
Ozarks At Large

Becca Martin Brown of NWA Newspapers gives a litany of entertainment options for Mothers' Day gifts.
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.

Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel announces the creation of a clearinghouse for people affected by the Mayflower oil spill. Fort Smith residents will soon pay less for sanitation services after the city's board of directors approves a decrease in rates. The city of Greenwood works on implementing commercial development regulations. And Bentonville plans its own citywide cleanup as part of The Great American Cleanup.

We hear about a different Arkansas from Bud Rector. He's spent nearly his entire 98+ years in Yell County.

Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Ahead on this edition of Ozarks, we learn three things you should know about collecting coins. Plus, we get ready for Hamlet, which will close out this season for TheatreSquared.
On game days, Tusk IV, the live mascot for the University of Arkansas, travels from his home near Dardanelle to Fayetteville to help cheer on the Razorbacks.
Becca Martin Brown says some folks like to get out of town during homecoming at the University of Arkansas...and there are plenty of things to do away from the game.
"Dream a Little Dream" by Chicago/Jade/Paul Shaffer
Rosco Bandana hails from Gulfport, Mississippi and is back in our neck of the woods for the Yonder Mountain String Band's Harvest Music Festival.
The city of Fayetteville ponders sharing the cost of adding a railroad crossing gate at Dickson Street in exchange for some needed easements for trails construction. The City of Bentonville aims to add more than a thousand trees to the landscape during October. And results from this year's Secchi Day at Beaver lake are helping officials with the Beaver Water District better understand the effects of drought and flood years on water quality.
"Working Woman Blues" by Valerie June
Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a quarter of a million residents are eligible to enroll in free private health insurance made possible by the new Arkansas Healthcare Independence Program. Arkansas is the only state to expand Medicaid coverage via this "private option."