Ozarks At Large

Last month, the relatively new University of Arkansas Ballroom and Latin dance club took to the floors of the Ohio Star Ball, the largest ballroom dancing competition in the nation. Christina Thomas attended one of the clubs meetings. She spoke with members of the team, including one who won best newcomer international in waltz and tango.
Students and staff at Lingle Middle School in Rogers collected more than 3,000 items of nonperishable food to donate to five local agencies.
Fort Smith city administrators put a hold on new applications for billboard signs in the city while city staff completes a study on digital billboards. And, Republicans have taken over the state legislature for the first time since Reconstruction, but a state historian says that the Republicans of yesteryear had different legislative priorities than the GOP of today.

40 former democratically elected heads-of-state from all over the world are in Little Rock for an annual conference this week.
Wayne Bell closes out his personal entertainment picks of 2012 by discussing his favorite books and plays of the year.
Ryan Fourt is an Arkansas native and has a diploma from the University of Arkansas. He lives in Colorado now, but he’s back in town for two shows at Legacy Blues this week.
Dr. Steven Rosales will be joining the University of Arkansas’ History Department faculty next year. Earlier this fall he came to KUAF to talk about oral history and more.
Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
On this edition of Ozarks, Reach Out Northwest Arkansas is to keep kids from dropping out of school. Plus, exploring the new green roof atop the newly renovated Vol Walker Hall on the UA campus.
The 2013 Point-in-Time Homeless Census numbers show more children in grades K-12 are homeless in Washington and Benton counties in 2013 compared to previous years.
To access data from the homeless census, visit, sociology.uark.edu.
In today's Week in Review, Ozarks at Large's Timothy Dennis reviews happenings in the state legislature from the past seven days.
A report released Thursday by Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families shows that Arkansas schools rely heavily on out of school suspensions, with many districts punishing minorities at a higher rate than white students, thus limiting their learning opportunities. Ozarks at Large's Christina Thomas spoke with Jerri Derlikowski, Director of Education Policy for AACF and author of the report.
"A Willful Suspension of Disbelief" by Modest Mouse
Becca Martin Brown gives us a roundup of three local eateries, including a comfort food eaterie in Gentry, a pie shop in Fayetteville, and a plate of burgers and history in Evansville.
A concert including Still on the Hill, Outside the Lines, Trout Fishing in America and the Mike Sumler Trio may be sold out, but we have a preview of sorts from the Firmin-Garner Performance Studio.