Aug. 3, 2026: College Square hotel and housing plans; jail transfers, rising population; racist pepper-spray assault

Civic Solver

This week’s puzzle is another 10-question news quiz!

Weather Talk

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

Monday: Slow down. You’ll see patchy fog before 9 a.m. You can get away with no rain gear, because it will be sunny with a high near 81F°.

Tuesday: Slow down again. You’ll see patchy fog before 8 a.m. It’ll be clear again with a high near 84F°.

Wednesday: Slow down even more. In the forecast are lots of K-12 kiddos on their way to their first day of school.

Sign up for weather alerts: Monroe County emergency alert system

Recent articles

• Bloomington RDC to hear details of competing hotel, housing proposals for College Square.  Bloomington’s RDC will hear two competing College Square proposals Monday: Concord would put a 160-room convention hotel there and housing south of the convention center. Dora proposes a 135-room boutique hotel and 100 apartments on the block. Both value the land at $4 million.
• Monroe County property transfers through July 29, 2026.  This report includes new property transfers in Monroe County that haven’t previously been reported by The B Square, with dates ranging from June 23 to July 29, 2026. The data in this report comes from Beacon, the county’s online geographic information system for property and parcel data.
• Monroe County jail notebook: 6 DOC inmates transferred to Brown County as population trends up.  Monroe County transferred six IDOC-linked inmates to Brown County this past week. The move comes as population in the Monroe County facility population trends upward and the county faces fresh ACLU scrutiny. The move shifts $35-a-day state payments to Brown County.
• Police seek video after racist pepper-spray assault at greenhouse; market looks toward more growing sites.  After a racist confrontation ended in a pepper-spray attack on a People’s Market volunteer, Bloomington police are still seeking the suspect. Market organizers hope the response also spurs local churches to use their land for greenhouses and other food-growing projects.
• Friday Funnies: Hawk v. Fish (Taste of Bloomington edition).  It's a special edition of Sunday Funnies ... on Friday, because Taste of Bloomington is on Saturday! This comic gives you the combination of food and local political drama that everyone is craving! Why did the city councilmembers have to settle for walking the chicken over Kirkwood Avenue?
• Monroe County jail notebook: Population trends upward, hits 264 as short stays drive churn.  Monroe County’s justice building reopened Friday after a sewer backup. Meanwhile, the jail population kept climbing. The total rose 7%, from 247 on July 21 to 264 on July 31, even as 70 people left during the 11-day period. Half of those released had spent one day or less in jail.

Other notes

Get yourself local news the way you want it. Sure, you can visit the B Square Bulletin’s homepage and start reading articles you find there, laid out like a conventional newspaper website. But what if all you want is a list of the most recent 20 headlines with links and a short synopsis of each article—something like the list you see in each edition of this Almost Daily Bulletin? We’ve got you covered: Bookmark this link: B Square’s Most Recent 20.

On the calendar

Two proposals for College Square. On the 5 p.m. Monday (Aug. 3) agenda for Bloomington’s redevelopment commission (RDC) are two presentations about proposals for the College Square property offered by the RDC. For a B Square preview see: Bloomington RDC to hear details of competing hotel, housing proposals for College Square.

Making liquor quicker. On the 6:30 p.m. Wednesday (Aug. 5) agenda for Bloomington’s city council is an ordinance that would set the guidelines for issuance of liquor licenses that can be issued in excess of the population-based quotas that are set by state law. The council considered a resolution on the topic at its June 10 meeting on the topic, but postponed it until its July 22 meeting. For background, see: Bloomington council to weigh liquor-permit rules with reach beyond two new state slots But at the July 22 meeting the resolution was postponed indefinitely. Now it’s back in the form of an ordinance.

It’s unfortunate that the map of the courthouse square district with its 1,500-foot buffer around it is not included in the meeting information packet as Appendix A, as claimed. But The B Square has you covered with this dynamic map.

Community survey results. On the 6:30 p.m. Wednesday (Aug. 5) agenda for Bloomington’s city council is a presentation on the results of a community survey. It’s unfortunate that pages 82–91 of the results in the council’s meeting information packet look like they’re just image scans that have not been OCR-ed.

Parking study. On the 6:30 p.m. Wednesday (Aug. 5) agenda for Bloomington’s city council is a presentation of the results of a parking study. For B Square background on that, see: Bloomington’s parking consultant: Raise rates, use plate readers, shift ticket appeals from clerk

Branding study? Not on the city council’s agenda this week is a presentation of the results of a branding study. The city paid the full $95,000 of the contract with CivicBrand before the end of 2025, but now more than six months later, as a way to avoid responding to a records request, claims that the final report has not been delivered. In addition, a month after a B Square records request was made for the correspondence between CivicBrand and the city’s communications director, the city still has not produced the correspondence.

Family Night Out: Aug. 12. Downtown Bloomington is the place to be for an evening of food, music, art and family activities Wednesday, Aug. 12, from 5:30–8 p.m. in front of the Monroe County Public Library. You can buy dinner from Pili’s, Mikki’s Munchies and Planted, then eat together in the street while browsing artist and community booths. Kid Kazooey will perform from 5:30–6:30 p.m., followed by Yolanda D from 7–8 p.m. The Seedlings Flower Truck will create what organizers describe as a “stunning flower installation” in the library courtyard.

Secretly 30th Anniversary: Magnolia & Johnson Electric: Aug. 27. Magnolia & Johnson Electric Co., Early Day Miners and June Panic perform Thursday, Aug. 27, at the Bluebird, 216 N. Walnut St. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; music starts at 7:30 p.m. Ages 21 and older: tickets.

Secretly 30th Anniversary: Sharon Van Etten and Kevin Morby: Aug. 28. Sharon Van Etten, Kevin Morby and Jordan Patterson perform Friday, Aug. 28, at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, 114 E. Kirkwood Ave. Doors open at 6 p.m.; music starts at 7 p.m. All ages: tickets.

Secretly 30th Anniversary: Durand Jones & The Indications: Aug. 29. Durand Jones & The Indications, Jensen McRae and Angela Autumn perform Saturday, Aug. 29, at Switchyard Park, 1601 S. Rogers St. Doors open at 5 p.m.; music starts at 6 p.m. All ages: tickets.

Meet Cami!

This very, very good girl is a shepherd mix. Here’s what the shelter staff have written about Cami:

Cami is a true golden oldie whose owner describes her as "A sweetheart that just wants lovins". Cami lived with dogs and children and especially loved playing with the kids. She is housetrained, walks beautifully and leash, and does wonderfully walking around the shelter saying howdy to everyone she meets. Cami did show a lot of discomfort with vet handling here and talking with your vet would go a long way in setting her up for success at appointments. If you're looking for an affectionate and easy-going gal, Cami would love to lean up against you for some full-body scratches!

Photo Finish: Indiana Avenue & Kirkwood Avenue

If you’re looking at this in your email inbox, the video might not play correctly or at all. Here’s a link that will get you where you need to be.

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

Thanks for reading. I hope your week is off to a great start.

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

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