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.
Bentonville native Sheldon Tucker, who’s also a cast member of “Bring It On: The Musical,” talks to us about his career and “Bring It On.”
“White Knuckle” by Ok Go
Over the next several weeks, Ozarks at Large will examine the critical role of social workers in our lives. Arkansas is one of only 20 states that does not mandate the number of social workers placed in school districts.
Today, Christina Thomas visits with social workers in two school districts in our area as well as talks to parents who’ve been helped by them.
“Rain” by Uriah Heep
Lamar Pettus, the interim executive director of the Mount Sequoyah Retreat and Conference Center in Fayetteville, talks about the year-long series of concerts on Mount Sequoyah called Music on the Mountain. Singer-songwriter Randall Shreve performs tonight in the second concert of the series.
Efforts to expand an energy transmission grid used by nine state including Arkansas gets approval; Arkansas-based Acxiom adds jobs; and more – on today’s edition of Ozarks at Large Half-Time.
“Scrooge Counts His Money” by Alan Silvestri
“Willy Wonka, Jr.” comes to Rogers; Mother Nature returns to Hobbs State Park; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art hosts a gallery talk. Becca Bacon Martin from Northwest Arkansas Newspapers has the details.