Two groups announce intentions to file suit to block a new law that they say would make it more difficult to circulate petitions to get initiatives on the general election ballot. Two area schools get recognized, one for ESL proficiency and the other for overall achievement. And the Joe Martin Stage Race gets underway, with cycling traffic set to peeve some motorists on certain area roads this weekend.
Ozarks At Large
Here is the key to our clips heard in this morning’s montage of famous cemeteries, graveyards and funerals in pop culture:
- Thriller by Michael Jackson. The most famous dance routine set in a graveyard.
- Opening moments from the original Night of the Living Dead.
- The original “graveyard smash”, "The Monster Mash" by Bobby Pickett.
- A wonderful Lee Marvin stumbles into a funeral in the underrated comedy, Cat Ballou.
- Gene Wilder and Marty Feldman have a rough night in the cemetery in Young Frankenstein.
- Opening moments from a 1940 film version of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town.
- Abe Vigoda and Al Pacino is a pivotal scene at Don Corleone’s funeral in The Godfather.
- Theme from the HBO series Six Feet Under.
- Reginald Owen as Scrooge in the 1938 film A Christmas Carol as he sees his own grave.
- The Crypt Keeper from an opening episode of the HBO series Tales From the Crypt.


We continue our series previewing this weekend's poetry festival at Nightbird Books. Katie Nichol grew up in St. Cloud, Minnesota and says she started writing poetry when she was about 12 years old:
Artosphere is just around the corner, and as a result, a full slate of activities are on the schedule at Walton Arts Center.
The Fifth Annual Celebration of Heroes event benefiting the Northwest Arkansas Chapter of the American Red Cross is next Saturday May 4. Today, we meet a local hero who saved the life of a three-year-old girl.
Emily Chase recently received a national honor for her thesis work at the University of Arkansas. She told us about the creation of her paper gowns.
Becca Martin Brown says that Fleetwood Mac, Little Big Town and Jewell are a few of the music acts to keep an eye out for in the coming days.
A Fort Smith homeless agency halts its plans to move to a homeless campus until certain criteria are met. Ozarks at Large’s Christina Thomas takes us on a tour of the organization and potential campus.

Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Ahead on this edition of Weekend Ozarks, the area's first green cemetery, plus a conversation and silly questions with Frank Tavares, whose voice can be heard reading underwriting announcements on NPR.
In the first of our five-part series on the deployment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Jacqueline Froelich explains how the law will work in Arkansas.
In the second of our series on the launch of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in Arkansas, we look at our state’s unique approach to Medicaid expansion.
For more information visit Arkansas Health Connector at http://hbe.arkansas.gov
Here are our ten clips of ten classic southern tales, each set in a different southern state. Extra points if you know the actor featured (if not actually heard) in two of our clips this week.
1. Vivian Leigh, as Scarlet, makes a vow at the end of the first half of Gone With the Wind. (Goeriga)
2. Richard Widmark, as Col. Bowie, questions the wisdom of defending the Alamo. (Texas)
3. Sally Field is encouraged to hit Shirley MacLaine in Steel Magnolias. (Louisiana)
4. Sidney Poitier as Virgil Tibbs in In The Heat of the Night. (Mississippi)
5. John Wayne takes gets ready to take out four bandits in the 1969 film adaptation of Charles Portis' True Grit. (Arkansas)
6. Gary Cooper is a true shot even before he joins the military in Sgt. York. (Tennessee)
7. The five seconds we can air from Al Pacino in Scarface. (Florida)
8. Jeff Goldblum makes the case for a rationalization in the Big Chill. (South Carolina. Yes, South Carolina...who knew?)
9. Cape Fear. Scary. Robert DeNiro, of course. (North Carolina)
10. Boo Radley saves the day in To Kill a Mockingbird. (Alabama)
Apologies to: Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky and Maryland.
Next in our series on the roll-out of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in Arkansas, Jacqueline Froelich profiles one insurance company competing to set up shop on the state’s health insurance marketplace.
To learn more about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act visit http://HealthCare.gov
And to see what’s happening in Arkansas go to http://ARHealthConnector.org
ArkansasBlueCross.com also provides a concise list of health care law news and information.
The federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 is providing community clinics across the U.S. billions of dollars to provide basic health care to under-served communities. In Washington and Benton Counties Community Clinic, a ministry of St. Francis House, will get an infusion and plans to expand into south Washington County.