We continue our series previewing this weekend's poetry festival at Nightbird Books. Katie Nichol grew up in St. Cloud, Minnesota and says she started writing poetry when she was about 12 years old:
Ozarks At Large
Arkansas' U.S. Senators speak out in favor of the Marketplace Fairness Act, which would require online retailers to collect state and local sales tax on purchases anywhere in the country. Officials with the WestArk Area Boy Scout Council voice their feelings about changes to the national organization's membership policy regarding sexual orientation. The Rogers Farmers' Market will be in a different location when it opens Saturday, and the Bentonville School District gets state funding approved for construction of a second high school, though the battle for building bucks continues.
Nathan Vandiver from our content partner KUAR in Little Rock provides a wrap-up of this year's Legislative Session.
The art department at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville has taken over the basement of the Bank of America Building on the square in downtown Fayetteville for the month of April with sUgAR's pop-up gallery featuring work from BFA honors students and MFA candidates. Katy Henriksen has this report.
Web Exclusive: Images From the sUgAR Gallery
Tom Vilsack, the country's Secretary of Agriculture, was the esteemed speaker of yesterday's Dale and Betty Bumpers Distinguished Lecture at the University of Arkansas. He took the opportunity to speak candidly with the standing room only crowd about short-, medium-, and long-term ag public policy goals, and about opening lines of communication.Governor Mike Beebe and the state legislature tie up some loose ends at the conclusion of the legislative session, the Northwest Arkansas Council holds a summit for area leaders to figure out how to connect immigrants--either international or domestic--to resources in the area. A group of concerned area residents held a protest on the U of A campus yesterday in an attempt to draw U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack's attention to the confined animal feeding operation set to operate in the Buffalo River Watershed, and a group of UAFS students plan a run to benefit victims of the Boston Marathon Bombing.
The state's Department of Human Services holds a rally on the steps of the state capitol to raise awareness that April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. One of Northwest Arkansas' two public transit operators get ready to expand certain bus routes in an efficiency reorganization. One economist at the University of Arkansas thinks that construction will help the state, and the nation, recover from the lingering effects of the economic recession. And Walmart sets a record for the amount of donations given by a retailer in a given year.
Montreal rockers The Besnard Lakes continue to hone their signature blissed-out apocalypse rock in their latest release Until in Excess, Imperceptible UFO. Ozarks at Large's Katy Henriksen reviews the effort in anticipation of their appearance in Fayetteville this week.
Today, Roby Brock from our content partner Talk Business Arkansas has news about tax cuts, the governor's race, and Walmart's new sustainability goals. Recent numbers released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows Arkansas' unemployment rate remains lower than the national average, though the size of the state's workforce has shrank. Governor Mike Beebe touts the state's growing art tourism industry, Senator Mark Pryor's reelection bid will determine whether a Democrat can still be competitive in the state, and the Razorbacks split a series over the weekend, while the Naturals drop another three-game set at home.
Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Friday, April 4, 2014
Ahead on this edition of Ozarks: the former president of Heifer International speaks on the University of Arkansas campus. Plus, we take a walk through history that begins in Jasper.
Paul Haas, conductor of the Symphony of NWA, talks about the John Williams program for the season finale.
Carter Sampson along with Caleb Rose, makes her first visit to the Firmin-Garner Performance Studio.
Arkansas' U.S. Senators speak out about the recent Justice Department probe into the IRS audits of conservative groups. The only candidate for next year's Arkansas Attorney General race says that if elected, he would defend controversial legislation passed this year by the Republican-controlled 89th General Assembly. Arkansas State University tells Bill Halter to "cease and desist" his campaign use of the phrase "Arkansas Promise." The director of the state's education department says that fewer dollars will be available next year for state scholarships. And the city of Fayetteville gets federal grant money for continuing paved trails around Lake Fayetteville.
"Wagon Train Ska" by The Rhyth-O-Matics
OnlineDermClinic can help. A group of local dermatologists recently launched a first-of-its-kind website and app to diagnose skin problems quickly and easily, no matter where you are.
Congress is considering reinstating Medicaid coverage for so-called Compact of Free Association Migrants living in the United States. The entitlement was cut back in 1996. Affected would be residents of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Palau and The Republic of the Marshall Islands--including thousands of Marshallese in Northwest Arkansas.
