July 31, 2025: Annexation, homelessness, art galleries, jail costs

Weather

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

Thursday: Prepare to talk about the change in weather with dramatic phrases like, “Feels almost like fall!” and “College students will be moving in soon!” because the high temperature today will be just 78°F, which will feel like 50°F after several days of sauna-like weather. But that comes with a 30–50% chance of rain and thunderstorms through about 4 p.m.

Friday: Practice your midwestern weather talk for Friday by rehearsing phrases like “You can’t beat this weather with a stick.” Or just start with “Tell you what ...” and whatever you say after that will sound midwestern. The high is predicted to be 80°F with low humidity and no chance of rain. That is supposed to continue through Saturday, which means Taste of Bloomington will have pretty much perfect weather.

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

Roundup of recent articles

• Local artists to showcase paintings, photography, and music at monthly Gallery Walk.  Every first Friday of the month, 13 Bloomington art galleries are open late, from 5-8 p.m., as part of the Gallery Walk. This is a sampling of four exhibits for this coming Friday (August 1), which includes paintings, photographs, and music.
• At press conference, Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson says ‘other jurisdictions’ are sending homeless people to Bloomington.  Mayor Kerry Thomson said at a press conference on Tuesday that other Indiana jurisdictions were sending homeless individuals to Bloomington, claiming that an influx of nonresidents was straining city services. She declined to specify which jurisdictions have sent people to Bloomington.
• Indiana Supreme Court to hear Bloomington annexation case.  Bloomington will argue one of its annexation cases in front of the Indiana Supreme Court on Oct 30. The case affects five of the annexation areas. It’s not about the merit of the city’s desire to annex those areas but about the constitutionality of a 2019 law.
• 3rd Street sidewalk needs $86K fence fix—cost jumps for full rebuild.  It will take another month before the sidewalk along the north side of 3rd Street from Walnut Street up to the B-Line Trail is open again. At Tuesday night’s meeting of Bloomington’s board of public works a contract increase with Specialties Company was approved, from $17,500 to $86,500.
• Monroe County jail plans faced monthslong delay, sharp cutbacks after projected costs rose above $260M.  Monroe County’s plans to design a new jail were set back for months because of cost estimates that grew to more than $260 million by mid-spring, well over the planned budget. A meeting for public presentation of schematics set for May 29 didn’t take place and might not happen until Aug. 19 or later.
• Bloomington man arrested for 2 attacks: roadway assault, domestic violence.  According to a Bloomington police department news release, on Sunday night, a 28-year-old Bloomington man was arrested for two different violent attacks—one for a domestic situation on Heatherwood Lane, and another one shortly after that involving an motorist on Leonard Springs Road.

Quick notes

Weed Wrangle Day. Do you want to work up an appetite Saturday morning (Aug. 2) before Taste of Bloomington? There’s a chance to yank terrible weeds out of the ground at Lower Cascades Park as a volunteer in the Bloomington parks department’s effort to get rid of invasives. The meetup is at the Sycamore Shelter starting at 8 a.m. The work is set to last for two hours.

Updated traffic crash data. The city of Bloomington has updated the crash data on its dashboard to include 2024 numbers. I have not had a chance to take a spin through it yet, but here’s the link: Bloomington crash data.

Shuttle for Taste of Bloomington. Bloomington Transit’s downtown microtransit service will be adapted to provide service during Taste of Bloomington, which runs on Saturday (Aug. 2) from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. The event offers a way to snack your way from Indiana Avenue to Walnut Street at booths that food vendors have set up. To get to and from Taste of Bloomington, you can grab Bloomington Transit's shuttle from any of the stops indicated on the map: Fourth Street garage, Trades District garage, city hall, and Walnut Street garage.

On the calendar

Bloomington mayor traveling town hall. A traveling town hall will be held from 6-7 p.m. at Morgenstern Books on Aug. 4. It will feature Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson, the director of City of Bloomington Utilities Katherine Zaiger, and corporation counsel Margie Rice.

Bloomington mayor’s traveling office hours. You can set up a 15-minute appointment with Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson at Hopewell Commons on Tuesday, Aug. 19 from 4:30 p.m. until 5:30 p.m. Pre-registration is required using an online calendar.

AI and natural language processing. The Quantum AI and NLP 2025 Conference is scheduled for Aug. 6–8, 2025, at the Indiana University Memorial Union here in Bloomington. This event will promote AI and natural language processing (NLP) approaches using quantum computing. It aims to bring together experts from academia, industry, and government. The agenda includes keynote speakers from major tech companies like NVIDIA, IBM Quantum, and Microsoft. The conference website includes registration information.

Hello, you must be going! The play “An Evening with Groucho” is coming to Bloomington Aug. 16–17, with four performances at Constellation Playhouse, presented by Jewish Theatre of Bloomington and The Hundredth Hill. If you're a young person who often tells older folks, “That was before I was even born,” you might not even know who Groucho Marx was. And you might wonder who said stuff like “I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member,” or “Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.” This show is for you.

The show is performed by award-winning actor Frank Ferrante who delivers a family-friendly one-man show, full of favorite rapid-fire one-liners, stories, and songs. Families and kids are encouraged to dress like Groucho at the matinee shows. Photos of whole families dressed like Groucho would be perfect for the "Be There" section of The B Square. Tickets can be purchased online or at Bloom Magazine;s office: 414 West 6th Street.

Meet Butch!

This very, very good boy is a bully breed mix. Here’s what the shelter staff have written about Butch.

I'm an undersocialized but super sweet boy who lived with my littermates until recently. I'm getting braver by the day and working on walking on a leash. Treats help, though!

Photo Finish: Kirkwood Avenue & Lincoln 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. Have a great weekend!

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