
Ozarks At Large



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.




The Amazeum won't open until 2015, but Sam Dean, the director of the new science and learning museum, says that museum officials already have some idea of what the exhibits, and the building itself, will look like.
A group protesting construction of the Keystone XL pipeline in Oklahoma, including members from Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and California, chain themselves to equipment at a construction site on the pipeline to prevent construction from moving forward. Officials in Central Arkansas lament a lack of access to documents related to the Mayflower Oil spill, leading to what they view as a lack of oversight. Rogers aldermen look to spend just more than $1 million on a trails project. And state officials draft a waiver that would allow the state to use federal Medicaid dollars for the state's so-called "private option" Medicaid expansion plan.
Michael Heffernan will read tomorrow night at Nightbird Books. We talk to him about his latest collection of poetry, "Walking Distance."
The state's Department of Corrections has announced it will make changes to the state's parole system following calls by Governor Beebe and others to strengthen the supervision and control of parolees in the state. While new unemployment numbers show a decline in the state's business sector, other areas have experienced growth. Opposition is mounting against the White River's designation as a National Blueway. And non-profit organizations looking to Rogers to host baseball tournaments will soon have to pay more to play.
Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Ahead on this edition of Ozarks, raising the minimum wage in Arkansas. Plus, we have a report on regional accents.
The Arkansas Highway Transportation Department received much criticism of how it handled cleanup of the recent winter storm. Karen Tricot Steward from our Content partner KUAR checked in with AHTD' in this report.
We visit a Knit Night and visit with local knitters about the ways to knit both old and new.
A Pulaski County judge dismisses a lawsuit against Arkansas Secretary of State Mark Martin. A New York based food company looks to acquire Siloam Springs-based Allens Canning Company. Tyson Foods is cited by OSHA for a June incident at a Kansas processing facility. The dean of the UA Honors College announces retirement, while the UA Full Circle Campus Food Pantry wins an award. And the vice chancellor of advancement at UAFS gets a new job.
"Little Drummer Boy" by Pentatonix
The Springdale School District yesterday was awarded several million dollars in Race to the Top federal grant funding. It was only one of five school districts in the U.S. to be awarded one of the grants.
Last Thursday, a preliminary hearing was held before Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza on a lawsuit filed last summer to strike down an Arkansas constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, approved by seventy-four percent of voters ten years ago. Jacqueline Froelich spoke with attorneys on both sides of the case, as well as a plaintiff and brings us the story.
(Photo credit: John Rankine)