
Ozarks At Large

Yesterday's release from the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics shows broad-based job growth in northwest Arkansas, sales tax revenue went up for the big four cities of northwest Arkansas in November. NWACC decides to buy land from the Arkansas and Missouri Railroad. The education given by the U of A is again described as a good value by the Princeton Review. A teaching farm in Fayetteville gets a grant from Ozark Natural Foods. And Arkansas' newest state senator doubles down on not renewing the state's Private Option expansion of Medicaid.
The Jones Center has plans to renovate some of its outdoor recreational facilities, while the city of Fayetteville has plans for expanding the city's trails network in 2014. And one Springdale-based poultry company issues a recall for more than a million pounds of frozen chicken products.
University of Arkansas Fort Smith's "Read This" 2014 book is "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien.
The Arkansas Department of Health continues to urge residents to get a flu shot as the number of people in the state who have died from flu-related illness continues to climb. The IRS reminds residents that tax season is about to get underway. The risk of wildfire continues to increase across Arkansas. And Sam's Club announces that it will lay off roughly 2 percent of its overall workforce.


Here is the list of clips for our Denver/Colorado montage. We'll have Seattle next week.
1. Ho Hey by Colorado-based band The Lumineers.
2. Robin Williams, as Mork, introduces himself to Boulder, Colorado (where the show was set).
3. Earth, Wind and Fire (with three Colorado natives) sings Boogie Wonderland.
4. Jack Nicholson crashes through in The Shining (at a Colorado hotel).
5. Voices from South Park, Colorado.
6. The song Colorado, My Home from the Broadway musical The Unsinkable Molly Brown.
7. Joan Collins and Linda Evans meet for the first time on the Denver-based soap opera Dynasty.
8. A 1970s commercial for Coors.
9. Colorado native Ralph Edwards surprises yet another celebrity on This is Your Life.
10. John Denver with Rocky Mountain High. Of course.
Apologies to: Lon Chaney and Douglas Fairbanks (how do you get silent stars into an audio montage?) and Hattie McDaniel.
1. Ho Hey by Colorado-based band The Lumineers.
2. Robin Williams, as Mork, introduces himself to Boulder, Colorado (where the show was set).
3. Earth, Wind and Fire (with three Colorado natives) sings Boogie Wonderland.
4. Jack Nicholson crashes through in The Shining (at a Colorado hotel).
5. Voices from South Park, Colorado.
6. The song Colorado, My Home from the Broadway musical The Unsinkable Molly Brown.
7. Joan Collins and Linda Evans meet for the first time on the Denver-based soap opera Dynasty.
8. A 1970s commercial for Coors.
9. Colorado native Ralph Edwards surprises yet another celebrity on This is Your Life.
10. John Denver with Rocky Mountain High. Of course.
Apologies to: Lon Chaney and Douglas Fairbanks (how do you get silent stars into an audio montage?) and Hattie McDaniel.

Web Extra: Images From Sleet City Signs
Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Ahead on this edition of Weekend Ozarks, a float along the Buffalo River nearly a year after a hog farm started business near the waterway, and a brand new water park in Siloam Springs is almost ready for the public. And speaking of being ready for the public, the Walmart AMP in Rogers last night had its public debut. Blake Shelton was the first headliner to perform in the new venue, but a few days earlier, we got a sneak preview of the facility.
In just more than a decade, Mark Landon Smith, director of Arts Live Theatre, has taken the program to new heights. Becca Martin Brown has more on their upcoming season.
Here are our ten clips inspired by monster trucks...well, all monster---no trucks.
1. Bobby Pickett sings Monster Mash.
2. Boris Karloff and O.P. Heggie in an iconic (if often misquoted) scene from The Bride of Frankenstein.
3. Warren Zevon's song Werewolves of London.
4. Maria Ouspenskaya and Lon Chaney, Jr. in The Wolf Man.
5. Godzilla, the song by Blue Oyster Cult.
6. Godzilla, the fire-breathing monster.
7. Edgar Winter and the classic rock instrumental, Frankenstein.
8. King Kong's roar. You get credit if you guessed a lion's roar played backwards...because that's what it is.
9. Imagine Dragons' song Monster.
10. Bela Lugosi's Dracula doesn't lie...he just doesn't tell the whole truth.
Apologies to: Lon Chaney, Sr. (silent films are not good Sunday Montage fodder), the Creature From the Black Lagoon and Of Monsters and Men. Maybe next time.
The Arkansas gross domestic product grew in 2013, particularly in some unexpected sectors. With one of the architects of the Arkansas Private Option defeated in a primary runoff this week, the future of the Medicaid expansion is in doubt, but Governor Mike Beebe is undeterred. Plus, this weekend marks the 149th anniversary of the end of slavery in the U.S., and the 17th annual NWA Juneteenth Celebration will mark the occasion in Springdale.
"Ten Million Slaves" Otis Taylor
Michael Tilley, from The City Wire, talks about the latest details regarding an acquisition of Hillshire.