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.
The first phase of Fayetteville High School recently received LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver accreditation. Nordex USA plans to pay $2.5 million back to the state after failing to meet employment expectations set when the company accepted state development money. And, today is the day of the special run-off election to fill a vacancy on the Springdale City Council.
"Sugar Hips" by Hank Mobley
For more than a hundred years, county extension agents have worked within communities teaching the art and science of canning. Jacqueline Froelich --who has preserved blueberries, applesauce and okra pickles--takes us to the Washington County fair to meet extension agent Linda Chappell.
Roby Brock, from our content partner Talk Business Arkansas, examines the state's business and political news from the past week.
Last week, the Arkansas Public Service Commission in Little Rock heard heated arguments for and against a proposed 60-mile long high-voltage interstate transmission line on Benton and Carroll Counties. In an unusual move, the APSC's administrative law judge on Friday decided to suspend the hearing to have more time to consider the case. (Photo by Richard Quick)
"Tiger Tiger" by El Ten Eleven