Ozarks at Large

Today's top of the show includes medical debt erased for thousands of Arkansans as well as an update on COVID-19 numbers across the state.

Athletes from more than 20 countries are in Fayetteville this weekend for the 2022 UCI Cyclocross World Championships. The weekend opened Thursday night with ceremonies on the Fayetteville Square.

Beginning in March, three cohorts of nonprofits from across northwest Arkansas will be partnering with the IDEALS Institute. For more information about TRU and each of the three cohorts, you can visit their website.

The city of Fayetteville is reinstating its COVID-19 vaccine incentive. People who live or work in the city are eligible to receive $100 to become vaccinated. More information is available at the city's website.

Becca Martin Brown, the features editor with the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, says she's eager to see the first month of 2022 end. She gives us a guide to many of the weekend's entertainment opportunities.

Courtney Lanning says a sixth installment in the animated Ice Age franchise looks a little less shiny and has a couple more laughs for younger viewers.

The city of Fort Smith experienced a 15% hike in sales tax revenue for 2022. Michael Tilley, with our partner Talk Business and Politics, discusses what that means. He also addresses the hiring of another consultant for a Fort Smith school project.

On today's show, working to ease shortages in Arkansas truck drivers. Plus, a visit to Columbia with Sound Perimeter, the Headquarters House in Fayetteville, and much more.

Today's show starts with another record set for virus hospitalizations in Arkansas and a plan in place for how Bella Vista might use American Rescue Plan funds.

Northwest Arkansas Community College announced a new scholarship for trucking students to get their commercial delivery license, sponsored by trucking pioneer Willis Shaw.

Before the pandemic, many Arkansas schools were in need of more teachers. During the last two years the need has only grown.

In this week's Northwest Arkansas Business Journal, Arkansas Senator Jonathan Dismang talks with Roby Brock about the members who have announced they are not seeking reelection in the Arkansa Legislature and what to expect with every member being on the ballot this year.

A remarkably preserved civil war-era estate in Fayeteville’s historic district serves as headquarters for the Washington County Historical Society. Headquarters House is open to the public for individual and group tours and hosts seasonal events. Society president Lee Anne Kirby Wiederkehr walks us through the historic site, where we also meet the society's Flashback journal editor, Patsy Watkins.

University of Arkansas music professor Lia Uribe returns to share selections written for the film Encanto, with performances by Carolina Gaitan and Mauro Castillo, Marta Gomez, and Carlos Vives.

On today's show, a conversation with the founders of an organization working to make mental health care more accessible for women of color. Plus, we find out more about how people can be reimbursed for at-home COVID-19 tests, and much more.

Today's show starts with more COVID-19 news. Arkansas' hospitalizations from the virus declined a bit yesterday, though state officials are still concerned. Research led by a UAMS team indicates progress in the battle against the virus.

Four free tests are being supplied by the federal government to every household later this month, but if you need one now, your private insurance is required to reimburse you for those purchases.

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 pract...

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.