
Ozarks At Large

A workshop this month in Fort Smith is designed to help candidates, and potential candidates, of all kinds learn more about the electoral process.
A Tom Bresh concert in the River Valley and the Waka Winter Classic in NWA are on Becca's music agenda this week.


Yesterday, Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration officials yesterday outlined Governor Mike Beebe's budget priorities to state legislators. Funding for the state's Private Option expansion of Medicaid could be in danger after a special election for state Senate yesterday. And the University of Arkansas Fort Smith is in the process of developing its its first Master's degree program.



Lineups for music festivals are just part of what to keep your eye on this week.
Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Ahead on this edition of Ozarks at Large, Davy Carter, Speaker of the Arkansas House, talks with Roby Brock about the continuing process to decide funding for the Private Option. And Jim DePriest, a deputy Attorney General for Arkansas, explains how his office combats potential fraud against seniors.
One Arkansas senator is pressing election officials to resolve issues with the state's voter ID law. Other legislators are pushing to prevent the state lottery commission from implementing video gambling games throughout the state. The FASTER Arkansas committee continues its push for changes in state law to allow public schools to connect to an existing, state-funded fiber optic network. And one Eureka Springs alderman is trying to move forward a decades-long debate on what to do about parking in that city's downtown area.
More than twenty Northwest Arkansas specialty shops sell electronic cigarettes, both disposable and rechargeable. The popular devices deliver a smooth warm nicotine-laced white vapor in variety strengths and flavors. We visit the Velvet Vapor in Rogers and also talk to an Arkansas Department of Health tobacco specialist about pending regulations and potential risks associated with “vaping.”
Our history doctor, Bill Smith, explains the relationship between politics and money is an American tradition.
Becca Martin Brown, from Northwest Arkansas Newspapers, directs us to performance art and fireworks this weekend.
Jonathan Story sits down at the Mary Baker Rumsey Steinway.