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.
The art department at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville has taken over the basement of the Bank of America Building on the square in downtown Fayetteville for the month of April with sUgAR's pop-up gallery featuring work from BFA honors students and MFA candidates. Katy Henriksen has this report.
Web Exclusive: Images From the sUgAR Gallery
Tom Vilsack, the country's Secretary of Agriculture, was the esteemed speaker of yesterday's Dale and Betty Bumpers Distinguished Lecture at the University of Arkansas. He took the opportunity to speak candidly with the standing room only crowd about short-, medium-, and long-term ag public policy goals, and about opening lines of communication.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.
Montreal rockers The Besnard Lakes continue to hone their signature blissed-out apocalypse rock in their latest release Until in Excess, Imperceptible UFO. Ozarks at Large's Katy Henriksen reviews the effort in anticipation of their appearance in Fayetteville this week.
Today, Roby Brock from our content partner Talk Business Arkansas has news about tax cuts, the governor's race, and Walmart's new sustainability goals. 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.
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.
