Child travelers are on their way to having their own aviation-themed play area at the Northwest Arkansas Airport (XNA) with a new exhibition by Bentonville's interactive children's museum, the Scott Family Amazeum.

The big picture: XNA officials are curating an experience that feels uniquely Northwest Arkansas — not just a stopover, but a showcase. The airport already boasts a satellite museum for Crystal Bridges, a Slim Chickens, and a robot barista from Onyx Coffee Lab. Now, it's adding a playful touch from one of the region's flagship children's spaces.

What they're saying: "We're airport people," XNA spokesperson Olivia Tyler tells Axios. "We're not kids play area people or American art people, so being able to call on those people in the region who are so iconic to Northwest Arkansas to help us provide a sense of place in the airport has always been something that we work really hard to do."

Zoom in: The exhibition space will have a play air traffic control tower and include science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM) activities and toddler-friendly problem-solving puzzles, Amazeum spokesperson Holland Hayden tells Axios.

• The project is still in the design phase, but the idea is to incorporate some aviation history, too, she said. The timeline is TBD.
• The airport, which has been undergoing a series of renovations and construction projects, has removed the moving walkway. The plan is to add workspace for business travelers and general lounge seating, plus the Amazeum exhibition, Tyler said.

What's next: XNA is in the early design phases of adding a new western concourse, which Tyler said will be a huge project to add more gates to the increasingly busy airport. Construction is projected to cost around $100 million, and the airport could break ground late next year.

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Among the casualties of the current government shutdown: Simple access to some key taxpayer-funded government data.

Why it matters: You may not need to look up where America's oldest residents live or how much federal revenue K-12 schools get.

• But it's your right as an American taxpayer to get those numbers, if you want them. After all, you paid to collect them.
• More than that, government data measures our progress on key issues, drives major business and investment decisions, determines the size of Social Security checks — and gives us a shared, trusted quantitative reality.

Driving the news: Data.census.gov, the easiest-to-use portal for accessing U.S. Census Bureau data, is broken as of Wednesday morning.

• "Due to the lapse of federal funding, this website is not being updated," reads a banner atop the page. "Any inquiries submitted via data.census.gov will not be answered until appropriations are enacted."
• At least some Census data appears accessible through other means, including through an API — but that requires some technical skill.

A similar message appears on the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) site.

• "This website is currently not being updated due to the suspension of Federal government services," it reads.
• "The last update to the site was Wednesday, October 1, 2025. Updates to the site will start again when the Federal government resumes operations."

The big picture: The issues come amid the Trump administration's broader war on government data.

The bottom line: Data may not seem like the biggest deal during a shutdown that leaves hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed and many others working without regular paychecks, disrupts key government benefits, and more.

• But America runs on numbers — sorry, Dunkin' — and it's our right to have the data we paid for.

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🚨 The Bentonville Police Department executed search warrants this week at four massage parlors as part of an investigation involving prostitution. (Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

• No arrests were made.

💰 Arkansas Educational Freedom Accounts could cost more than $326 million during the 2026 fiscal year, according to the state's Department of Education. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

📦 Walmart plans to open a $300 million, 1.2-million-square-foot fulfillment center in Kings Mountain, N.C. (Supply Chain Dive)

• The site will create 300 jobs, North Carolina's Department of Commerce says.

Got the Bye Week blues as we wait to see how Bobby Petrino performs? Well, there's still plenty to do this weekend.

😆 Big Diamond Comedy Festival — Several comedians are performing around Bentonville in the second iteration of this festival that officially started yesterday. Purchase a weekend pass for $260 or show tickets for $15-$30.

🏍️ Bikes, Blues & BBQ — Yup, they're back. The annual rally runs through Saturday, mostly in downtown Rogers. Music, food and chrome on nearly every corner. Free to attend and gwak. See the full schedule.

🍎 Arkansas Apple Festival— An underrated, out-of-the-way, fall community gathering in Lincoln starts today and finishes Sunday. Free to attend and with fewer motorcycles.

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