with author and historian John Kirk.
"Swans and the Swimming" by Iron & Wine