Mercy Health used an innovative walking program to become one of the healthiest workplaces in the country.
Ozarks At Large
A roundup of events and news for the next few weeks include an alternative way to deliver a Valentine.


An administrative law judge with the Arkansas Public Service Commission on Friday ordered SWEPCO to proceed on its proposed plan to build a massive new power transmission line through portions of northwest Arkansas. Also, Governor Mike Beebe says that recent cost analyses of operating the state's Private Option expansion of Medicaid justifies the program's passage during last year's session of the state legislature. And the state Attorney General's office warns residents about rapid-refund tax providers.

Ahead on Ozarks, a conversation with young adult author An Na. Also, we learn what it takes to become a police officer.

We speak with An Na, author of A Step From Heaven, a book that was awarded the Michael L. Prince Award when it was published a decade ago. Critics and reviewers commended the book's characters for speaking like a child without being too precocious or condescending. The author will speak in Fayetteville later this month.
Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Ahead on this edition of Weekend Ozarks, we visit the kitchen of Jen Lewis, take a spin in a state-run clinic that aids veterans in rural communities, and we meet a recovering opiate addict who has found hope with methadone.
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.