Ozarks at Large

A new nonprofit in northwest Arkansas, Resilient Black Women, is dedicated to increasing conversations about mental health and culture...as well as expanding access to mental health. You can attend Sunday's about grief on Zoom here.

Twice in the past 150 years University of Arkansas students have made discoveries of world-record fossils.

The American Lung Association is giving Arkansas three failing grades, out of five possible grades, when it comes to reducing tobacco use.

On today's show, Northwest Arkansas Workforce Development provides free career training for disadvantaged adults and youth. Plus, a conversation with Tom Gordon, the president and CEO of Slim Chickens, about building a restaurant enterprise, and much more.

Arkansas hospitals, and those in northwest Arkansas, experience a pandemic-high number of patients with COVID-19.

The Workforce Division of the Northwest Arkansas Economic Development District provides free comprehensive career guidance and facilitated hands on training to disadvantaged adults and youth across the nine-county region, under the federally funded Workforce Innovation Opportunities Act. Seventeen year-old Remington McGuire is a WIOA veternarian tech trainee who someday plans to open her own practice in Northwest Arkansas.

Fayetteville-based Slim Chickens is getting attention from trade publication QSR Magazine for being a breakout in the industry. Late last year we talked with Tom Gordon, the president and CEO of the company about lessons learned over the years.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders' gubernatorial campaign continues to break Arkansas records for fundraising. John Brummett, a political columnist with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, says he's intrigued by how the campaign will spend the money. You can hear more of this conversation here.

Buddy Shute and Mark McGee were supposed to be in Memphis this month for the International Blues Challenge, representing the Fort Smith Riverfront Blues Society. The challenge is delayed until may because of the pandemic, so they came to our studio to play new music from their CD Hard as Nails.

On today's show, A state legislator found a way for Marshallese migrants to officially serve in law enforcement. Plus, a musical preview from The Lunch Hour, and much more.

Our show begins with news of a drop in the number of COVID-19 patients in Arkansas and a (temporary) warm up across the region.

A measure to allow legally-present Arkansas Marshallese migrants to officially train and serve in state, county and municipal law enforcement failed to pass the state legislature last year, blocked by a majority of anti-immigrant lawmakers. The bill’s sponsor, Democrat State Rep. Megan Godfrey, District 89 - Springdale, instead resorted to an alternative solution.

We dip back into 2020 for an encore broadcast of our series of Pryor Center archives for a segment devoted to the Little Rock Nine.

The second installment of the new KUAF series The Lunch Hour took place in our lobby Friday. We share two of the songs performed by Mia Gjeldum. You can watch the recorded live stream from Gjeldum's performance on KUAF's Facebook page here.

On today's show, Chaim Goodman-Strauss is this year’s recipient of the Rosenthal Prize for Innovation and Inspiration in Math Teaching from the National Museum of Mathematics. Plus, we learn more about The Northwest Arkansas Land Trust’s new NWA FarmLink program, and much more.

The start of our show today is dedicated to the latest virus surge and a new program from UAMS designed to help students, especially in underserved communities, to learn more about careers in fields like science, math and healthcare.

This week Michael Tilley, with our partner Talk Business and Politics, discusses an ArcBest investment in Phantom Auto and a new park named after a beloved Fort Smith artist.

The Rosnethal Prize for Innovation and Inspiration in math teaching from the National Museum of Mathematics this year is awarded to Chaim Goodman-Strauss, a professor of mathematics at the University of Arkansas. he came to the Carver Center for Public Radio to demonstrate how he uses paper and scissors to teach about symmetry.

Northwest Arkansas Land Trust's NWA FARMLINK is a free new service connecting land-seeking farmers to available farmlands in the region, via an interactive web portal. Staff also provide guidance, resources and tools to farmers to cultivate success in their agriculatural endeavor. The mission of Northwest Arkansas Land Trust is to preserve and enhance the quality of life for all people in Northwest Arkansas through the permanent protection of both public and private lands.

We are dealing with cold and a pandemic, but Becca Martin Brown, the features editor with the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, says for those who want entertainment...she has suggestions.

CACHE, the Creative Arkansas Community Hub and Exchange, is kicking off a Year of Learning with free workshops next week about the Art of Fundraising.

On today's show, a new semester starts at the University with a now-familiar challenge: COVID-19. Plus, the state of the state…business, politics and policy discussed with three CEOs, and much more.

We start our show today with a familiar refrain: record numbers associated with COVID-19 in Arkansas. Plus suggestions for making Arkansas highways safer.

A panel of campus leaders and experts from the University of Arkansas gathered on campus to answer questions about life on campus and the impact COVID-19 would have on the spring semester. Interim Chancellor Charles Robinson pointing out that as long as classrooms were safe and students continued to effectively mask, then the plan of action was face-to-face instruction on campus.

