
Ozarks At Large

Yesterday's runoff elections settled the GOP side of the ticket for this year's election for Arkansas Attorney General, but yesterday's runoffs may also have implications for funding the state's Private Option next year. Meanwhile, state legislators this week debated whether public schools should be allowed to tie onto the fiber optic network used by the state's higher education institutions, and Fort Smith Public Schools' summer meals program for youths gets underway.




Tyson Foods yesterday announced that Hillshire Brands had accepted its $8.5 billion acquisition bid over a smaller acquisition by Pinnacle Foods. Senator John Boozman returns to Washington, D.C. more than a month after undergoing emergency heart surgery, and a new effort aiming at legalizing cannabis gets underway in Arkansas.


The Fort Smith city Board of Directors will hold a special meeting Tuesday to discuss a potential election that could mean more millage for the city's Public Library. The Greenwood Police Department gets more connected to the public with a new smartphone app. And Rogers Public Schools gets ready for summer with its free summer meals program for youths in that city.
Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Monday, June 30, 2014
Ahead on this edition of Ozarks, we say good night to iconic places and events in Fayetteville. Plus, we talk with researchers at the University of Arkansas who were sent around the world by PBS for a national show, Time Scanners.
One Arkansas senator is pressing election officials to resolve issues with the state's voter ID law. Other legislators are pushing to prevent the state lottery commission from implementing video gambling games throughout the state. The FASTER Arkansas committee continues its push for changes in state law to allow public schools to connect to an existing, state-funded fiber optic network. And one Eureka Springs alderman is trying to move forward a decades-long debate on what to do about parking in that city's downtown area.
More than twenty Northwest Arkansas specialty shops sell electronic cigarettes, both disposable and rechargeable. The popular devices deliver a smooth warm nicotine-laced white vapor in variety strengths and flavors. We visit the Velvet Vapor in Rogers and also talk to an Arkansas Department of Health tobacco specialist about pending regulations and potential risks associated with “vaping.”
Our history doctor, Bill Smith, explains the relationship between politics and money is an American tradition.
Becca Martin Brown, from Northwest Arkansas Newspapers, directs us to performance art and fireworks this weekend.
Jonathan Story sits down at the Mary Baker Rumsey Steinway.