Jan. 19, 2026: Deadly house fire, Iran protest, jail impasse, last-minute UDO proposal

Civic Solver

This week’s Civic Solver is a jigsaw puzzle! It’s at the bottom of the bulletin.

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Weather Talk

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

Monday: Put on every scrap of warm clothing you have. The start to the day of around 20F° will just get colder from there, with the temperature dropping to around 11F° before bouncing back up to around 14F°. If you are planning to commemorate the outcome of the football game tonight by heading outdoors, plan to dress for the single-digit temperatures by that time.

Tuesday: Leave on all your warm clothes from Monday. The day will start from a low of 6F° but things will get a bit warmer from there, with a high of 28F°. Wear sunglasses, because the skies will be crystal clear, and the low angle of the sun this time of year could make for plenty of glare.

Sign up for weather alerts: Monroe County emergency alert system

Recent articles

• ‘No internet, no witness!’ Bloomington rally condemns Iran’s lethal crackdown, communications blackout.  About 60 Bloomington residents rallied Sunday at the courthouse square to condemn Iran’s crackdown and to call for democracy. Protesters cited reports of thousands killed. With internet and calls disrupted, they chanted: “No internet, no witness!”
• Updated: 2 dead | Suspect in Monroe County house fire with 4 victims guarded by sheriff’s deputies at Indianapolis hospital.  Monroe County deputies are guarding a suspect at Eskenazi Hospital in Indianapolis after a house fire early Sunday (Jan. 18) on E. Anderson Road in northeast Monroe County left four “victims.” A followup release says two of the victims died.
• Sunday Funnies: Hawk v. Fish.  Hawk: In Q1, IU scored twice as many points as Miami. In Q2, Miami scored 3 more points than it scored in Q1. In Q2, IU scored the same number of points as Miami scored in Q1. At halftime ... Who won and what was the score? What brilliant insight does Fish have?
• Monroe County property transfers through Jan. 13, 2026.  This report includes new property transfers in Monroe County that haven’t previously been reported by The B Square, with dates ranging from Dec. 19, 2025 to Jan. 13, 2026. The data in this report comes from Beacon, the county’s online geographic information system for property and parcel data.
• Hopewell South PUD prompts mayor’s last-minute affordability financing proposal—could now see action by Bloomington council.  Plan commission’s Hopewell South PUD review exposed friction between “permanent affordability” deed restrictions and conventional mortgages. Two days later, city council adopted lower AMI targets for incentives (Ord. 2026-02) but delayed payment-in-lieu changes (Ord. 2026-01) to Feb. 4.
• Monroe County jail impasse: After $4.2M North Park design spend, council-commissioner rift persists.  Two months after the county council rejected funding to buy North Park for a new jail, Monroe County still has no other site—while an April 15 deadline in long-running ACLU litigation nears. Commissioners and councilors are at odds over how talk to each other, but a joint meeting could be set soon.
• Bloomington council approves $778K CDBG plan amid long-term federal decline.  Bloomington’s city council approved a plan to distribute an estimated $778,293 in 2026 Community Development Block Grant funds, dividing money among administration, social services, and physical improvements. Staff and councilmembers warned that long-term federal cuts are squeezing local needs.

Quick notes

What happened to the Seven Oaks, BEDC donations? On last Thursday’s (Jan. 15) regular meeting agenda for Monroe County commissioners were two claims for donations that the county council wanted to make last year—to Seven Oaks Classical School and to the Bloomington Economic Development Corporation. Commissioners removed those items on the agenda, because there were no county councilors present to make the case for the donation to the BEDC. It sounds like there’s still a chance that the BEDC donation could be considered, if it is brought back, but that the Seven Oaks donation seems dead. For B Square background see: 2026: Monroe County may revisit now-voided but council-OK'd donations—$30K to BEDC, $1.8K to Seven Oaks

On the calendar

Time change for MLK celebration: 5:30 p.m. The new start time for the city of Bloomington’s MLK Day celebration next Monday (Jan. 19) is 5:30 p.m. That’s a half hour earlier than originally planned. The reason given by the city of Bloomington communications team in its news release was the overlap with the national championship football game, which starts at 7:30 p.m. Indiana University’s team is competing in the game.

No Wednesday meeting for city council. Even though the B Square’s community calendar shows a city council meeting for Wednesday (Jan. 21), that’s not accurate. Why don’t I just fix it? Because all those dates come from syndicated feeds originating from the host of the events. And I was not able to suss out which feed has the wrong event. The city council’s own current feed, as displayed on the council’s web page seems to be correct.

Host hotel or not? The 3 p.m. Wednesday (Jan. 21) agenda for the Monroe County capital has an item called “Hotel Update” which means we should get final word on whether a deal will move forward with the Dora Hospitality on the former Bunger & Robertson property as a location for a convention center host hotel. The likelihood seems not. For B Square background, see: No land deal yet, but CIB keeps Dora in game for Bloomington Convention Center host hotel at least until Jan. 21, 2026

Vacancy caucus for Perry Township trustee: Jan. 31 According to Monroe County Democratic Party chair Chrissie Geels, the vacancy caucus to replace Dan Combs for the remainder of his term as Perry Township trustee will be held at 2 p.m. on Jan. 31 in city council chambers. Two potential names have surfaced for consideration so far, through their filings as candidates for trustee in the Democratic Party’s primary in 2026: Eric Petry and Leon Gordon.

Chilly Cookoff! Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard will host its annual “Chilly” Cook-Off on Friday, Jan. 23, from 5–7 p.m. at the Switchyard Pavilion (1601 S. Rogers St.) to kick off Freezefest. The event will feature chili samples from 24 community chefs and a People’s Choice vote.

Tickets are $25 for ages 11 and up (children 10 and under free) and include all chili samples, a voting ticket, the option to enter the “Some Like It Hot” spicy chili challenge, and palate-cooling treats. Tickets are available online and at the door, with a bar hosted by Upland. Proceeds support Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard. Tickets and chef registration are available at mhcfoodpantry.org/chilly-cookoff.

Puzzlefest! Mark your calendar for Jan. 25 from noon to 4 p.m., because the Monroe County History Center is sponsoring a jigsaw puzzle competition, which will take place from 1-3 p.m. at the Switchyard Park Pavillion.

For the competition, teams of four race to complete the same 500-ish piece puzzle. The competition signup is currently open online. The registration fee for a team of four is $60 and proceeds go to support educational programming at the Monroe County History Center. But guess what: Completing puzzles can be a spectator sport. It’s free to watch the competition and participate in the puzzle sale/swap.

Starting in 2026, from Tuesday to Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. you can donate puzzles to the puzzle swap at the History Center.

Anyone who drops puzzles off at the History Center through Jan. 24 will avoid a wait on Jan. 25 and will get extra tickets to use in the swap.

Meet Dolly!

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

This sweet little wallflower is looking for a BFF that can hold her paw and show her the gentle kindness and patience that she needs while she learns to navigate this big, scary world. Dolly is slowly learning about all the great things she can do, and people she can meet when she leans into her curiosity, and a little love goes a long way! Dolly would love to have a calm and quiet home where she can open up and be herself, in her own time. Once she knows that you're her person, she gives all the love that her little body can hold, and is happiest when she's right at your side, snuggled up in your arms. Dolly cant wait to melt your heart and let you know that just like her namesake, she will always love you!

Photo Finish: 6th Street & College Avenue

The Photo Finish items are drawn from the B There section of the B Square website. We’ve reworked the layout of the section so that you can scroll through the posts and view the images at a large size (not thumbnails) and read the whole synopsis without clicking through to each one. We hope that improves the experience for you.

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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Civic Solver

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