The University of Arkansas is holding a free, mass covid-19 testing clinic for students, faculty and staff through Feb. 18. Anyone with a university ID card can recieve a PCR test at the test site on the Union Mall on the Fayetteville campus weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Roby Brock, with our partner Talk Business and Politics, asks three CEOs about their thoughts for 2022. As expected, the ongoing pandemic shapes expectations. The conversation is part of this week's Northwest Arkansas Business Journal Report.

Not many new movies, and no blockbusters, are hitting theater screens this month. Courtney Lanning says that leaves room for a winter gem, Sing a Bit of Harmony. Her full review can be found in Friday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

On today's show, Arkansas Children’s will sponsor a hackathon in April. Plus, the second season of the podcast Undisciplined begins with a conversation about epidemics, and much more.

Our news today includes Arkansas hospitals continue to experience a surge of COVID-19 patients. Plus the observations connected to Arkansas and the National Day of Racial Healing.

This spring Arkansas Children's will host a hackathon. The 48 hour event, April 1st through 3rd, is designed to find possible digital solutions to healthcare challenges.

In the latest episode of Undisciplined, host Caree Banton talks to CDC scientist Ernest Yufenyuy about what the AIDS pandemic—which has been the focus of his work—can teach us about COVID-19.

The latest tour of University of Arkansas history from Charlie Alison, the executive editor of University Relations, recalls the first-ever day of classes at the U of A.

The nonprofit Jamison Alexander Success Center, headquartered in Faulkner County, assists Arkansas children with disabilitis living in a half dozen counties by delivering theraputic items at no charge. The center also operates a program to inspire all kids to succeed -- particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Antonio Jamison discusses why he is dedicated to serving youth in need, welcoming donations to aid his mission.

On today's show, an 1800s African-American cemetery in east Fayetteville, almost lost to history, is being restored. Plus, TheatreSquared readies The Mountaintop, a reimagining of the last night of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life, and much more.

The top of our show includes the latest regarding COVID-19 in Arkansas. Tests were down this weekend, but hospitalizations are up. Also: money for bridges in Arkansas.

An 1800s burial ground on a wooded western slope of Mt. Sequoyah in Fayetteville contains mostly unmarked remains of dozens of enslaved African Americans. Almost lost to history, the site is being documented and restored by the Northwest Arkansas African American Heritage Association. Sharon Killian, board president, walks us through the place known as East Mountain Cemetery, recently deeded to the group for perpetual preservation by Fayetteville native, Lynn Wade.

John Brummett, a columnist for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, thinks President Biden didn't make it easy for voting rights legislation to be passed. He also considers Governor Hutchinson's week and the future makeup of the Arkansas legislature.

Katori Hall's The Mountaintop reimagines the night before the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The play opens tomorrow night at TheatreSquared. We asked the actors and director about the production.

Robert Ginsburg, the host of Shades of Jazz on KUAF, helps us prepare for the return of Bill Frisell to Fayetteville. The guitarist will play twice at the Roots HQ Saturday night.

The historic town of Eureka Springs is a popular tourist destination -- and now, increasingly, a homeless destination. We visit ECHO and A Cup of Love Ministry, two charities that generously serve the impoverished, and talk with a city official trying to find ways to better accomodate the low-income population.

On today’s show, preparing to portray Dr. King on stage in The Mountaintop for TheatreSquared. Plus, efforts to help people living without permanent shelter in Eureka Springs, and much more.

Later this week TheatreSquared will open its production of Katori Hall's The Mountaintop. We talked with creative forces behind the work about the reimagining of the events the night before Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered. Much of our conversation will be on tomorrow's show, but we wanted to share some of the conversation today.

Bud Campbell was one of the most familiar faces, and voices, in Arkansas for two decades. We conclude our salute to the broadcaster with archives from the David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History.

Next Monday night, the 24th, (ret) General Wesley Clark will deliver the years' first Pryor Center Presents lecture, virtually, at 6:00 p.m. We listen back to part of a conversation he had with us last year about the challenges the United States faces at home and abroad.

On today's show, a shift for the University of Arkansas Fort Smith to mitigate spread of COVID-19. Plus, helping relocate from Afghanistan to northwest Arkansas, and much more.

Top news for a Friday includes almost 13,000 new virus cases in Arkansas, Rogers schools pivoting because of staff shortages and a first-ever gymnastics meet in Bud Walton Arena.

Michael Tilley, with our partner Talk Business and Politics, says the fate of a dog park and the future of I-49 were topics of conversation across the Arkansas River Valley this week.

Canopy of Northwest Arkansas, the state's only resettlement agency began recieving Afghan evacuees in October of 2021. Joanna Krause, the agency's executive director, says they have onboarded at least one new arrival each week since then.

With the spread of COVID-19 continuing, UAFS is moving to mostly virtual instruction next week.

Christopher Schulte, endowed associate professor of art education and assistant director of the School of Art at the University of Arkansas, is founding and directing the new Center for the Study of Childhood Art, the first such instutite in country, he says.