Ozarks at Large

At the top of our midweek show, nearly 800 newly diagnosed cases of COVID-19 in the state in the last 24 hours, there will be a runoff for the GOP nomination for State Senate seat seven, and two teams from the Federal Emergency Management Agency are to begin assessing damage today in northeast Arkansas from last weekend’s devastating tornadoes.

One third of people report a spike in mental health problems around the holidays, says Sacha McBain with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. McBain, a clinical psychologist, explains what triggers people should be on the look out for, resources and ways to cope with mental illness and stress during this season.

The finale of the first season of Undsiciplined airs today, and we catch up with host Caree Banton to hear about her experience as host and what excited her the most.

Our final look at live music for 2021 includes opportunities to see metal, classical, bluegrass, punk, country, and plenty of holiday cheer.

As we consider the last 150 years of the University of Arkansas, Charlie Allison takes us back to the very first commencement.

On today's show, more book suggestions for the holiday gift giving season. Plus, how the lingering pandemic and other 2021 matters will—or won’t—affect transportation this season, new music from John Charles, and much more.

At the top of today's show, The Arkansas Department of Health is reporting an increase of 24 patients in the last 24 hours and adding another 17 deaths from the disease to the state total, a vacant state senate seat leads to primary races in a small slice of northwest Arkansas, and a Rogers native and former University of Arkansas golfer is joining the LPGA Tour.

More than 109 million Americans are expected to travel between Decmber 23 and January 2, according to estimates from AAA. Despite COVID-19 concerns and uncertainty around the new Omicron variant, travelers in Arkansas are gearing up to see nearly pre-pandemic volume of traffic on the road and in the airport.

There's still some time to pick up some books this holiday season, and Pearl's Books co-owner Daniel Jordan gives us a few different book categories for all the readers in your life. Here's a list of the books mentioned:

Kris Mastin has performed in various bands around Fayetteville over the years. Now, as John Charles, he has released his first album of his own original music, an effort that took about ten years to complete. We talk with him about making “Around,” and we hear a track from the album.

Today, we work to learn more about the lynching of 13 Black men in St. Charles, Arkansas in 1904. Plus, a trip to December, 1975 with the Pryor Center and suggestions for books to give and receive this holiday season.

We start a new week with a small number of new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours...work begins to recover from tornadoes in Arkansas....Haas Hall seeks approval for a presence in Fort Smith.

In 1904, over four days, white mobs lynched 13 Black men in St. Charles, Arkansas. Despite being one of the worst such incidents in U.S. history, little has been said about it for more than a century. Mary Hennigan, a graduate journalism student at the University of Arkansas, has spent months researching what happened and talked with descendants of those murdered. Her reporting is part of the Printing Hate project from the University of Maryland's Howard Center for Investigative Journalism.

There's still some time to pick up some books this holiday season, and the ladies at Two Friends Books in Bentonville are offering two different categories of books: those you want to read during the holidays and those you want to give during the holidays. Here's a list of the books mentioned:

Late last week, the Conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court ruled to allow a strict abortion ban in Texas to remain in place. American Civil Liberties Union - Arkansas executive director Holly Dickson says the ruling, which portends the possible outlawing of safe, legal abortions in 2022, is causing great harm.

We use archives from the David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History to remember the news of December, 1975. There were concerns about Russia, concerns about inflation and talk of football.

On today's show, the week’s news with Michael Tilley from Talk Business and Politics, a holiday weekend preview with Becca Martin Brown from the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Courtney Lanning explains why a star-studded cast doesn’t necessarily make for a great movie and the essential service of Meals on Wheels.

The city of Fort Smith is engaged in another court discussion about the Freedom of Information Act. Michael Tilley, with our partner Talk Business and Politics, gives us details.

Tomorrow, from 11:00-1:00, the annual fundraiser for Meals on Wheels takes place at the Fayetteville Senior Wellness and Activity Center.

Becca Martin Brown, the features editor with the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, says all this weekend has to offer is: parades (4 of them!), theater, food and more.

