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.
Here is the key to our mail montage on today's show:
The song "Please Mister Postman" by the Marvelettes.
Wayne Knight as Newman, the postman, on Seinfeld.
Elvis, of course, singing "Return to Sender."
Lana Turner and John Garfield up to no good in the 1946 version of The Postman Always Rings Twice.
R. B Greaves' biggest hit: "Take a Letter Maria."
John Ratzenberger, as Cliff Clavin the postman, on Cheers.
Frank Cady, the postmaster general Frank Drucker, on Green Acres' first episode
Kevin Costner in the movie The Postman.
Reba the Mail Lady, played by S. Epatha Merkerson, on Pee Wee's Playhouse.
"The Letter" by the Box Tops.
Bird man, Joe Neal investigates an "irruption" taking place on a local golf course, providing a lesson in evolutionary biology. (Neal is coauthor of "Arkansas Birds," published by UofA Press and "In the Province of Birds, a Western Arkansas Memoir," published by Half-Acre Press).
To learn more about crossbills, click here.
"Finch's Theme" by Murder By Death
Following Thursday's Energize NWA Summit in Rogers, plans begin for healthy initiatives in northwest Arkansas.
"Jump" Lana Del Ray
Katy Henriksen gives us a preview of tonight's Sunday Symphony.
Stenhammar Symphony No. 2
The Red Carpet Awards Season is upon us, but so is the Green Carpet Season--the 137th annual Westminster Kennel Club dog show in New York City February 11th and 12th. And this year? Spike, an Ozarks-born and bred Russell Terrier from Frayed Knot Farm will face the pupparazzi. Jacqueline Froelich takes us to meet him.
Correction: Spike is a Grand Champion of the UKC--United Kennel Club, an all-breed registry based out of Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Web Esclusive: Some Pupparazzi Snaps of Spike--the Ozarks Show Dog!!