
Ozarks At Large

The Joint Budget Committee of the Arkansas LEgislature hears from Arkansas Department of Human Services regarding funding for the state's Private Option expansion of Medicaid, while a new Talk Business Arkansas-Hendrix College poll suggests that Arkansans are supportive of the program. And, Crawford County officials are hopeful that voters will be supportive of a sales tax increase that would fund construction and operation of a new county jail.


A roundup of events and news for the next few weeks include an alternative way to deliver a Valentine.

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.
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.
We visit the Rogers Police Department to find out about how one can protect and serve the public, as the department prepares to offer the Entry Level Police Officer Examination early next month.


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.
Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Monday, April 28, 2014
Ahead on this edition of Ozarks, how lasers have gone from a phenomenon on The Jetsons to a part of daily life. We speak with a Stanford University professor who has been teaching about the light-emitting device since 1969. Plus, annual hospitality awards in the Arkansas River Valley honor those who serve and take care of the public.
A handful of schools in the area have canceled class this month due to flu and norovirus. For more information on the flu, visit the Arkansas Department of Health Web site here.
Last week three mentors with impressive resumes came to northwest Arkansas to meet with local start-ups and students at the University of Arkansas. The U of A Office of Entrepreneurship and the Northwest Arkansas Council sponsored the visit.
Web Exclusive: More About Mentoring, Entrepreneurship
"Lucky Number 9' by The Moldy Peaches
To help de-stress from how quickly the month has gone by, Becca Martin Brown from NWA Newspapers suggests trying yoga at the Fayetteville Public Library.
University of Arkansas professor Chris Shields is working on a series of fantasy novels based in the Ozarks. He will have a book signing from 1-3 p.m. February 9 at Nightbird Books in Fayetteville.
"Etienne" by Garage A Trois
Martin Luther King Jr. Day was Monday, known by many as a day of service. But the past week had many stories linked by a sense of community.
"Sleeping In' by The Postal Service