Ozarks At Large

Arkansas ends its fiscal year with a surplus of several million dollars, but lawmakers have no firm plans yet of how to spend the money. Ongoing highway improvements mean some road closures and delays over the holiday weekend. And, students at UALR react to the interest rate hike that went into effect this week on Stafford student loans for low income students.




The United States Supreme Court decision regarding the Voting Rights Act means changes for Arkansas.
The popular resort town of Eureka Springs is a prime Ozarks vacation spot filled with pretty B&Bs, cottages and cabins for overnight guests. But as Jacqueline Froelich reports, some say a glut of tourist accommodations and vacation rentals are dislocating residents, forcing them to live out of town.
Arkansas home sales are up by 10 percent according to the Arkansas Realtors Association. The half-cent highway sales tax kicks in this month and will continue for the next ten years. The Fort Smith Fire Department honors one of its own who rescued a child from a 30-foot utility shaft. And a familiar term to Fayetteville residents: construction zone.
Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
On this edition of Ozarks, a conversation with photographer and author Tim Ernst. Also, giving the gift of a free family portrait to those in need.
Work continues on widening Interstate 540 in Fayetteville, Sebastian County has its annual fall cleanup, and the most recent figures show improvement to the drought in Arkansas.
"Clash" by Eiffel
According to a U.S. Census Bureau report released last week, in 2010 and 2011, close to 15 percent of Americans were living under the federal poverty line, but in Arkansas, that number was as high as 17 percent. The state has consistently ranked among the states with the highest rates of poverty. On Ozarks at Large this week, we are examining Arkansas' poverty problem.
Today, we learn more about a family living under the federal poverty line. Ozarks at Large's Iti Agnihotri-Mudholkar spent some quality time with Casey Burd, a single mother of two from Springdale, to find out more about her daily struggles and the challenges she faces in her efforts to get out of poverty.
Michael Tilley from TheCityWire.com joins us a day earlier than usual with his weekly conversation about business and politics in the region.
Becca Martin Brown says she’s getting a jump start on the weekend that is the weekend before the weekend that is Bikes, Blues and BBQ.
Yesterday, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art received a $5 million commitment from the Tyson family and Tyson Foods, Inc., to establish the Tyson Scholars of American Art program and the Don Tyson Prize.