Aug. 25, 2025: Mold, convention center logo, PCBs, football

Weather

Based on the National Weather Service forecast in text and charts here’s some advice.

Monday: You might want to throw on a light jacket or at least wear something with long sleeves, just for the early morning temperatures which will start off around 52F°. You can also start practicing your Midwestern weather talk for this time of year. If you aren’t from around here but always wished you could fit in with the locals, try this: “Won’t be long ‘til we’re rakin’ leaves.” Don’t try that around people who know you live in an apartment. But it’s not actually fall yet, so you don’t need to actually bundle up. The temperature is supposed to reach a high of around 72F°. It’s not going to rain, even if it will get cloudier through the day.

Tuesday: It’s a repeat of Monday with early morning cool temperatures around 50F°, and a forecasted high of 73F° and clear skies and no chance of rain. More chances to practice your Midwestern weather talk: “Leaves’ll be turnin’ soon enough.” or “Now is real good sleepin’ weather.”

Sign up for weather alerts: Monroe County emergency alert system.

Roundup of recent articles

• Monroe County property transfers through Aug. 19, 2025.  This report includes new property transfers in Monroe County that haven’t previously been reported by The B Square, with dates as recent as Aug. 19, 2025. The data in this report comes from Beacon, the county’s online geographic information system for property and parcel data.
• Sunday Funnies: Hawk v. Fish.  Hawk: Why doesn’t the railroad raise the height of the Adams Street bridge to prevent crashes by U-Haul driver? What do you think Fish says in reply?
• Edgewood Mustangs win home opener against Mitchell 38–0, but leave room for improvement.  Friday’s 38-0 score in favor of the Edgewood Mustangs in their home opener against the Mitchell Bluejackets could have been even more lopsided. That's if the team had not committed some penalties and done a better job giving its quarterback time to find receivers down the field.
• Police: Man struck, killed by train on bridge over I-69 on Bloomington’s west side.  On Friday (Aug. 22) a man was killed when he was hit by a train on the railroad bridge over I-69—which is south of the 3rd Street overpass and north of the Bloomfield Road (2nd Street) overpass. That’s according to a news release issued by Bloomington police on Saturday morning.
• Photos: Bloomington North falls to Mooresville 28-14 in home opener.  The Bloomington High School North Cougars were outscored 28–14 by the visiting Mooresville Pioneers in their first game of the season.
• Panthers pounce: Bloomington South rolls past Columbus East 42–7 in opener.  Bloomington High School South produced almost 500 yards of offense on Friday and cruised to a 42–7 season-opening win over the visiting Columbus East Olympians in front of full bleachers at Huff Field.
• CIB briefed on branding, public art, hotel plans for Bloomington convention center expansion.  At its regular meeting on Wednesday (Aug. 20) Monroe County’s capital improvement board, which is overseeing the expansion of the Bloomington convention center, received updates on: branding and logo development; plans for public art in the new facility; and progress on the associated hotel project
• Prosecutor’s office, courts closed after ‘bad mold’ found in Monroe County justice building.  Signs posted at the Monroe County justice building in downtown Bloomington say that no initial hearings and no traffic court will be held today (Friday, Aug. 22). That’s an indication that the county prosecutor’s office is closed. The cause was a positive test for a toxic mold.
• PCB detection in 1 of 10 tests prompts more borings at possible location of new Bloomington Transit facility.  Recent testing of the real estate that Bloomington Transit is eyeing for the location of its new operations center resulted in clean results for 9 of 10 borings, but a positive test for PCBs in the 10th boring. BT will now be doing 10 more borings to assess the extent of the contamination.
• At talk with Bloomington developers, Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith pushes for overhauling property taxes—or abolishing them.  Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith said homes should be taxed based on purchase price, instead of assessed value, at a talk on Thursday. The talk was hosted by the Building Association of South Central Indiana, the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, and the Indiana Uplands Realtor Association.
• Employee on mold at Monroe County justice building: “Band-Aids on the Titanic, telling us ... not to worry about the icebergs.”.  On Thursday at least 70 county employees packed into Courtroom 313 to get a briefing from a contractor on the status of the mold investigation in their workplace. Some of them left the meeting dissatisfied that the county government had been doing everything in its power to ensure their safety.
• MCPL board OKs reduced hours, $12.7M budget proposal.  Beginning Nov. 24, the Monroe County Public Library downtown location will close two hours earlier on weeknights—7 p.m. instead of 9 p.m. on Monday through Thursday each week. At its Tuesday meeting, the board set Sept. 17 for a hearing on its $12.7 million proposed budget for 2026.

On the calendar

Drinking water rate increase reveal. At its 5 p.m. Monday (Aug. 25) meeting, Bloomington’s utilities service board is expected to review a proposed rate increase for drinking water. The amount of the proposed rate increase has not yet been publicly revealed. For B Square background see: Bloomington utilities looks to raise drinking water rates as part of 4-year cycle. The board holds its meetings at the utilities service center on E. Miller Drive. Zoom links for the upcoming key meetings are also included in the city’s news release.

