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:
Ozarks At Large
Arkansas' U.S. Senators speak out in favor of the Marketplace Fairness Act, which would require online retailers to collect state and local sales tax on purchases anywhere in the country. Officials with the WestArk Area Boy Scout Council voice their feelings about changes to the national organization's membership policy regarding sexual orientation. The Rogers Farmers' Market will be in a different location when it opens Saturday, and the Bentonville School District gets state funding approved for construction of a second high school, though the battle for building bucks continues.
Nathan Vandiver from our content partner KUAR in Little Rock provides a wrap-up of this year's Legislative Session.


Governor Mike Beebe and the state legislature tie up some loose ends at the conclusion of the legislative session, the Northwest Arkansas Council holds a summit for area leaders to figure out how to connect immigrants--either international or domestic--to resources in the area. A group of concerned area residents held a protest on the U of A campus yesterday in an attempt to draw U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack's attention to the confined animal feeding operation set to operate in the Buffalo River Watershed, and a group of UAFS students plan a run to benefit victims of the Boston Marathon Bombing.
The state's Department of Human Services holds a rally on the steps of the state capitol to raise awareness that April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. One of Northwest Arkansas' two public transit operators get ready to expand certain bus routes in an efficiency reorganization. One economist at the University of Arkansas thinks that construction will help the state, and the nation, recover from the lingering effects of the economic recession. And Walmart sets a record for the amount of donations given by a retailer in a given year.


Recent numbers released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows Arkansas' unemployment rate remains lower than the national average, though the size of the state's workforce has shrank. Governor Mike Beebe touts the state's growing art tourism industry, Senator Mark Pryor's reelection bid will determine whether a Democrat can still be competitive in the state, and the Razorbacks split a series over the weekend, while the Naturals drop another three-game set at home.
Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Friday, April 4, 2014
Ahead on this edition of Ozarks: the former president of Heifer International speaks on the University of Arkansas campus. Plus, we take a walk through history that begins in Jasper.
Apple Seeds Inc. is calling for community support to launch an educational farm on two and half acres of of College Avenue in Fayetteville to teach teachers how to start school gardens.
What happens when we hear that song again . . . and again . . . and again . . .
Here are the ten clips we used to celebrate repetition. Here are the ten clips we used to celebrate repetition:
1. Philip Glass explores repetition in Metamorphosis.
2. Bill Murray begins to realize something is up in Groundhog Day.
3. The repeated brilliance of the beginning of The Rolling Stones' Satisfaction.
4.Stewie seeks attention on Family Guy.
5. Bill Withers makes a single exclamation over and over in Ain't No Sunshine.
6. Abbott and Costello work out the details in their Who's on First routine.
7. The repeated lyrics in Mr. Ed's theme.
8. Rowan and Martin with their familiar goodnight.
9. The repeating bass line of Queen's Another One Bites the Dust. (deduct ten points if you guessed Vanilla Ice)
10. Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison prove practice makes perfect in My Fair Lady.
Apologies to nobody this week...we'd just do it the same way next time.
Christian Howes has gained national recognition, including from the Downbeat Critics Poll, and will play two shows Friday night at Walton Arts Center.
"Left Hand Corner" by Mark Elf
The Arkansas Supreme Court is hearing a case regarding a man whose gay partner is prohibited from staying overnight when his 12 year old son is present, while Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel approves a potential ballot measure that would eliminate the amendment to the state constitution that bars same-sex marriage in the state. And a Mulberry elementary school is one of nine schools classified by the Arkansas Department of Education as "exemplary" in the department's annual school accountability report.
"Mugshot" by Russell Malone