Governor Mike Beebe yesterday officially issued the call for a special session of the state legislature. The Federal Reserve Bank released its quarterly Burgundy Book, which provides some insight into the health of the state's economy. hundreds of volunteers associated with World Changers are descending upon Fort Smith to help with some repairs to homes in the city. And the city of Fayetteville recently released a new Web application to help city residents find city information applicable to where they live in the city.
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The Principal Fellows program at the U of A yesterday announced it had received a $1.9 million grant from the Walton Family Foundation. A recent report suggests that in coming years, the northwest Arkansas economy will be among the fastest growing in the U.S.. And the Bentonville City Council gets ready to fill two vacancies.

UA Professor Angie Maxwell argues that the attention the South received throughout the 20th century in regards to three particular events has shaped the Southern Identity that exists yet today. She discusses her book The Indicted South: Public Criticism, Southern Inferiorty, and the the Politics of Whiteness with Ozarks’ Christina Karnatz.
Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
July 4th Weekend, 2014
For this holiday weekend we listen again to music recorded inside Firmin-Garner Performance Studio during the first six months of 2014. We hear from:
Pearl Brick
Cletus Got Shot
Sweetwater Gypsies
Isayah Wofford
The Riverblenders
Xcluded
Sons of Otis Malone
Finvarra's Wren
Dick Johnson
Elephant Revival
And a weekend update of things to do from Becca Martin Brown from Northwest Arkansas Newspapers.
Bishop Gene Robinson, elected in 2003 as the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church will speak at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Fayetteville February 9th and 10th. He took an early retirement from his post late last year and is now a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress in Washington D.C. We speak to him by phone about his life and vocation, in advance of his visit.
"Untitled" by Kaki King
A new exhibit at the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History in Springdale includes many items from the University of Arkansas Museum collection.
Foxygen, a duo of 22-year-olds who've been playing music together since high school, have a new album out called "We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Love." "Ozarks at Large's" Katy Henriksen reviews the upbeat album, which she deems a perfect antidote to the winter blues.
Here's a video for Foxygen's song "San Francisco."
An audit of the state's Medicaid program that was set to be released late last week has been held until later this week. Also later this week, Governor Mike Beebe is expected to meet with state lawmakers to discuss details of a $1.1 billion dollar project that would see Big River Steel bring a steel mill to Osceola. Plus, there are more bald eagles on Beaver Lake this year, as reported by a recent survey by the Army Corps of Engineers.
"Monday" by The Sea and The Cake
Two companies announce relocation and expansion plans that will bring several hundred jobs to Arkansas. Roby Brock of Talk Business Arkansas gives us the details in his weekly update