• Monday, Aug. 25 at 5 p.m. The Utilities Services Board will review the proposed rate changes. https://bloomington.zoom.us/j/84160267530?pwd=fuaabV8MOk567cefcLrPXSbBfjUMxJ.1
• Friday, Aug. 29 at 5 p.m. CBU will host a public information session to discuss the proposal, answer questions, and hear more community feedback. https://bloomington.zoom.us/j/82738299871?pwd=goe40LxTyJryViIbIGl49zaXSzm1xA.1
• Monday, Sept. 8 at 5 p.m. The Utilities Services Board will vote on the proposed rate changes. https://bloomington.zoom.us/j/85381725798?pwd=mlQc6UaxbEOgq3vOpt5xwzvaazssCw.1

But the Sept. 8 vote is not the final say. The city council will still have to approve it. And after that, the the rate increase will have to be approved by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.

Bloomington budget. After last week’s two hearings, Bloomington city council budget hearings continue this week on Monday, Wednesday (Aug. 25 and Aug. 27). For B Square background on the budget see: Bloomington mayor proposes $147M budget for 2026, would tap $11.2M in reserves

Tax abatement hearing: Simtra. On the 4 p.m. Tuesday (Aug. 6) special meeting agenda for the Monroe County council is a decision about granting a tax abatement to Simtra BioPharma. For B Square background see: Monroe County sets special meeting to vote on Simtra Biopharma tax break for former GE site redevelopment

Update on citywide fiber project. On the 5:30 p.m. Tuesday (Aug. 26) agenda for Bloomington’s board of public works is an update on Bloomington’s citywide fiber project. The last thing The B Square about this topic was a while back, in April. For that coverage see Mayor: New installations paused for Bloomington's high-speed fiber network.

Executive session of city council. On Wednesday, Bloomington’s city council will be holding an “executive session” which is the technical term under Indiana’s Open Door Law for a meeting that is closed to the public. There’s a fairly long list of acceptable reasons for holding a closed meeting, but state law requires that the closed meeting be noticed to the public and that the specific reason be given.

Here’s two examples of how the city council could have given notice about its upcoming executive session. The example in (1) includes more information than (2), some of it based on sources inside government. Over the years, I’ve seen both approaches used by public agencies. Even (2) satisfies the absolute minimum requirement under the law.

1. The Common Council will meet in an Executive Session for purposes set forth in IC 5-14-1.5-6.1(b)(2)(B), which allows for a meeting of the council that is closed to the public for discussion of strategy with respect to litigation that is either pending or has been threatened specifically in writing. The litigation to be discussed is the city’s pending lawsuit against the owners of Crawford Apartments and local nonprofit Beacon, Inc. for breach of contract. In accordance with the Indiana Open Door Law, the meeting will not be open for the public to attend, observe and record what occurs.
2. The Common Council will meet in an Executive Session for purposes set forth in IC 5-14-1.5-6.1(b)(2)(B). In accordance with the Indiana Open Door Law, the meeting will not be open for the public to attend, observe and record what occurs.

Here’s a link to the city council’s actual legal notice of its Wednesday (Aug. 27) closed session executive session: official notice. (To save you a click, it’s the second option.) For background on the lawsuit see: Bloomington alleges contract breach by Crawford Apartments, seeks $685K; Beacon among defendants

Native Plant Sale. A native plant sale will take place on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Switchyard Park’s Maintenance Building (1601 S. Rogers St. entrance). The sale is hosted by MC-IRIS, City of Bloomington Parks & Recreation, and Monroe County Parks and Recreation.

Tire amnesty day. The Monroe County waste reduction district is holding a tire amnesty day so that Monroe County residents can dispose of tires in an environmentally responsible manner, for free. Restrictions apply to certain types of tires. Tire collection will be held Saturday, Sept. 6 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Monroe County Fairgrounds, 5700 W. Airport Rd, in Bloomington. A maximum of eight tires will be allowed per vehicle per trip. Monroe County residents only. No commercial haulers, businesses, churches, schools, landlords, etc.

Lake Monroe Day: Sept. 14. The fundraiser will be held at the Fields Clubhouse (1333 S. Fenbrook Lane) from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. From the Friends of Lake Monroe: “Attendees can mingle with other lake supporters and be treated to appetizers from One World Enterprises, music by King Bee and the Stingers, a wine pull, and brief updates from the organization working to protect Lake Monroe. Tickets are $30 for members, $35 for non-members, and $220 for a table of eight.”

Taste of Tibet: Sept. 20. Note that this date is corrected from a previous listing! The buffet starts at 6 p.m. (RSVP is requested). A guided tour of the monastery will be available during the open house from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on same day. The buffet will include traditional Tibetan delicacies like momos, Pingsha, Alu khatsa, and Tibetan butter tea prepared by the monks.

Meet Canoe!

This very, very good boy is an Australian shepherd mix. Here’s what the shelter staff have written about Canoe:

I am new to the shelter and we are all getting to know each other. If you are interested in adopting stop by the shelter for a visit.

That means it’s possible to make Canoe’s stay at the shelter super short.

Photo Finish: 6th Street & Grant Street

The Photo Finish items are drawn from the B There section of the B Square website.

The geographic coverage of the B There section is pretty limited. Please consider occasionally contributing to the B There section some brief factual observations about the world outside your own head, as you go about your normal business. (Photos are optional for B There.) The mechanics of making a contribution are pretty straightforward—just let me know if you’d like to learn the ins and outs. If you’re looking at this bulletin in your email inbox, you should be able to reach me by hitting Reply.

Thanks for reading. I hope you have a good weekend!

Dave Askins
734-645-2633
dave@bsquarebulletin.com