On this edition of Ozarks at Large, Fort Smith releases a report of the progress made in some focus areas; and the Taxpayer Advocacy Council looks for a volunteer to represent Arkansas’ taxpayers. Roby Brock from our content partner www.talkbusiness.net has a business and political news update for last week; and today’s Arkansongs features musician Robert McFerrin, Sr.
Ozarks At Large
The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is looking for a volunteer to represent the taxpayers of Arkansas. Christina Thomas spoke with David Still of the IRS from his office in Oklahoma City. To apply to represent Arkansas on the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel, visit www.improveirs.org. The deadline to apply is April 27.
Last week, Fort Smith released a report of the progress made in the top strategic priorities and key issues identified by the top city staff and the Fort Smith Board of Directors. Ozarks at Large’s Iti Agnihotri-Mudholkar spoke with Ray Gosack, Fort Smith City Administrator to learn more.
Comedian Tim Northern will perform at the UARK Bowl on Dickson Street in Fayetteville tonight. He spoke with Ozarks at Large's Kyle Kellams earlier this week.
On this edition of Ozarks at Large, highlights from President Barack Obama's visit to Cushing, Oklahoma. We also have a preview of the Artosphere and Fayetteville Roots festivals; and another chat about math with our expert Dr. Chaim Goodman Strauss.
President Obama made his first visit to Oklahoma yesterday. He visited the small town of Cushing which is in the middle of oil country.
Ozarks at Large’s Katy Henriksen spoke with Seattle-based singer-songwriter Damien Jurado who’s known for his quiet, lo-fi recordings.
More information is available at www.damienjurado.com.
Horizontal slickwater natural gas drilling flowback fluids not reused or recycled are pressure injected into the earth. Several such wells were shuttered last year in Faulkner County, linked to seismic activity. Industry is now looking toward Johnson County--pocked with empty underground gas reservoirs--to safely contain frack waste. But some Johnson County residents say not in their backyard.
Ozarks at Large’s Katy Henriksen spoke with the Central Arkansas doom metal band called Pallbearer who performed at South by Southwest – a music, film and interactive conference hosted annually in Austin, Texas.
More information is available at www.facebook.com/pallbearerdoom
Author Michael Downs talks about his book “The Greatest Show” which is a collection of short stories based on the 1944 Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey circus fire.
To listen to more of this conversation, click here.
Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Ahead on this edition of Ozarks, other ways to teach and other ways to learn. We go inside a local school of innovation, and we'll go on stage in Bentonville as Northwest Arkansas Community College prepares their staging of The Giver.
Bill Parry, from the cast of Memphis, talks to us about the musical, life on the road and the changes theater has had in the past couple of decades. Memphis is at Walton Arts Center through the weekend.
"Big Love" performed by Will Mann, from the Memphis soundtrack
The Valley of the Vapors music festival turns Hot Springs into a hotbed of DIY and experimental music each March. There's a new documentary film out about the fest making its Northwest Arkansas debut at Nightbird Books in Fayetteville this Saturday. Ozarks at Large's Katy Henriksen has more.
The Arkansas Legislature considers a ban on the parental rights of convicted rapists, as well as a bill barring school districts from considering home school students as public school students. Plus, University of Arkansas chancellor G. David Gearhart calls for an independent audit of the university's advancement division.
"We Will Become Silhouettes (Matthew Dear's Not Scared Mix)" by The Postal Service
In reaction to the Newtown, Connecticut elementary school massacre, Arkansas schools continue to bolster security—from hiring armed guards to installing heavy surveillance. We check districts around the region, talk with school security experts, look at current state legislation, and hear from former U.S. Congressman Asa Hutchinson on the status of his National School Shield Emergency Response Program, commissioned by the National Rifle Association.
We talk to an expert who has studied norovirus for 10 years about the symptoms and conditions to lead to its exposure to humans.