Several happenings at area libraries and music at local pubs for this National Chocolate Milkshake Day edition of the daily notes.
Ozarks At Large
This week Senator John Boozman talked about prospects for passage of a farm bill and mother matters before Congress.
The Arkansas Board of Private Investigators and Private Security Agencies yesterday approved plans to let 13 school districts across the state arm some of their staffs. Governor Beebe talks with Roby Brock about what's next in attempts to fix a shortfall in the state's Public School Health Insurance Program. John Brown University is again ranked at the top, and the Walton College of Business at the U of A again gets praise as well.

In addition, the University Libraries digital exhibit on the history of Vol Walker Hall can be accessed here
Web Exclusive: More About Vol Walker

Madison County residents won't see a sales tax increase, and the city sales tax in Siloam Springs will be split a little bit differently after special elections yesterday. The future site of the U.S. Marshals Museum in Fort Smith has moved slightly to another riverfront parcel that's twice the size. Residents in Benton County won't receive disaster aid for damage caused by the August storms. And more new jobs are coming to Fort Smith by way of another firearms-related company.


A new art gallery, dedicated to showing controversial and confrontational works, will open this month. We meet the curators at the new Bottle Rocket gallery.

The Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care is working to improve conditions at nursing homes throughout the state. And tax elections are taking place today in Madison County and Siloam Springs, while early voting begins for a millage increase in Bentonville.
Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Friday, February 28, 2014
Ahead on this edition of Ozarks: it has been 60 years since the largest-ever nuclear weapons test by the United States took place on the Marshall Islands' Bikini Atoll. Today, many Marshallese, including several northwest Arkansas residents, are marking the anniversary of the Castle Bravo Blast. Plus, Becca Martin Brown from Northwest Arkansas Newspapers gets us ready for the weekend, Michael Tilley from The City Wire helps us analyze the week's news, and more.
With temperatures expected to crest in the triple digits for most of the next week…if not beyond…it is a perfect time to seek out things you can do in air conditioning. Our music reviewer Katy Henrickson says there is a new recording available from a Brooklyn-born musician that challenges description and isn’t quite like anything else you’re likely to find right now. For more information, visit: XeniaRubinos.com.
In honor of the 150th anniversary of the Homestead Act, we visit Buster Austin at his nineteenth century Ozarks homestead that’s been occupied since the mid-1800s. We also visit with a historian at the National Homestead Monument, to get some big history. For more information, visit the history and culture section of the National Park Service website: www.nps.gov.
Monday night, three of the first African-American men to play football at the University of Arkansas shared some of their playing-days’ stories at the University of Arkansas Library. Monday afternoon, a few hour before the panel discussion, the three athletes: Brison Manor, Johnnie Meadors and Dennis Winston met with reporters to talk about being recruited in the early 1970s to the University.
Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine has named Fayetteville as one of the five best cities for mid-career professionals. For more information, click here.
Becca Martin Brown shines a light on Steven Hunter, author of “Looking for the Light: A Photographer's Journey,” in today's entertainment segment.