The Arkansas Senate yesterday passed the Private Option appropriation, while the House again defeated the bill. Fayetteville Public Schools gets a waiver to hold classes on Memorial Day, and new public transit routes are coming to Rogers.
Ozarks At Large


Students from Woodland Junior High School prepare to head to Little Rock for the Arkansas Governor's Quiz Bowl Association state championship on Saturday.
Michael Dorcas, herpetologist and professor at Davidson College in North Carolina, will speak this afternoon at 4:00 in Room 604 of the Science Building on the University of Arkansas campus. One of his areas of expertise is the problem of invasive Burmese pythons in southern Florida.


The Arkansas House yesterday again voted down the appropriation for the Private Option, a date is set for a lawsuit challenging the state's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, the NWA Council calculates when the region will be home to half-a-million people, and Walmart plans to push more small stores in the coming year.


Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Ahead on this edition of Ozarks, other ways to teach and other ways to learn. We go inside a local school of innovation, and we'll go on stage in Bentonville as Northwest Arkansas Community College prepares their staging of The Giver.
Another ballot initiative group is moving forwarrd with petitions after the state's attorney general approved the wording of its measure, which would raise the minimum wage in Arkansas to $8.50. Booneville Community Hospital starts the new year with a new name and new management. Fayetteville is set to be recognized as a compassionate city. Thirteen Arkansas counties are declared disaster areas after the early December ice and snow storm. And with a budget set, the Sebastian County Quorum Court and Fort Smith Board of Directors agree on amenities to be placed in the future Ben Geren Aquatics Park.
"Nicolas Cage" by The Great Wild
Millions of newly insured Americans will be seeking medical care, under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act starting this month. And with a projected shortage of primary care physicians to serve them, new research indicates that nurse practitioners may help fill the gap. We hear from a national association board member as well as Dr. Anna Jarrett, an acute care nurse practitioner and professor of nursing at UA-Fayetteville.
Roby Brock, from Talk Business Arkansas, examines a recent poll of some of Arkansas top business officials.
If the weather allows, the second weekend of 2014 will be full of indoor and outdoor events.
"Silver Surfer, Ghost Rider, Go" by Trentmoeller
The inaugural Ozark Mountain Music Festival is all indoors in Eureka Springs. And it has a fun nickname, too.
Schedule Includes:
Friday, 1/24
6 p.m. Barefoot Ballroom -- HonkySuckle
8 p.m. Ozark Room -- Wink
10 p.m. Barefoot Ballroom -- 3 Penny Acre
Saturday, 1/25
Balcony -- Hogscalders
2 p.m. Ozark Room -- Pearl Brick
4 p.m. Ozark Room -- Tyrannosaurus Chicken
6 p.m. Barefoot Ballroom -- SxRex
8 p.m. Ozark Room -- Ben Miller Band
10 p.m. Ballroom -- National Park Radio
MIDNIGHT JAM -- Ron Landis and Chuck
Sunday, 1/26
NOON- Bloody Mary Morning Show Ozark Rooms -- Handmade Moments
"Dream of the Future" by Carter Burwell