Happy Monday!

🌧️ Today's weather: Slight chance of rain showers, then partly sunny, with a high of 81 and a low of 60.

Today’s newsletter is 927 words — a 3.5-minute read.

A development intended to offer affordable housing to Bentonville School District employees and others making under a certain income is open, with plans for the first residents to move in this week.

Why it matters: The McAuley Place project serves as a blueprint for how housing can be offered to residents below market rate as Northwest Arkansas has seen housing prices rise sharply in recent years.

State of play: Nonprofit Excellerate Foundation opened McAuley Place with 160 units, including 120 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and 40 two-bedroom cottages on the property in front of the Bentonville Community Center off of I Street.

• 35 of the cottages are designated for Bentonville Public Schools employees, while the other five are for Mercy Health System employees, Excellerate Foundation president and CEO Brad Sikorski told Axios. The apartments are for people whose household earns 30%-60% of the area median income, which is about $32,000 to $64,000.
• McAuley already has a waitlist, Sikorski said.

The intrigue: The development also introduces the HOMES Program, which helps eligible Bentonville Schools employees build toward homeownership while living in an affordable home, according to a news release.

• Those participating in the program pay $1,535 in monthly rent, $500 of which is saved for them each month. Excellerate will match up to two-thirds of residents' savings, meaning they could have up to $50,000 after five years for a down payment.

What they're saying: "It's important for the people that educate our children, drive our buses and support our teachers and students to have the opportunity to live in the community they serve," Bentonville school board president Jennifer Faddis said at an opening event Friday.

• Bentonville Public Schools Superintendent Debbie Jones has said the district has had new teachers back out of jobs because they couldn't find an affordable place to live.

By the numbers: The apartments rent for $400 to $900 a month. The cottages rent for $1,035 for those not participating in the HOMES program.

• Typical rent in Bentonville ranges from $1,300 to $1,900 per month, Faddis said.

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The good news/bad news situation: A beloved restaurant that went out of business is back under new ownership.

• But it's only good if the new version of AQ Chicken House is like the original, which dates back to 1947; it's bad if they don't pull it off.

What to expect: I'll say the news is good for most. My two-piece chicken dinner ($17) resonated with my memory of the food, though it's been many years now since I've had it.

• To me, it seemed a perfect copy of what I used to eat.
• The downside, at least for some, is that it seemed a perfect copy of what I used to eat.

State of play: The over-the-coals chicken (fried with some added spices and a quick char) was fantastic. The "Arkansas Quality" flavor is there. It's comfort food, and for those seeking nostalgia, it's here.

• The side dishes were always, well, just OK. I think that's still the case. My fried okra wasn't super crispy, and the mashed potatoes were fine.
• The onion rings really should've been better.

The verdict: The rolls, the chicken, the service, the atmosphere — that's the good news.

• Perhaps try the mac and cheese and corn for a side.

The bottom line: But, hey, a chicken house with a good chicken dinner? That's a winner, winner, as they say.

Check it out: Located at 100 W. Emma Ave., Suite 101, in Springdale. Serving Sunday 11am-3pm; Monday and Wednesday-Saturday 11am-9pm; closed Tuesday.

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🧑‍⚖️ The first hearing over a lawsuit challenging Arkansas' abortion ban is today. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

🗣️ Arkansas TV, the sate's public television station, will host political debates next month, but U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton won't participate. (Arkansas Advocate)

The Arkansas Community Foundation on Friday announced a five-year initiative, Arkansas Full Table Fund, to combat food insecurity. The Walmart Foundation gave the fund $10 million. (Northwest Arkansas Business Journal)

Spirit Halloween is haunting the shells of former big-box stores again this fall as it opens 1,500 locations nationwide.

The big picture: The stores appear and vanish each fall, so finding this year's Spirit often means relaying directions with neighbors in retail shorthand: "Where the old Party City used to be."

By the numbers: Of the locations analyzed by Axios, 153 — just over 1 in 10 — were labeled "Former Joann" stores in Spirit's locator.

• Joann closed all of its fabric and craft stores in 2025.
• Former Big Lots stores ranked second with 103 locations, followed by Party City with 100. Both chains shed hundreds of locations after bankruptcy.

Zoom in: NWA has Spirit Halloween stores in Fayetteville and Rogers.

Zoom out: Spirit, which bills itself as North America's largest Halloween retailer, relies on temporary leases to transform vacant storefronts into seasonal shops.

• The arrangements bring property owners exposure and a few months of rent while they search for long-term tenants.
• Spirit Halloween didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The bottom line: A familiar storefront in a new orange costume is a telltale sign spooky season has arrived.

Thanks to Chloe Gonzales for editing this newsletter.

🌯 Alex originally went to the McAuley Place opening on the wrong day and ended up having a breakfast burrito in the King Burrito parking lot. 😅

🍗 Worth is on sabbatical. Maybe he's back at AQ Chicken House.