An administrative law judge with the Arkansas Public Service Commission on Friday ordered SWEPCO to proceed on its proposed plan to build a massive new power transmission line through portions of northwest Arkansas. Also, Governor Mike Beebe says that recent cost analyses of operating the state's Private Option expansion of Medicaid justifies the program's passage during last year's session of the state legislature. And the state Attorney General's office warns residents about rapid-refund tax providers.
Ozarks At Large
We speak with An Na, author of A Step From Heaven, a book that was awarded the Michael L. Prince Award when it was published a decade ago. Critics and reviewers commended the book's characters for speaking like a child without being too precocious or condescending. The author will speak in Fayetteville later this month.
Though the plans are in the early stages, The University of Arkansas Fort Smith may begin offering its first Master's degree in a few years.
Our ten clips saluting sailors and sailing:
1. The theme to Popeye the Sailor Man.
2. Bob Denver and Alan Hale hatch a scheme on Gilligan's Island.
3. Christopher Cross creates the all-time yacht rock song with Sailing.
4. Gregory Peck, as Captain Ahab, ponders his life with Starbuck in Moby Dick.
5. Sloop John B by the Beach Boys.
6. Hercules ignores the orders of Jason in the 1963 version of Jason and the Argonauts. (later, the GREATEST MOVIE SCENE EVER with the sword-weilding skeletons).
7. Jimmy Buffett is Aa Son of a Son of a Sailor.
8. Russell Crowe catches up to a ship in Master and Commander.
9. Bogart and Hepburn on The African Queen.
10. Lyle Lovett sings If I Had a Boat.
Apologies to: Horatio Hornblower, Sinbad (the sailor, not the comic) and Errol Flynn. Maybe next time.
1. The theme to Popeye the Sailor Man.
2. Bob Denver and Alan Hale hatch a scheme on Gilligan's Island.
3. Christopher Cross creates the all-time yacht rock song with Sailing.
4. Gregory Peck, as Captain Ahab, ponders his life with Starbuck in Moby Dick.
5. Sloop John B by the Beach Boys.
6. Hercules ignores the orders of Jason in the 1963 version of Jason and the Argonauts. (later, the GREATEST MOVIE SCENE EVER with the sword-weilding skeletons).
7. Jimmy Buffett is Aa Son of a Son of a Sailor.
8. Russell Crowe catches up to a ship in Master and Commander.
9. Bogart and Hepburn on The African Queen.
10. Lyle Lovett sings If I Had a Boat.
Apologies to: Horatio Hornblower, Sinbad (the sailor, not the comic) and Errol Flynn. Maybe next time.
Today's week in review looks back at the school-related news we've aired over the past seven days.
The Benton County Children's Advocacy Center recently received reaccreditation. Lake Wedington in Washington County and Shores Lake in Franklin County will soon be partially drained to allow the U.S. Forest Service to allow for some winter maintenance. And Bentonville Public Schools begins to think about names and mascots for its second high school that will be built in Centerton.


Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Ahead on this edition of Ozarks, the 2014 Cancer Challenge aims to add to the $10 million raised with the event over the past 20 years. The three-day event this year encompasses a variety of locations and activities including golfing, running, trap-shooting and wrapping up with the more traditional gala. Plus, uncovering stories at Oak Cemetery, and if you're unsure of which stages to make it to during this weekend's Wakarusa Music Festival, Becca offers some suggestions.
UA Fort Smith criminal justice students carry out a successful food drive, the Washington County sheriff wants to contract healthcare for inmates at the county jail, and UAMS and Washington Regional Medical Center announce a partnership to expand a statewide telemedicine network.
“Walcott” by Vampire Weekend
Michael Tilley from The City Wire, who marked its fourth anniversary yesterday, gives us an update on the jobless rate in the listening area, discusses Oklahoma's new “open carry” gun law and more.
Voters in several dry Arkansas counties, this election, will be asked to consider permitting the sale and manufacture of alcohol. One of them is rural Madison County. The controversial issue is not only drawing more voters, it’s providing a big lesson in civic engagement.
In honor of Homecoming at the University of Arkansas, Becca Martin Brown from NWA Newspapers gives us a list of where we can find several pig art installations (part of Ozark Literacy Council's Pigshibition project) around town.
Historians Eric Gellman and Jarod Roll discuss their new dual biography The Gospel of the Working Class: Labor's Southern Prophets in New Deal America.