The U of A gets $1.4 million of federal transportation money to start a Maritime Research and Educational Center. UAFS gets ready to unveil a new master plan. A Fort Smith school gets named a National Blue Ribbon School. And a volunteer fair set for this week aims to connect area non-profit organizations with people willing to help out.
Ozarks At Large
Ahead on Ozarks: the approaching enrollment period for new Arkansas health care plans means many people in the state have questions about how they'll be affected. Roby Brock, from our content partner Talk Business Arkansas, seeks answers to some of the questions from three people close to the health-care issue. Plus theater returns in full force. No fewer than thirteen productions will be on area stages in the next month. We'll have a rundown and meet the young, earnest cast of the University of Arkansas’ Clean House…the first play of the U of A season. And how mammals in the University of Arkansas’ museum collection are being preserved.
Well, maybe not lions and tigers, but the UA collection does have more than 250 river otters. They recently received a grant to rehouse their mammal collection. Ozarks at Large's Christina Thomas has more. The Arkansas Insurance Department releases rates for insurance policies that will be sold through the state's new insurance exchange. Arkansas' poverty rate edges upward slightly in the latest American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau. Arkansas Children's Hospital researchers continue efforts to curb the rate of childhood obesity. A Fayetteville street is closed to make way for sidewalk construction. And fewer travelers flew through XNA in August, though the airport has still seen more travelers so far this year than at this time last year.
Ahead on this edition of Ozarks at Large, how the history of Arkansas was written. We speak with two of the four authors of "Arkansas: a Narrative History." Plus, our weekly installment of Arkansongs, and Becca Martin Brown tells us what's up.
The second edition of "Arkansas: a Narrative History" has been released by the University of Arkansas Press. We speak with two of the book's four authors about how they condensed the state's history, from the formation of the Ozark Mountains to Governor Mike Beebe.We speak with our Ozarks at Large insect expert, Dr. Donald Steinkraus, to the tricks to getting rid of and keeping away the pesky kitchen pest.
In his weekly review of business and political news, Roby Brock of Talk Business Arkansas says that a recent release by the Federal Reserve shows that though the economic recovery isn't leaping forward in Arkansas, some sectors are showing brisk improvement.The Big River Steel superproject moves forward in northeast Arkansas, while Central Arkansas Water files intent to sue Exxon Mobile if the company decides to prematurely restart its Pegasus pipeline through Central Arkansas. And, the Beaver Watershed Alliance plans a series of community meetings in southern Washington County to give local stakeholders information regarding best operating practices to help improve water quality in the West Fork watershed of the White River. The schedule and more information for those meetings can be found in this flyer.
Ahead on Weekend Ozarks at Large, a student-led sex education week at the U of A, two brothers building canoes in Avoca, and we step inside of Son's Chapel outside of Goshen.
Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Ahead on this edition of Ozarks, as the state prepares for a busy election year, one county makes changes to its polling sites. Plus, a physical fitness event this weekend celebrates two very different causes, and we visit with a founder of the Soweto Gospel Choir, which is performing tonight at Walton Arts Center.
Here are the ten clips for our montage dedicated to streets, roads and avenues:
1. Nat King Cole gets us started with Route 66.
2. Gloria Swanson as the doomed Nora Desmond in Sunset Boulevard.
3. U2 sings Where the Streets Have No Name.
4. Michael Douglas as Gordon Gecko in Wall Steet.
5. Bruce Springsteen sings 10th Avenue Freeze Out.
6. Michael Conrad offers his end-of-meeting statement on Hill Street Blues.
7. The opening theme, of course, from Sesame Street.
8. Part of the trailer from the original Nightmare on Elm Street.
9. Jack Kerouac reads from the last page of On the Road.
10. Willie is On the Road Again.
Apologies to Bob Dylan’s Highway 61, the cast of Mulholland Drive, any number of other songwriters and Kraftwerk’s Autobahn (but then again, the German group was included in last week’s montage). Maybe next time.
"Intro" by XX
Congressman Tim Griffin has some questions for the top IRS official who resigned earlier this week. A festival of short films comes to Eureka Springs next month. Arkansas drivers can expect lower gas prices this month. The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts has plans for increasing the amount of college credit with which students graduate. And the region four headquarters of the Arkansas Highway Transportation Department makes the move from Fort Smith to Barling.
"Get Lucky" by Daft Punk
Michael Tilley from The City Wire discusses the 2014 Arkansas governor’s race and pollution at a former Whirlpool plant.
We finish our week-long series about summer camps with a preview of Camp Invention at Immaculate Conception Elementary School in Fort Smith. For more information about any Camp Invention in the area, click here.
"Luna Park" by Signal Hill
Becca Martin Brown from NWA Newspapers gives us the details on a busy outdoor weekend.
