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.
An Ozark native who grew up exploring urban woodlands as a boy, left the Natural State for New York, where he now works as Principle Urban Designer for the City of New York Parks & Recreation. We amble with Charles McKinney, during a holiday visit, along the Fayetteville Trail to learn more about his big life in the Big Apple.
Opera Fayetteville is staging the ambitious, dark modern opera Dead Man Walking twice this weekend.
January is "Be Kind To Food Servers Month." Ozarks at Large's Christina Thomas speaks with local server David Jelinek to talk about the difficulty of the food service industry.
Here is the list of pop culture references included in today's montage honoring food service workers:
Billy Joel sings "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant."
Kermit, Miss Piggy and Steve Martin confer in The Muppet Movie.
Jennifer Aniston complains (understandably) about her flair in Office Space.
The very underrated band The Bus Boys and the song "Minimum Wage."
Meg Ryan defines high maintenance as a customer in When Harry Meets Sally.
The Austin-based Asleep at the Wheel sings "House of Blue Lights."
Judge Reinhold gets a raw deal in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
Homer is disappointed with the slow service at Moe's Family Feedbag in a classic Simpsons episode.
Arlo Guthrie and the most famous restaurant song ever, "Alice's Restaurant."
Linda Lavin, Vic Tayback and Polly Holiday inside Mel's Diner on the situation comedy Alice.
Cab Calloway sings "Everybody Eats at My House." The best rhyme in the song: Want a pancake, Mandrake?
"Escape Velocity" by Art Lewy
A new collection of Charles Portis' works will be discussed at the Fayetteville Public Library this week.