Students begin to lose gains made throughout the academic year almost as soon as the final bell rings for summer vacation. An open forum tomorrow at the Jones Center in Springdale will address opportunities to keep students' minds active during out of school times. Many organizations will be involved, including the Arkansas Out of School Network.
Ozarks At Large
Congressman Tom Cotton and Mark Pryor traded verbal blows late last week as each addressed the Delta Grassroots Caucus, which held its annual meeting in Little Rock. Enrollment in the state's Private Option continued to grow last month, as evidenced by a new report released by the Arkansas Department of Human Services, and the University of Arkansas System moved forward with its future online university programs last week by hiring the school's first three employees.

Here are our ten clips inspired by monster trucks...well, all monster---no trucks.
1. Bobby Pickett sings Monster Mash.
2. Boris Karloff and O.P. Heggie in an iconic (if often misquoted) scene from The Bride of Frankenstein.
3. Warren Zevon's song Werewolves of London.
4. Maria Ouspenskaya and Lon Chaney, Jr. in The Wolf Man.
5. Godzilla, the song by Blue Oyster Cult.
6. Godzilla, the fire-breathing monster.
7. Edgar Winter and the classic rock instrumental, Frankenstein.
8. King Kong's roar. You get credit if you guessed a lion's roar played backwards...because that's what it is.
9. Imagine Dragons' song Monster.
10. Bela Lugosi's Dracula doesn't lie...he just doesn't tell the whole truth.
Apologies to: Lon Chaney, Sr. (silent films are not good Sunday Montage fodder), the Creature From the Black Lagoon and Of Monsters and Men. Maybe next time.
1. Bobby Pickett sings Monster Mash.
2. Boris Karloff and O.P. Heggie in an iconic (if often misquoted) scene from The Bride of Frankenstein.
3. Warren Zevon's song Werewolves of London.
4. Maria Ouspenskaya and Lon Chaney, Jr. in The Wolf Man.
5. Godzilla, the song by Blue Oyster Cult.
6. Godzilla, the fire-breathing monster.
7. Edgar Winter and the classic rock instrumental, Frankenstein.
8. King Kong's roar. You get credit if you guessed a lion's roar played backwards...because that's what it is.
9. Imagine Dragons' song Monster.
10. Bela Lugosi's Dracula doesn't lie...he just doesn't tell the whole truth.
Apologies to: Lon Chaney, Sr. (silent films are not good Sunday Montage fodder), the Creature From the Black Lagoon and Of Monsters and Men. Maybe next time.
In just more than a decade, Mark Landon Smith, director of Arts Live Theatre, has taken the program to new heights. Becca Martin Brown has more on their upcoming season.

Picking a name for a new magazine is part art, part science, part luck. We talk with editors and publishers of three regional publications for the latest "what's in a name" feature.


Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Friday, June 27, 2014
Ahead on Ozarks, can e-cigarettes help smokers reduce their nicotine consumption? More than 20 vapor shops have recently opened in northwest Arkansas alone. We take a look at the phenomenon, and Johnathan Story talks about his upcoming concert in Fayetteville, and sits down at the Mary Rumsey Baker Steinway piano in our studio.
Residents living near natural gas extraction sites in north central Arkansas who worry their drinking water may be contaminated will be the subject of a USGS water quality study—the first of its kind in the nation.
The program, set up by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban and Development, helps homeowners behind on their mortgages because of a loss of their job or bad weather.
Visit www.ccoacares.com or http://www.nw.org/network/foreclosure/nfmcp/EHLPmainpage.asp.
An Arkansas nurse says near-drowning incidents are on the rise this year, Governor Mike Beebe decides to call an election to renew highway bonds and more – on today’s Ozarks at Large Half Time.
“Kamera” by Wilco
Becca reminds us of the farmers' markets open today throughout the region.
“Strange Things Happening Everyday” by Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Local children’s book author Tammy Carter Bronson’s recent book “Sea Horse, Run!” has won the 2011 Next Generation Indie Book Award.