Ozarks At Large
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.
On this first Monday of the first month of the year, we have the first installment in a monthly series looking more closely at the number of that month. Edmond Harris, math professor at the University of Arkansas, spoke with Christina Thomas about the importance of the number 1.


Here are out ten clips relating to Buffalo, New York and the War of 1812.
1) Ten Thousand Maniacs (from the Buffalo area) sing Because the Night,
2) Robert Redford and Wilford Brimley in The Natural (filmed in Buffalo).
3) Bruce Springsteen sings about Buffalo's Erie Canal.
4) A trailer, featuring Marilyn Monroe, for the movie Niagara…set in nearby Niagara Falls. 5) Buffalo native Rick James ponders a Super Freak.
6) A BBC documentary about the assassination of President McKinley. The shooting happened in Buffalo. (as did the subsequent swearing-n ceremony of Theodore Roosevelt).
7) The only electronic song we know of about Buffalo native Grover Cleveland.
8) Judy Garland sings Somewhere Over the Rainbow…written by Buffalo native Harold Arlen.
9) Amanda Blake, another Buffalo native, as Miss Kitty on an early episode of Gunsmoke.
10) Johnny Horton sings The Battle of New Orleans, about the final battle of the War of 1812. Arkansas connection: written by Jimmy Driftwood.
1) Ten Thousand Maniacs (from the Buffalo area) sing Because the Night,
2) Robert Redford and Wilford Brimley in The Natural (filmed in Buffalo).
3) Bruce Springsteen sings about Buffalo's Erie Canal.
4) A trailer, featuring Marilyn Monroe, for the movie Niagara…set in nearby Niagara Falls. 5) Buffalo native Rick James ponders a Super Freak.
6) A BBC documentary about the assassination of President McKinley. The shooting happened in Buffalo. (as did the subsequent swearing-n ceremony of Theodore Roosevelt).
7) The only electronic song we know of about Buffalo native Grover Cleveland.
8) Judy Garland sings Somewhere Over the Rainbow…written by Buffalo native Harold Arlen.
9) Amanda Blake, another Buffalo native, as Miss Kitty on an early episode of Gunsmoke.
10) Johnny Horton sings The Battle of New Orleans, about the final battle of the War of 1812. Arkansas connection: written by Jimmy Driftwood.
Justin Minkel, a Springdale elementary school teacher and 2007 Arkansas Teacher of the Year, has just written a new book aimed at young readers.


Our insect expert Dr. Donald Steinkraus suggests a few gifts to encourage children's interest in insects and nature.
Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Friday, May 23, 2014
On this edition of Ozarks, we take a look at a new study that analyzes high school graduation rates in Arkansas. Also Dick Johnson stops by the Firmin-Garner Performance Studio.
Clint Schnekloth is the Lead Pastor at Good Shepard Lutheran Church in Fayetteville and the author of the new book, Mediating Faith: Faith Formation in a Trans-media Era.
at end of show: "Sunny of 75" by Joe Nichols
When the Arkansas Legislature convened this week, lawmakers proposed and pondered long-term solutions to the state's Private Option expansion of Medicaid. The changes considered were meant to make the program more palatable to some politicians. We learn more in this morning's Week in Review.
"The Game of Love" by Daft Punk
In 1980, more than 125,000 Cubans fleeing Fidel Castro's communist regime were boatlifted to America and processed at military compounds including Fort Chaffee in Arkansas. Among the population were gay Cubans and prisoners that Castro had purged from his prisons. The Cubans were widely portrayed by the press as criminal—a stigma that's persisted. But as Jacqueline Froelich reports, historians are working to clarify the record.
Photo: "Task Force Commander, Colonel Don E. Karr with Cuban refugee family"--Courtesy Fort Chaffee Museum
Charles Baum was both a philanthropist and a baseball lover. We learn more about the man behind the Arkansas Razorback's baseball stadium.
"Stubborn Love" by The Lumineers
Here are the ten sources for our Sunday Montage dedicated to bows, arrows and archers:
1) Sam Cooke sings tribute to Cupid.
2) Merida (voiced by Kelly Macdonald) proves a point in the animated movie Brave.
3) Harry Nilsson sings Me and My Arrow.
4) Claude Rains and Errol Flynn meet in the 1939 version of Robin Hood.
5) Arya receives counter intuitive lessons on an episode of HBO's Game of Thrones.
6) Kacey Musgraves offers advice in her song Follow Your Arrow.
7) Legolas fails to impress in a scene from the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
8) From the 80s: ABC's hit Poison Arrow.
9) Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) gets attention after her amazing shot in The Hunger Games.
10) The Halle Orchestra performs the greatest piece of music dedicated to an archer, Rossini's William Tell Overture.
Apologies to: Hawkeye, Green Arrow, The Golden Archer (and about 100 other comic book characters), Burt Reynolds in Deliverance, Edith Wharton, and Cock Robin. Maybe next time.