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.


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.


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.
Becca Martin Brown of NWA Newspapers tells us about a talk about the West Memphis Three with Mara Leveritt this week in Fort Smith, as well as everything else that's up this week in the area.
"Winter" from Vivaldi's Four Seasons
Katy Henriksen gives us a preview of tonight's Sunday Symphony, in addition to giving us another song performed by Damn Arkansan in the Firmin-Garner Performance Studio.
Web Esclusive: Another Performance by Damn Arkansan
Today is Chinese New Year, beginning the Year of the Snake. In honor of the holiday, Ozarks at Large's Christina Thomas visits the Reptile Museum in Fayetteville to take a look at some snakes, alligators and other scaly beasts.
Web Esxlusive: Images From the Reptile Museum
This is our list of items for this morning’s montage of snakes:
Kaa, the snake from The Jungle Book, sings a hypnotic tune. The voice is provided by the legendary Sterling Holloway.
Harrison Ford, as Indiana Jones, ponders his next adventure.
Jim Stafford, now of Branson, sings one of his biggest hits, "Spiders and Snakes."
The character Snake, from The Simpsons, watches his car get stolen.
A highlight of Kenny “The Snake” Stabler running for a touchdown for the Oakland Raiders.
A big (talking?) snake gets zapped in the Harry Potter movie Chamber of Secrets.
Electric Light Orchestra performing "Don’t Let Me Down."
The famous Spam skit from Monty Python. (python, get it…)
The only part of *the* quote from the movie Snakes on a Plane we could put on the air.
Duran Duran with the song "Union of the Snake."
A bill that would ban abortions early in a pregnancy moves forward in the Arkansas legislature, as does a bill on how the state handles executions of prisoners on death row. And, Senator John Boozman speaks out about potential gun control legislation in the U.S. Congress.
"Mary Jane's Last Dance" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers