
Ozarks At Large

Becca Martin Brown tells us that several odd or out of the ordinary events are taking place in the coming week.
Arkansas has one of the highest rates of prescription painkiller abuse among 12- to 25-year-olds. Tomorrow's Prescription Drug Takeback Day, with disposal centers set up across the state, aims to reduce the problem.

Two groups announce intentions to file suit to block a new law that they say would make it more difficult to circulate petitions to get initiatives on the general election ballot. Two area schools get recognized, one for ESL proficiency and the other for overall achievement. And the Joe Martin Stage Race gets underway, with cycling traffic set to peeve some motorists on certain area roads this weekend.
Here is the key to our clips heard in this morning’s montage of famous cemeteries, graveyards and funerals in pop culture:
- Thriller by Michael Jackson. The most famous dance routine set in a graveyard.
- Opening moments from the original Night of the Living Dead.
- The original “graveyard smash”, "The Monster Mash" by Bobby Pickett.
- A wonderful Lee Marvin stumbles into a funeral in the underrated comedy, Cat Ballou.
- Gene Wilder and Marty Feldman have a rough night in the cemetery in Young Frankenstein.
- Opening moments from a 1940 film version of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town.
- Abe Vigoda and Al Pacino is a pivotal scene at Don Corleone’s funeral in The Godfather.
- Theme from the HBO series Six Feet Under.
- Reginald Owen as Scrooge in the 1938 film A Christmas Carol as he sees his own grave.
- The Crypt Keeper from an opening episode of the HBO series Tales From the Crypt.


Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Ahead on this edition of Ozarks at Large, how a growing human population is also causing Arkansas's deer population to grow. Plus, from quidditch to rugby, almost any sport you can imagine is offered to University of Arkansas students, and the challenges of growing fruit in Northwest Arkansas.
Roby Brock gives us an update on the Big River Steel project and more in his weekly business update.
Becca says kids activities for this week include a fishing derby tomorrow.
Dr. Peter Ungar, an anthropologist at the University of Arkansas, discusses how he looks at teeth to determine the diets of our ancestors and how what we and other animals eat today affects our pearly whites. He is also the author of Teeth: A Very Short Introduction published by Oxford University Press.
The latest state revenue report shows a surplus for the end of the fiscal year. State and local leaders celebrated the opening of the 71-B Flyover last night in Fayetteville, and Rogers is working on building a new, modern fire station for the central part of the city.
The Oklahoma Department of Health has confirmed the state's first death due to Heartland virus—a new tick-borne illness discovered in the mid-South. So far no cases have been documented in Arkansas. Jacqueline Froelich spoke with an Oklahoma epidemiologist to find out the status of the virus and how to avoid be bitten.