Ozarks At Large
Tonya Lewis Lee helped bring Christopher Paul Curtis' novel The Watsons Go to Birmingham to Tv this month. Tonight the film is being shown, for free, at Bentonville High School and today we talked with Ms. lee about the project that premiered earlier this month on the Hallmark Channel.
Late last week, the federal Department of Health and Human Services accepted Arkansas's plan for Medicaid expansion. The city of Bentonville will give away compost and wood mulch this week. A couple of roads close or otherwise reroute in the River Valley starting today. And gas prices dropped slightly in Arkansas over the past week.
With this morning's montage, we say several goodbyes; to Summer, to a famed Yankees pitcher, and to one of our longest-tenured colleagues at KUAF. Here are our 10 pop culture references we used to say goodbye.
- "So Long, Farewell" from the Sound of Music
- Lou Gehrig's farewell speech
- "Goodbye my Lover" by James Blunt
- ET says his goodbye
- The famous words from Gone With The Wind
- "Hello, Goodbye" by The Beatles
- The Friends leave the apartment for the final time
- "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" by Elton John
- Jim Carey tells his fare goodbye at the beginning of Dumb and Dumber
- Leaving Casablanca for the final time
- Johnny Carson bids his final farewell to the audience during his final time hosting The Tonight Show
The Arkansas Center For The Book this week made its selection for the 2013 If All Arkansas Read The Same Book Program. Kyle Kellams spoke with Vivienne Schiffer, the author of the novel Camp Nine, this year's selection.
State officials continue to seek a solution to the teacher insurance crisis in Arkansas. New numbers are out regarding Arkansas students' achievements on Advanced Placement tests. And, the Connecting Arkansas Internet Conference is being held in Little Rock this week.
You can go to a workshop at NWACC to learn about the state's Freedom of Information Act, or you can participate in one of many lake and other outdoor cleanups in the next few days.



Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Friday, May 9, 2014
Ahead on this edition of Ozarks, Michael Tilley talks about a new owner for some long-abandoned real estate in Fort Smith, and the official announcement of a Whole Foods in Fayetteville. Plus, Cletus Got Shot gets ready to perform at a few festivals in the next month.
The Arkansas Lottery Commission reports the second straight year of declining revenue for the state's scholarship lottery. Rogers Public Schools officials remove a rule that implied a requirement for end of semester exams. And two Arkansas attorneys file a motion in federal court for a summary judgement in regards to the state's ban on same-sex marriages.
"How We Be" by Sinkane
A University of Arkansas research team surveyed hundreds of Northwest Arkansas political and business leaders on state energy policy issues. The study stems from a surge of interest in the local electrical grid over the past year, due to controversy over a proposed 60-mile long interstate power transmission line that would cut a wide swath through north Benton and Carroll Counties.
The Fayetteville Public Schools’ Bookmobile is making an impact, through books, on young members of the community in an effort to combat summer learning loss. Catch up with them Monday, July 21 and again July 28 at the following locations:
9:30- Red Oak Park (Carlsbad/Boxley/Bridgeport Subdivision area off Wedington)
10:15- The Links at Wedington (at the roundabout in the middle of the complex)
11:00- Woodway Apartments (by the complex pool)
11:45- Crofton Manor off Mt. Comfort (on Hatterly Street)
12:10- Washington Plaza Apartments (Under a grove of trees towards the back entrance of the complex)
"Books From Boxes" by Maximo Park
The Sons of Brasil will deliver the second installment in this year's KUAF Summer Jazz Series, this weekend at 21c Museum Hotel in Bentonville. We hear from trumpeter and founder of the group Stan Kessler.
A few things to do this weekend, and if those aren’t enough, enter to win a selection of tickets.