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.
Robert Ginsburg talked with Defeayo Marsalis about his music, touring and his famous family. He’ll be at the City Auditorium in Eurkea Springs Saturday night.
For more information about jazz this weekend in Eureka Springs, visit the JazzFest website here. And for more news about jazz in the region in general, digijazz.com.
John Brown University announces that it is diverting all of its waste from landfills, a portion of Highway 62 in Lincoln is designated as a school zone and the state gets a federal grant to help combat prescription drug abuse.
"Numerology" by The Yellowjackets
According to a U.S. Census Bureau report released last week, in 2010 and 2011, close to 15 percent of Americans were living under the federal poverty line, but in Arkansas, that number was as high as 17 percent. The state has consistently ranked among the states with the highest rates of poverty. On Ozarks at Large this week, we are examining Arkansas' poverty problem.
Today, Ozarks at Large's Iti Agnihotri-Mudholkar examines the causes of poverty in Arkansas and the ways in which it affects all of us.
"Panning The Gold" by John Powell
A new web site is dedicated to attracting adults in northwest Arkansas with some college experience but not a degree. The plan, endorsed by five area institutions of higher learning, was announced yesterday.