Mercy Health used an innovative walking program to become one of the healthiest workplaces in the country.
Ozarks At Large
A roundup of events and news for the next few weeks include an alternative way to deliver a Valentine.


An administrative law judge with the Arkansas Public Service Commission on Friday ordered SWEPCO to proceed on its proposed plan to build a massive new power transmission line through portions of northwest Arkansas. Also, Governor Mike Beebe says that recent cost analyses of operating the state's Private Option expansion of Medicaid justifies the program's passage during last year's session of the state legislature. And the state Attorney General's office warns residents about rapid-refund tax providers.

Ahead on Ozarks, a conversation with young adult author An Na. Also, we learn what it takes to become a police officer.

We speak with An Na, author of A Step From Heaven, a book that was awarded the Michael L. Prince Award when it was published a decade ago. Critics and reviewers commended the book's characters for speaking like a child without being too precocious or condescending. The author will speak in Fayetteville later this month.
Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Ahead on this edition of Weekend Ozarks, we visit the kitchen of Jen Lewis, take a spin in a state-run clinic that aids veterans in rural communities, and we meet a recovering opiate addict who has found hope with methadone.
Matthew Sever, an Austin-based musician, was the featured performer at last night's installment of the Gulley Park Concert Series. For more information, visit www.matttheelectrician.com.
“All I Know” by: Matt the Electrician
Nathan McCleod’s interest in the saxophone can be traced back to listening to one of the legendary masters of the instrument. And as Ozarks at Large’s Sophie Kid discovered, he’s interested in stretching the limits of the sax. Her profile is the latest in our series, “Music Matters.”
Tomorrow, the River Valley Ale Raisers will hold an all-American brew off in Fort Smith. Ozarks at Large's Christina Thomas spoke with Luke Stolz, president of the regions home brewing club, about the basics of making (there’s a science to it) and drinking beer at home. For more information: www.RiverValleyAleRaisers.com.
Some GOP members of Arkansas’ legislature are asking Governor Beebe’s administration to slow down the process for possible Medicaid expansion in the state, more than one thousand residents of Fort Smith will be asked their opinions about their city next month as part of a project called the National Citizen Survey, and more.
“Good Dip” by: Erskine Hawkins
Michael Tilley from The City Wire discusses sales tax revenue being up across the region, Walther Arms comes to Fort Smith, and more.