Ozarks At Large
Tonya Lewis Lee helped bring Christopher Paul Curtis' novel The Watsons Go to Birmingham to Tv this month. Tonight the film is being shown, for free, at Bentonville High School and today we talked with Ms. lee about the project that premiered earlier this month on the Hallmark Channel.
Late last week, the federal Department of Health and Human Services accepted Arkansas's plan for Medicaid expansion. The city of Bentonville will give away compost and wood mulch this week. A couple of roads close or otherwise reroute in the River Valley starting today. And gas prices dropped slightly in Arkansas over the past week.
With this morning's montage, we say several goodbyes; to Summer, to a famed Yankees pitcher, and to one of our longest-tenured colleagues at KUAF. Here are our 10 pop culture references we used to say goodbye.
- "So Long, Farewell" from the Sound of Music
- Lou Gehrig's farewell speech
- "Goodbye my Lover" by James Blunt
- ET says his goodbye
- The famous words from Gone With The Wind
- "Hello, Goodbye" by The Beatles
- The Friends leave the apartment for the final time
- "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" by Elton John
- Jim Carey tells his fare goodbye at the beginning of Dumb and Dumber
- Leaving Casablanca for the final time
- Johnny Carson bids his final farewell to the audience during his final time hosting The Tonight Show
The Arkansas Center For The Book this week made its selection for the 2013 If All Arkansas Read The Same Book Program. Kyle Kellams spoke with Vivienne Schiffer, the author of the novel Camp Nine, this year's selection.
State officials continue to seek a solution to the teacher insurance crisis in Arkansas. New numbers are out regarding Arkansas students' achievements on Advanced Placement tests. And, the Connecting Arkansas Internet Conference is being held in Little Rock this week.
You can go to a workshop at NWACC to learn about the state's Freedom of Information Act, or you can participate in one of many lake and other outdoor cleanups in the next few days.



Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Friday, May 9, 2014
Ahead on this edition of Ozarks, Michael Tilley talks about a new owner for some long-abandoned real estate in Fort Smith, and the official announcement of a Whole Foods in Fayetteville. Plus, Cletus Got Shot gets ready to perform at a few festivals in the next month.
Classes on Memorial Day, classes in Mexico, and the tale of getting one legislative chamber to vote for the state’s Private Option
"Wherever You Are" by Isaac Hayes
Roiled a century ago by race riots, Harrison is taking pragmatic steps to repair its reputation, and has become culturally diverse, due to the presence of the Harrison Community Task Force on Race Relations. Still, as Jacqueline Froelich reports, a few local
white patriots have come out to mark the town as their territory.
Carson Engineering in Springdale manufactures items for use all over the world.
Becca gives us details on "Divide Light," an opera by Lesley Dill that will soon be presented in Fayetteville.
"Keeper" by Shovels and Rope
Here are the clips for this week's salute to Boston:
1) The Standells sing Dirty Water.
2) Frasier introduces Lilith to Woody for the first time on Cheers.
3) Boston -based new wave group The Cars.
4) Robin Williams, in his Oscar-winning role, recounts Carlton Fisk's legendary World Series home run in Good Will Hunting.
5) Boston native Donna Summer sings about The Last Dance.
6) Havlicek stole the ball! The final seconds of the 1965 NBA Eastern Conference Finals.
7) The Boston Pops play a signature tune, The Stars and Stripes Forever.
8) Jack Nicholson opens up the Oscar-winning The Departed.
9) The final moments of the most underrated TV show in history: St. Elsewhere. Spoiler: it's a snow globe.
10) Dave Loggins and Please Come to Boston.
Apologies to: Mystic River, The Verdict, The Dropkick Murphys, Rob Zombie, Dick Dale, Gone Baby Gone, Ben Affleck, Boston (the band), The Pixies, Aerosmith, Joan Baez, Bill Russell (you're on OUR Mt. Rushmore) and Spencer for Hire. Maybe next time.