Don't Look Up features a cast of Oscar winners and stalwarts. Courtney Lanning says the movie's plot about trying to inform the public of an impending disaster is relevant for 2021...maybe too much so. Her full newspaper review can be found in the Friday edition of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

We asked Lia Uribe, musician, educator and creator of Sound Perimeter, what she listens to and where she finds new music.

On today's show, the University of Arkansas Office for Sustainability has partnered with the U of A Herbarium to inventory plants and collect seeds from an on-campus remnant native tallgrass prairie. Plus, music galore: upcoming shows and new favorites from Lia Uribe with Sound Perimeter.

Eric Boles, director of the University of Arkansas Office for Sustainability, has partnered with Jennifer Ogle, collections manager at the U of A Herbarium, to inventory plants and collect seeds from a 4.5 acre remnant native tall-grass prairie on campus. With volunteer help, they are grooming out invasives and plan to install native grass and flower starts, grown from collected seed.

Dr. Cam Patterson, the chancellor of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, discusses the efforts to learn more about the Omicron variant on the latest Northwest Arkansas Business Journal.

This week, as always, brings with plenty of live music across the listening area ranging from alternative country, jazz, metal, funk, and more.

Lia Uribe, associate professor at the University of Arkansas, shares a few of her favorite songs, hoping that they'll become a few of your favorites as well. We hear from Alexis Bacon, David Lang and Richard Rodgers in today's episode.

On today's show, a new minor in diversity studies at the University of Arkansas Fort Smith. Plus, plans for a roundabout are coming to Eureka Springs, and much more.

A special session of the Arkansas Legislature is underway...COVID-19 cases continue to mount in Arkansas...the first postseason in nearly a decade ends for the Razorback volleyball team.

Next spring the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith will offer a Diversity Studies minor for students. The program will included more than two dozen existing courses.

There are some faculty at the University of Arkansas with major awards in the school's 150 years of history.

The United States Marshals Museum in Fort Smith will continue a tradition of spending time with history Monday night with an evening dedicated to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Eureka Springs city council has approved a resolution to build a roundabout at the intersection of Highway 62 and 23 South — which currently has only one stop sign — to ease increasing tourist, commercial and school traffic congestion. The roundabout, proponents say, is a cost-effective solution compared to a traffic light. But opponents claim simply adding two more stop signs is best.

On today's show, certain rural electric cooperatives in Arkansas charging extra fees to residential solar customers has caught the attention of the Arkansas Public Service Commission. Plus, our Militant Grammarian gives us a list of words that don’t exist, and much more.

Among the news of the day: expecting Omicron's arrival in Arkansas...new cases of the virus increase in Oklahoma...the Arkansas Legislature's special session starts.

A growing number of Arkansas Electric Cooperatives are charging extra fees for residential solar installation and net metering, fees not sanctioned by the Arkansas Public Service Commission — which holds oversight so is investigating the matter. Patrick Villines, proprietor of New Farm Solar says the additonal fees are deterring solar adoption in at least one rural electric cooperative district.

A special session of the Arkansas Legislature begins today. The governor wants it mostly to be about taxes. Some lawmakers want to discuss more.

Our Militant Grammarian says we all use words that aren't words. She explains why overwhelmed isn't needed. And she has a quiz as well.

In American Waters: The Sea in American Painting is at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville through January 31st. The works show more than ships and masts. And the exploration of the sea goes beyond sailing. We take a tour.

On today's show, examining another month of a pandemic’s effects on Arkansas. Plus, The ancient history of the osage orange, and much more.

We check in, one last time, with journalists at Arkansas COVID to explore how the virus affected Arkansas in November.

Remnant Osage Orange trees which were once plentiful across the eastern U.S. continue to grow on the Ozark Highlands as well as in a few other southern states. The unusual trees produce a highly valued decay-resistant wood, as well as large strange-looking green fruit – that only extinct megafauna relished. Noted author, Steven Foster, meets us under an elder Osage Orange on Mt. Sequoyah Center to share stories about the remarkable and little-understood tree.

This week's archives from the David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History take us back to December, 1968. We hear Arkansas' Democrats consider what the new president, Republican Richard Nixon, might do and learn how we could send telegrams faster.