The project’s name rings a bell. Its exterior shell and playground area also look familiar to neighbors who live in Beatrice, Nebraska.

But the town’s former Stoddard Elementary School underwent a $6.4 million renovation to reopen last week with an entirely new purpose — as Stoddard Place residences.

Now instead of kids marching down the hallway to the principal’s office or math class, senior tenants age 55 and older will be strolling to their apartments or perhaps the community room to socialize.

The residents of Peculiar, Missouri, celebrated their victory against a proposed data center on an October night in 2024, after the town’s six-person Board of Aldermen unanimously voted down a proposal to rezone land for a 500-acre data center campus.

Peculiar, a town of 3,000 people about 40 minutes southwest of Kansas City, was among the earliest documented communities in the country to defeat a data center development through grassroots pushback.

LINCOLN — Nebraska’s Buffalo County, buoyed by development in Kearney, stood out as a growing state tourism magnet during an event Friday spotlighting the economic impact of travel to the Cornhusker state.

Of Nebraska’s five most populated counties, Buffalo reportedly outpaced peers with its 7% growth in direct travel spending in 2025 compared with 2024.

Only one of the top five lost traction in tourism-related spending. Sarpy County’s dollar growth reportedly dipped 0.5% during that time frame. Douglas grew by 4.4%; Hall by 3.5% and Lancaster by 2.2%.