Hundreds of millions of dollars have been slashed from Head Start, the historic preschool program, funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Jacqueline Froelich reports on the closure of the Willow Heights Head Start in downtown Fayetteville.
Ozarks At Large

The Bella Vista Bypass hits a snag in Missouri, and the Rogers Fire Department gets a FEMA grant worth more than a half-million dollars


Becca Martin Brown tells us that the country lineup of Exile, which features a list of former members of the band, has reunited and will perform soon in northwest Arkansas.
Ezra Idlet and Keith Grimwood of Trout Fishing in America recently stopped by the Firmin-Garner Performance Studio. Here they are playing the title track from their new album, "Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers."
Becca Martin Brown tells us that the country lineup of Exile, which features a list of former members of the band, has reunited and will perform soon in northwest Arkansas.

Several happenings at area libraries and music at local pubs for this National Chocolate Milkshake Day edition of the daily notes.
Fayetteville competes in the International Compassion Games. Participants can earn points simply by being nice.
Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Monday, December 9, 2013
Ahead on this edition of Ozarks, we learn about undergrounding. Plus, a conversation with the author of "Hanging On Upside Down: The Life and work of Marianne Moore."
The Ozarks Genealogical Society's annual conference is scheduled for Sept. 13-14 in Springfield, Missouri, and the featured speaker is D. Joshua Taylor (http://www.djoshuataylor.com).
The first event outside of Eureka Springs for the Creative Energy Project will bring yarn, and plenty of it, to Bentonville.
Link: For more about Yarnology or the Creative Energy Project, www.creativeenergyproject.com
Officials with hunger relief organizations in Arkansas express concern over recent efforts to remove SNAP funding from the federal Farm Bill. Central Arkansas leaders request information from ExxonMobil regarding a stretch of pipeline in the Lake Maumelle Watershed. The Arkansas House and Senate Education Committees discuss the new Common Core curriculum, set to take effect when schools start in about a month. And the Fayetteville Public Library board of directors moves forward with an offer to purchase the former City Hospital property.
"Cut Me Loose" by T Model Ford
In the first of our series on the deployment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in Arkansas, Cynthia Crone, the state’s insurance department deputy commissioner, explains the fundamentals, including getting an early look at Arkansas’s insurance exchange, now referred to as marketplace.
Early next month the organization called the Military Order of the Purple Heart of the U.S.A. Inc. will hold its annual convention in Rogers. We talked to John Bircher, National Spokesman for the Military Order of the Purple Heart.
Link: To learn more about the Military Order of the Purple Heart, visit www.purpleheart.org