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 band Fauxnz may spell their name in an odd fashion (pronounce it “phones) but they take their music very seriously.
R.J. Mischo recently came to our studio and played a set for Paul Kelso and the Generic Blues Show. Paul let us hear one of the songs before the entire performance can be heard tonight at nine on KUAF.
Senator Mark Pryor outlines some of his top priorities for 2013 as he tours the state. The Bentonville school district hears from the voting public about what would make for a more successful millage campaign. And Arkansas' public school system gets a passing grade, though there is room for improvement.
"Organ Donor" by DJ Shadow
The Washington/Madison County Drug Diversion Court, recently awarded a million dollars in federal grant funding, offers not only intensive treatment, but career training and placement--with partnering businesses. The novel program, initiated by Judge Chadd Mason, is now the subject of a university study.
One of the many services KUAF provides to its listeners is the reading of Public Service Announcements. After a couple of years of reading similar PSAs from various research laboratories calling on study participants, Ozarks at Large’s Christina Thomas got curious. To find out what they are all about, she called on Dr. Matt Feldner with the University of Arkansas’ Intervention Sciences Laboratory.