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.
Cotton is the “fabric of our lives,” so they say. But it’s also a major export crop in Arkansas. But how does it grow? Is it a perennial? Do the cotton flowers smell like fresh laundry? Jacqueline Froelich takes us to a local field and talks cotton with the state’s top expert.
“Cotton” by: Lightin' Hopkins
Houndstooth Clothing Company, a Fayetteville shirt-making company, is celebrating its 20th anniversary. More information is available at Houndstooth.com.
“In a Cotton Shirt” by: Jimmy Driftwood
It's not uncommon to see clothing being shot into the stands using a T-shirt cannon at various sporting events. Antoinette Grajeda and Kyle Kellams recently took a trip to Arvest Ballpark to test out the Northwest Arkansas Natural's T-shirt gun. More information about the Nats is available at NWANaturals.com.
Christina Thomas visits with a Northwest Arkansas woman who grows her own cotton and then weaves it into fabric. For more information: NWAHandweaversGuild.com.
