Ozarks At Large
Tonya Lewis Lee helped bring Christopher Paul Curtis' novel The Watsons Go to Birmingham to Tv this month. Tonight the film is being shown, for free, at Bentonville High School and today we talked with Ms. lee about the project that premiered earlier this month on the Hallmark Channel.
Late last week, the federal Department of Health and Human Services accepted Arkansas's plan for Medicaid expansion. The city of Bentonville will give away compost and wood mulch this week. A couple of roads close or otherwise reroute in the River Valley starting today. And gas prices dropped slightly in Arkansas over the past week.
With this morning's montage, we say several goodbyes; to Summer, to a famed Yankees pitcher, and to one of our longest-tenured colleagues at KUAF. Here are our 10 pop culture references we used to say goodbye.
- "So Long, Farewell" from the Sound of Music
- Lou Gehrig's farewell speech
- "Goodbye my Lover" by James Blunt
- ET says his goodbye
- The famous words from Gone With The Wind
- "Hello, Goodbye" by The Beatles
- The Friends leave the apartment for the final time
- "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" by Elton John
- Jim Carey tells his fare goodbye at the beginning of Dumb and Dumber
- Leaving Casablanca for the final time
- Johnny Carson bids his final farewell to the audience during his final time hosting The Tonight Show
The Arkansas Center For The Book this week made its selection for the 2013 If All Arkansas Read The Same Book Program. Kyle Kellams spoke with Vivienne Schiffer, the author of the novel Camp Nine, this year's selection.
State officials continue to seek a solution to the teacher insurance crisis in Arkansas. New numbers are out regarding Arkansas students' achievements on Advanced Placement tests. And, the Connecting Arkansas Internet Conference is being held in Little Rock this week.
You can go to a workshop at NWACC to learn about the state's Freedom of Information Act, or you can participate in one of many lake and other outdoor cleanups in the next few days.
Ahead on Ozarks: the approaching enrollment period for new Arkansas health care plans means many people in the state have questions about how they'll be affected. Roby Brock, from our content partner Talk Business Arkansas, seeks answers to some of the questions from three people close to the health-care issue. Plus theater returns in full force. No fewer than thirteen productions will be on area stages in the next month. We'll have a rundown and meet the young, earnest cast of the University of Arkansas’ Clean House…the first play of the U of A season. And how mammals in the University of Arkansas’ museum collection are being preserved.
Well, maybe not lions and tigers, but the UA collection does have more than 250 river otters. They recently received a grant to rehouse their mammal collection. Ozarks at Large's Christina Thomas has more. Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Friday, May 9, 2014
Ahead on this edition of Ozarks, Michael Tilley talks about a new owner for some long-abandoned real estate in Fort Smith, and the official announcement of a Whole Foods in Fayetteville. Plus, Cletus Got Shot gets ready to perform at a few festivals in the next month.
Here are the elements of our flower montage for Sunday’s show:
1. Nat King Cole singing Ramblin’ Rose.
2. A skunk named Flower, courtesy of Bambi (from the film of the same name).
3. The Statler Brothers singing Counting Flowers on the Wall.
4. Chris Cooper describes the beauty of nature to Meryl Streep in the film Adaptation.
5. The Foundations with their one big hit, Build Me Up Buttercup.
6. Poppies! From Wizard of Oz.
7. Tiny Tim sings Tiptoe Through the Tulips during his first appearance on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson in 1968.
8. The killer Venus flytrap threatens Rick Moranis in the 1986 version of Little Shop of Horrors. Yes, the Venus flytrap does produce flowers.
9. Secretariat wins the 1973 Kentucky Derby (the “run for the roses”) in record time, 1:59 2/5.
10. Lynn Anderson sings I Never Promised You a Rose Garden.
Apologies to Charlie Rose, Neil Diamond and Barbara Streisand, Poison, and all the romantic comedies ever where a guy gives a gal some roses. Maybe next time.
A new poll of Arkansas voters shows growing support for expanding Medicaid in the state, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is appointing a new member to its board of directors, and more.
“Two” by: Ratatat
Michael Tilley from TheCityWire.com discusses a new poll asking Arkansas voters about topics in front of legislators.
The 12th Annual Northwest Arkansas Soup Sunday benefiting Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families is this Sunday from 4 - 7 p.m. in Springdale. OAL’s Christina Thomas spoke with Laura Kellams, director of the organization’s Northwest Arkansas office.
“Twenty-Two” by: Wakey! Wakey!
Becca Martin Brown, from Northwest Arkansas Newspapers, says there are musicals in Siloam Springs and Rogers and a classic Tennessee Williams play at the University of Arkansas included in a big theater weekend.
“Room 222” by: Ion Storm
