It's been a bordello, a restaurant and now a visitors center...and it's one of our favorite spaces in the region. We spent an afternoon at Miss Laura's in downtown Fort Smith,
Ozarks At Large

The Arkansas Department of Human Services has released numbers that show thousands of low-income Arkansans have shown intent to sign up for the state's Private Option insurance plans. Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families releases a report detailing inequality of enrichment opportunities between schools across the state. And furloughed work-study employees at Northwest Arkansas Community College returned to work this morning after a two-day suspension and before negotiations in Washington showed promise.


An effort to improve understanding in the classroom led to astonishing art.
Becca Martin Brown from Northwest Arkansas Newspapers has still more Halloween events to tell us about today.
Disney's Beauty and the Beast comes back to Walton Arts Center this weekend and we talk with the set designer about what we see behind the characters.

Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Friday, January 3, 2014
On this special edition of Ozarks at Large we listen again to some of our favorite stories from 2013, including: how to make it to age 100 in Huntsville, an odds-defying collaboration between a renown musician and Trike Theater and the creation of the Ozarks at Large quiche cup.
Justin Minkel, a Springdale elementary school teacher and 2007 Arkansas Teacher of the Year, has just written a new book aimed at young readers.
Here are out ten clips relating to Buffalo, New York and the War of 1812.
1) Ten Thousand Maniacs (from the Buffalo area) sing Because the Night,
2) Robert Redford and Wilford Brimley in The Natural (filmed in Buffalo).
3) Bruce Springsteen sings about Buffalo's Erie Canal.
4) A trailer, featuring Marilyn Monroe, for the movie Niagara…set in nearby Niagara Falls.
5) Buffalo native Rick James ponders a Super Freak.
6) A BBC documentary about the assassination of President McKinley. The shooting happened in Buffalo. (as did the subsequent swearing-n ceremony of Theodore Roosevelt).
7) The only electronic song we know of about Buffalo native Grover Cleveland.
8) Judy Garland sings Somewhere Over the Rainbow…written by Buffalo native Harold Arlen.
9) Amanda Blake, another Buffalo native, as Miss Kitty on an early episode of Gunsmoke.
10) Johnny Horton sings The Battle of New Orleans, about the final battle of the War of 1812. Arkansas connection: written by Jimmy Driftwood.
Roby Brock, from our content partner Talk Business Arkansas, offers a preview of the state's politics in the coming year.
"The Boxer" by Editors
Becca Martin Brown from Northwest Arkansas Newspapers suggests 12 things you should do in 2014.
Kevin Kinder and Kyle Kellams compare their lists of favorite music for 2013.