Ahead on Ozarks: Michael Tilley from The City Wire helps us keep with the moving pieces in the puzzle that is the 2014 Arkansas election. Plus last-minute Valentine’s Day plans courtesy of Becca Martin Brown from Northwest Arkansas Newspapers and Shannon Wurst explains one inspiration for writing love songs.
Ozarks At Large
The state legislature yesterday continued considering changes to the Private Option in order for the Medicaid expansion to continue, at least for the remainder of the year, changes that Governor Mike Beebe doesn't necessarily agree with, though he does concede the amendments make the bill more pallatable to some politicians. And Crystal Bridges gets a new installation just in time for Valentine's Day.
Ahead on this edition of Ozarks, a movement in Fayetteville is encouraging residents to be kind to others, not just on Valentine's Day, but all year long. Plus, extremely cold temperatures and out of the ordinary snow storms have some wondering about climate change. We speak with one U of A researcher about global warming's effects on vegetation. And, two R&B divas perform in the region, Becca Martin Brown tells us what's up and more.
February is a month of compassion in Fayetteville. We hear this story of compassion from Kristina Andazola.
One researcher at the University of Arkansas has been taking a look at what would happen to the planet's surface vegetation if greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current rate through the end of the century.
Charles Baum was both a philanthropist and a baseball lover. We learn more about the man behind the Arkansas Razorback's baseball stadium.
State legislators yesterday suggested several amendments that would allow the state's private option expansion of Medicaid to continue, and one of the state's circuit judges calls for a moratorium on building new prison facilities in Arkansas.
When the Federal Communications Commission opened up licensing opportunities for thousands of new independent low-power non-commercial FM radio stations in 2010, several dozen Arkansas groups applied. In northwest Arkansas, Fayetteville Community Radio appears to have made the cut. We meet Joe Newman, station manager, and volunteers Olivia Hines and Moshe Newmark.
The fiscal session of the Arkansas legislature continued yesterday, with talk about the Private Option and NOT talk of dealying Common Core implementation. The Washington county Sheriff's Office moves its enforcement and investigation divisions into the same space after remodeling 10,000 square feet of the department's east annex. The search for a missing Arkansas Forestry Commission pilot ended sadly yesterday. And Walmart is the latest in a string of multi-million dollar donors to the new Arkansas Music Pavilion under construction in Rogers.
Ahead on this edition of Ozarks: In 1980, thousands left Castro's Cuba on a boatlift to the United States. Many of them were given housing at Fort Chaffee. Jacqueline Froelich examines what happened then, what's happened since…and why historians are spending time getting the facts correct. Plus, a new adult education library for Northwest Arkansas Community College.
Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Ahead on Ozarks, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families releases a new report on children's health coverage. Also, a project looks at the idea of community, we hear an interview with gubernatorial candidate Mike Ross, and more.
The Fayetteville Farmer’s Market was voted the country’s favorite. Tomorrow the award is handed over.
Arkansan Tav Falco helped invent a sound that later became known as "psychobilly" in 1979 when he formed Tav Falco and the Panther Burns in Memphis. Although Falco currently resides in Vienna, Austria, he's bringing his blend of blues, punk and rockabilly to the Rogue on Dickson in Fayetteville tomorrow as he tours with his Unapproachable Panther Burns. Ozarks at Large's Katy Henriksen has this preview.
Union supporters and striking workers protested outside of Walmart's annual investors' conference in Bentonville, the drought slowly but surely improves in parts of Arkansas, and the creative economy adds jobs and revenue to the Northwest Arkansas economy.
"In Walked Bud" by Art Blakey
An Alabama law firm has filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of all Arkansas rice farmers against a chemical company that produces arsenic compounds and poultry integrators that mix the arsenic into their feed. The suit alleges the poultry litter, used as fertilizer, has poisoned Arkansas rice farms.
An outdoor education class that got its start as a college thesis more than ten years ago has a strong presence in a few Northwest Arkansas schools and is gaining attention nationally. Ozarks at Large's Christina Thomas hikes through the state park with students learning about the outdoors.
"Montreal" by Kaki King