
Ozarks At Large

Becca Martin Brown of NWA Newspapers gives a litany of entertainment options for Mothers' Day gifts.
Two public meetings were held late yesterday in Jasper to address concerns about the large CAFO in Newton County. Picasolar took home several thousand dollars from an MIT competition earlier this week. Fort Smith has finished automating trash collection, but now the city's sanitation department is turning its eye to automating recyclable collection. And speaking of Fort Smith, Senator Mark Pryor demands answers from the U.S. Air Force regarding the future of the 188th Fighter Wing.

Ozarks at Large's Meredith Martin Moats recently sat in on a conversation with Bud Rector, who will turn 99 later this year and has lived almost all his life in Yell County. We conclude her two-part report on his recollections of an Arkansas that has nearly vanished.

Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel announces the creation of a clearinghouse for people affected by the Mayflower oil spill. Fort Smith residents will soon pay less for sanitation services after the city's board of directors approves a decrease in rates. The city of Greenwood works on implementing commercial development regulations. And Bentonville plans its own citywide cleanup as part of The Great American Cleanup.

We hear about a different Arkansas from Bud Rector. He's spent nearly his entire 98+ years in Yell County.

Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Ahead on this edition of Ozarks, we learn three things you should know about collecting coins. Plus, we get ready for Hamlet, which will close out this season for TheatreSquared.
Fayetteville's fire department pulls out of a regional hazmat team, the University of Arkansas shuffles its offices that handle issues of intellectual property for the Fayetteville campus and for the UA System Division of Agriculture, and UAMS deals with an exposure of medical records for more than a thousand patients.
"Swimming The Blues" by Clark Terry
The purpose of public charter schools is to expand school choice, test innovation, and help raise grade-level proficiency--especially in low-performing minority districts. But as Jacqueline Froelich reports, critics say charters distress districts and segregate the best students.
A possible expansion in Medicaid will help determine the direction of the Arkansas budget during the next General Assembly. Roby Brock of our content partner Talk Business has more.
"Straight Up And Down" by Brian Jonestown Massacre
The 21c Museum Hotel in Bentonville is a combination boutique hotel, art museum and restaurant, all modeled after the flagship 21c in Louisville, Kentucky. Each hotel has its own flock of unique sculptures.
Our monthly survey of theater in the area has a definite holiday theme. We spend some time backstage at the Arts Center of the Ozarks as the ACO preps for another production of "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever"
"Deck the Halls" by R.E.M.