Yesterday was the first day of classes at the University of Arkansas and we found new students, experienced upperclassmen and free hot dogs.
Ozarks At Large

Exxon-Mobil officials meet with state lawmakers to give reassurances about the safety of the Pegasus pipeline. The University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture releases a report that claims manufacturing jobs in rural Arkansas towns may never return because of long-term changes to the state's economic landscape. And, state economic development incentives recieve more scrutiny after recent layoffs by companies who accepted them.


As classes begin at the University of Arkansas, Raymond Walters enters doctoral programs in physics and mathematics, all before his 20th birthday.
We spend an afternoon as an entomologist hunting and identifying various species of grasshoppers.
The Rogers School District already plans to expand its newest high school. Bentonville city officials move forward with an ordinance to promote increasing the city's tree canopy. And several Arkansas airports get grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Becca Martin Brown tells us about the new "This Land" exhibit, opening this week at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.
Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Ahead on this edition of Ozarks, they aren't native to the United States. but Burmese pythons are presenting themselves as quite a problem in parts of the nation; we take a look at how they got here. Plus, after years of planning, an orchard begins to take roots in Fayetteville this afternoon, and students at an area junior high school prepare to put their knowledge and problem solving skills to the test on the statewide stage.
Last January the U.S. Department of the Interior designated the White River Watershed as a National Blueway, the second river in the nation to be honored. The title recognizes and supports a new generation of watershed stewardship. But Jeannie Burlsworth, who runs the right-wing property rights group, “Secure Arkansas,” claims the Blueway Program is a covert government operation. Burlsworth has roused so much opposition, that the Arkansas Blueway initiative was forced to shut down.
Roby Brock, from our content partner Talk Business Arkansas, says a big shakeup in the banking world garnered much attention last week.
In his book Enduring Legacy: Rhetoric and Ritual of the Lost Cause, Stuart Towns argues that without the words expressed during and after the Civil War, the Lost Cause movement in the American South would not have been what it was. Christina Thomas speaks with Towns about the oral history of the Lost Cause and how it has influenced the region today.
"July" by Spirit of the West
Even though she’s in New Orleans, Becca Martin Brown gets us up to date on music in northwest Arkansas this holiday weekend.
In our weekly review of the headlines, we take a look at groups and organizations that are on the hook for more money, and one organization getting a sizable amount of money.