The Arkansas House voted in favor of a federally backed expansion to Medicaid this morning, and the issue now moves on to the Senate for approval. The ruptured section of oil pipeline in Mayflower is removed. Fayetteville aldermen will issue a contract for the big parking deck project, and Bentonville elementary and middle school students put their pedals to the road.
Ozarks At Large



Gloria Goodwin Raheja is a professor of anthropology at the University of Minnesota and spoke on the University of Arkansas campus this spring. Her upcoming book is titled Logan County Blues: Frank Hutchison in the Sonic Landscape of the Appalachian Coalfields, which explores the injustices committed by the coal mining companies against coal miners, and how the miners fought against the companies through music.
The creator behind a cable TV hit now fronts his own band and will be on Dickson Street tonight.
Concern over the long term effects of greenhouse gas emissions has led to changes in standards and states like Arkansas to pay attention to making sure the regulations set out in the Clean Air Act are met.
Senator John McCain was in Little Rock late last week, and he called President Obama's reaction to tension in Syria a failure of American leadership. Speaker of the Arkansas House Davy Carter wanted more time to explain the federally backed Medicaid expansion to constituents, so the vote was postponed until today. And Governor Mike Beebe speaks in favor of changes that are coming for some child welfare programs in the state.

Here are our ten clips from our montage dedicated to April Showers. Well, dedicated to rain at least…
- B.J. Thomas sings "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
- Hugh Grant and Andie Macdowell admit their mutual love at the end of Four Weddings and a Funeral.
- Prince sings "Purple Rain."
- Bill Cosby with an early TV rendition of his famous Noah routine.
- Mahalia Jackson with the gospel great "Didn’t It Rain".
- Gene Kelly about to launch into the best three minutes ever recorded in a movie musical.
- Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst exchange a rainy kiss as Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson.
- Tom Hanks (as Forrest Gump) describes the many kinds of rain.
- Sam Neil tries to save kids from a hungry T. Rex in Jurassic Park.
- Audrey Hepburn finds the cat…and George Peppard…at the end of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The Mancini notes should have given this away.
Apologies to: The Weather Girls, Andy’s escape in Shawshank Redemption, the bubbling skeletons in Poltergeist, the Eurythmics, John Wayne in the Quiet Man and all those movies with Notebook in the title. Maybe next time.
In case you need a spot to duck into in between April showers, local and regional art galleries and exhibition spaces will have plenty for you to soak up throughout the month, including exhibits at the Arts Center of the Ozarks, the Fort Smith Regional Art Museum, the John Brown University art gallery, and elsewhere.
Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Friday, December 13, 2013
Ahead on this edition of Ozarks, singer/songwriter Joe Pug stops by the Firmin-Garner Performance Studio. Plus, Becca Martin Brown gets us caught up on what's been rescheduled for this weekend.
Fayetteville's fire department pulls out of a regional hazmat team, the University of Arkansas shuffles its offices that handle issues of intellectual property for the Fayetteville campus and for the UA System Division of Agriculture, and UAMS deals with an exposure of medical records for more than a thousand patients.
"Swimming The Blues" by Clark Terry
The purpose of public charter schools is to expand school choice, test innovation, and help raise grade-level proficiency--especially in low-performing minority districts. But as Jacqueline Froelich reports, critics say charters distress districts and segregate the best students.
A possible expansion in Medicaid will help determine the direction of the Arkansas budget during the next General Assembly. Roby Brock of our content partner Talk Business has more.
"Straight Up And Down" by Brian Jonestown Massacre
The 21c Museum Hotel in Bentonville is a combination boutique hotel, art museum and restaurant, all modeled after the flagship 21c in Louisville, Kentucky. Each hotel has its own flock of unique sculptures.
Our monthly survey of theater in the area has a definite holiday theme. We spend some time backstage at the Arts Center of the Ozarks as the ACO preps for another production of "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever"
"Deck the Halls" by R.E.M.