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.
Here are the clips for today's montage dedicated to the subway:
1. Duke Ellington performs one of America's best compostions, Take the A Train.
2. Elaine Bennis endures a legendary trip on New York's subway on a classic episode of Seinfeld.
3. Petula Clark's version of Don't Sleep in the Subway.
4. Sounds from the trailer the original Taking of Pelham 1, 2, 3 with Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw.
5. Tom Waits' Downtown Train.
6.The most famous clip from the drive-in classic Warriors.
7. The Kingston Trio sings a song about the Boston subway.
8. Marilyn Monroe's dress flies up in the classic scene from Seven Year Itch.
9. Neo takes care of business in The Matrix.
10. The muppets (the muppets?) sing Subway!
Apologies to Amelie and all those Beauty and the Beast stories.
This year's Shakespeare in the Park by The Classical Edge will include free performances at Lawrence Plaza in Bentonville.
For information on other live theater visit:
Rogers Little Theater
Arts Center of the Ozarks
Arts Live Theatre
The UA Drama Department
The chief political scientist at UALR says that Lt. Gov. Mark Darr's decision to drop out of the race for Congress isn't overly surprising, as the political climate in Arkansas has recently been rife with scandal. And, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is working with other agencies to convert farmland back into woodlands and wetlands.
"Walking Papers" by Booker T. Jones
Michael Tilley from The City Wire discusses the latest unemployment figures and how bloggers have made an impact on the Arkansas political landscape this month.
A ceremony yesterday afternoon marked the official launch of Circle of Life Hospice Foundation.