Ozarks At Large
The head of the Hatcher Agency, the state's largest independent insurer, says that many of his clients are providing insurance to employees rather than paying penalties associated with the Affordable Care Act. Senator Mark Pryor talks about his push for answers from the Air Force regarding the 188th Fighter Wing in Fort Smith while Senator Boozman says he is concerned about a backlog in disability claims for veterans. And Elton John is coming to Fayetteville in just a few weeks.




Two public meetings were held late yesterday in Jasper to address concerns about the large CAFO in Newton County. Picasolar took home several thousand dollars from an MIT competition earlier this week. Fort Smith has finished automating trash collection, but now the city's sanitation department is turning its eye to automating recyclable collection. And speaking of Fort Smith, Senator Mark Pryor demands answers from the U.S. Air Force regarding the future of the 188th Fighter Wing.

Ozarks at Large's Meredith Martin Moats recently sat in on a conversation with Bud Rector, who will turn 99 later this year and has lived almost all his life in Yell County. We conclude her two-part report on his recollections of an Arkansas that has nearly vanished.

Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Remembering Some of the People We Lost in 2013
On this special edition of Ozarks we hear again some of the voices we lost during 2013, including Bill Harrison, Curley Miller, Ivan Denton and Dick Renko.
Becca Martin Brown tells us about Kibbles and Books, and reminds us that Chicago will be near Joplin this evening.
Andy Allen is the new head of the viticulture and enology programs at Arkansas Tech University-Ozark. He has previously served as an extension viticulture specialist for wine grapes with North Carolina State University at Raleigh and he now leads the programs at a campus that is five miles away from Altus, a town that has been the historic center of Arkansas’ wine-making industry.
“Grapes” by Evan Stone
Community Pre-school has been an operating non-profit preschool since at least mid-1970s. This week Molly Jensen, a member of the school’s board, and Debbie Bennett, Lead Teacher and Curriculum Coordinator, came to the studio to discuss the school then…and now.
Jodi Beznoska from Walton Arts Centersays that while the stage has been quiet, the box office remains busy as patrons purchase tickets for the upcoming system.