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.
Michael Tilley from The City Wire talks about the improving numbers for home sales in the region and what James Lee Witt's entry into the 2014 election might mean.
In August of 2012, Fisk University, a historic African American college located in Nashville, Tennessee announced an agreement to share half-interest in its prized Alfred Stieglitz Collection of modern masterpieces with Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. “The Artist’s Eye: Georgia O’Keeffe and the Alfred Stieglitz Collection” opens tomorrow. Jacqueline Froelich attended a private media preview. To reserve tickets: visit crystalbridges.org (Photo: Dr. Victor Simmons, longtime curator and director of Fisk University Galleries)
"Dromedary" by Turtle Island String Quartet
A concert tonight in Fayetteville marks the 100th anniversary of Benjamin Britten.
Formed in 2007, the Fayetteville band A Good Fight quickly gained national recognition. But after a few iterations and with one of its members soon leaving the area, the band is holding a farewell concert this evening at George's Majestic Lounge.
The Springdale Public Library will close much of next week as part of the library's ongoing renovation project. Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel announces the formation of a state task force to end human trafficking in the state. A fourth party gets 2014 ballot access in Arkansas. And the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality releases funds for cutting diesel emissions in the state.
"Blue Eyed Girl" by Old Crow Medicine Show