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.
Here are the ten clips (and eleven threes) included in our montage this week:
1. Bob Dorough sings Three is a Magic Number.
2. Larry, Curly and Moe in trouble in A Plumbing We Will Go.
3. Al Pacino utters the most memorable line from Godfather III.
4. The Three Degrees’ biggest hit, When Will I See You Again.
5. Kendall Trainor gives Arkansas a win with his field goal (worth 3 points) in the 1985 Holiday Bowl.
6. An early 1980s jingle for Three Musketeers candy bar.
7. Steve Martin, Martin Short and Chevy Chase as the likeable, but slow-witted, Three Amigos.
8. The Oscar-winning song It’s Hard to Be a Pimp by Three Six Mafia.
9. Speaking of Oscar, the opening comments from Three Faces of Eve, an Oscar-winner for Joanne Woodward.
10. DOUBLE THREE ALERT! The Three Tenors sing We Three Kings.
Apologies to the little pigs, the bears and Goldilocks, Jan Stenerud, Babe Ruth and that band that sang that song in the 90s.
Becca Martin Brown tells us that July is her favorite time of the year for all of the season announcements that are made.
A recent study suggests that comprehensive immigration reform could mean significantly more revenue for Arkansas and the rest of the nation. Another study shows that Arkansas has seen more police deaths this year than other states. A master plan for downtown Siloam Springs is in the works. SWEPCO gets approval to extend the life of its Flint Creek power plant in Gentry. And, drought returns to Arkansas.
"Beds are Burning" by Midnight Oil
Michael Tilley from The City Wire discusses dramatic increases in foreclosed homes on the market in the region and the latest in the 2014 race for governor.
Becca Martin Brown gives us the usual "Chinese menu" of entertainment options for the weekend.
"Jumbucco" by Waak Waak Jungi