March 2, 2026: Strikes against Iran, county commissioner race, jail financing, charges in fatal crash

Civic Solver

Civic Solver turns Bloomington’s everyday civic life into a puzzle. This week’s puzzle is a five-question local news quiz.

Weather Talk

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

Monday: Slow down. Through noon today, the NWS has issued a hazardous weather alert because of the freezing rain that is likely through noon. You won’t need to bundle up in your absolute warmest clothes, though. The high will reach 40F°. Note: MCCSC schools are on a 2-hour delay on Monday due to the freezing rain.

Tuesday: Take an umbrella and wear a rain jacket or a wide-brimmed hat. It’s just going to be a rainy old day. The high temperature will be around 58F°.

Sign up for weather alerts: Monroe County emergency alert system

Recent articles

• Iranians in Bloomington demonstrate in support of strikes targeting Tehran regime.  About three dozen Bloomington residents of Iranian descent gathered Sunday on the courthouse square, many waving Lion-and-Sun flags, or U.S. flags. They were celebrating U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and hoping for regime change after reports that the strikes had killed Iran’s supreme leader.
• Sunday Funnies: Hawk v. Fish.  Hawk: Many pieces of traffic technology have names with bird themes. For example, there’s the High-intensity Activated WalK light known as the HAWK signal. But we need a good bird-based name for parking enforcement tech. What does Fish suggest?
• Monroe County property transfers through Feb. 26, 2026.  This report includes new property transfers in Monroe County that haven’t previously been reported by The B Square, with dates ranging from Jan. 30 to Feb. 26, 2026. The data in this report comes from Beacon, the county’s online geographic information system for property and parcel data.
• Monroe County commissioner candidates spar over jail, immigration, housing, listening.  At a Bloomington DSA forum, Monroe County commissioner candidates Trent Deckard and David Henry traded sharp critiques over jail spending, ICE cooperation, housing policy, and homelessness. Henry urged decisive action, while Deckard stressed consensus and a “community of care.”
• High school hoops: Last-second chaos ends Bloomington North’s night in 63-61 loss to New Albany.  Bloomington North dropped a 63-61 regular-season finale to New Albany after a frantic final second produced two failed inbound sequences and missed shots. The Cougars finished 14-7 and head to Sectional play next week.
• Monroe County jail project focus shifts to site, amid disagreement on financing outlook.  Monroe County commissioners say the maximum budget for a new jail in the short term is $171 million, while councilors see $118 million as more realistic. Using the same financial analysis, officials diverge over funding limits—even as both sides agree the next key decision is where to build.
• Crash southwest of Bloomington leaves 74-year-old woman dead, child seriously injured.  A 74-year-old Bloomington woman died Wednesday evening after a northbound Subaru crossed the centerline on Rockport Road and struck her Kia head-on, according to the sheriff’s office. Three others, including a 7-year-old child, were hospitalized. The crash remains under investigation. Charges have now been brought against the driver.

Quick notes

B Square on Facebook. If you use Facebook as a way to stay up to speed on local news, then try following the B Square’s Facebook page.

Feed yourself The B Square. If you use a feed reader to get your news and you wonder if The B Square has an RSS feed, then yes it does: https://bsquarebulletin.com/rss/

Milestone: 1 year. A good way to measure the exact date of The B Square’s relaunch is to tie it to the first news article that appeared after resuming publication, which was this one: Armed protester at Bloomington city hall prompts concerns about street homelessness, comms protocols, security By that standard, The B Square passed its one-year milestone last Friday (Feb. 27).

If you were waiting to see if the new incarnation of The B Square would last a year, before making a recurring monthly contribution, I hope this is enough to convince you!

Journalist of the Year. For about a year now, Kelton O’Connell has been freelancing for The B Square, writing news on the K-12 beat and some other topics. The B Square’s publishing software counts at least 39 articles with his byline. On Friday (Feb. 27), the Indiana High School Press Association named Kelton its 2026 Journalist of the Year. I am glad that the IHSPA recognized the quality of his work. Good job, Kelton.

Executive sessions: Now enhanced with attorney-client privilege. Bloomington’s city council has scheduled an executive session at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday (March 2) using a new possible reason for such sessions, based on attorney-client privileged communication.

Without any news coverage that I could find, during its 2025 session the state legislature quietly added attorney-client privileged communication to the list of reasons in the Open Door Law for a public body to hold an executive session that is closed to the public.

(19) To have communications with an attorney that are subject to the attorney client privilege.

The bill containing the revision was not controversial. It passed the Senate by a vote of 45–2 and the House by 83–1.

Strictly speaking, the only communications that are protected by attorney-privilege are those that specifically request or provide legal advice. Not included as protected are communications on policy advice, business advice, or organizational advice. A conversation is not protected by privilege just because an attorney is present or talking.

In the context of a formal records request, if a document is claimed to include attorney-client privileged information, then it is possible to separate the part that truly is legal advice from the part that is not. But there is no parallel for separating out the legal advice in the context of a closed-door, in-person meeting. While the people in the meeting should strictly confine everything just to legal advice, it’s not possible to know whether they stray from that into the realm of policy and basic organizational advice—or interesting historical anecdotes.

Old reasons for executive sessions include specific topics—like pending litigation, or real estate transactions, or reviewing job applications. But the catch-all attorney-client privileged information does not include a specific topic. So the public is left to wonder: What are they even talking about?

In the case of the city council’s executive session on Wednesday, it’s not even clear who the attorney is who will be providing the advice. Both of the city council’s staff attorneys have resigned, but it’s not clear when their last day of work will be.

If the attorney who will be present to give advice is the city’s corporation counsel, Margie Rice, then it’s an open question whether the city clerk will be allowed to attend. It was over the clerk’s planned attendance at an executive session in late August last year that Rice canceled it. That executive session was supposed to take place with the council on the topic of the Crawford Apartments litigation.

On the calendar

First day for posting notice of eviction: March 2. Last year in mid-December, county commissioners adopted a 30-day notice policy for eviction of homeless encampments and said that no notice would be posted for the Thomson property encampment before March 2. At the time, the date seemed very far away. It has arrived.

Ordinarily, the commissioners would not be expected to act at the earliest chance, but they will likely feel some pressure eventually to act from a state law that has passed both chambers of the state legislature and is awaiting the governor’s signature. The bill [SB 285] prohibits camping, sleeping, or using for long term shelter land owned by the state or a political subdivision, unless the land has been authorized for that use by law.

Residential TIF. On the 5 p.m. Monday (March 2) agenda for Bloomington’s redevelopment commission is a resolution to establish part of the Summit District PUD as a residential TIF district. For B Square background, see: Bloomington to consider establishing future residential areas as TIF districts. The timeline in that article has slipped a little bit, but seems to be basically on course.

Hopewell South. On the 6:30 p.m. Wednesday (March 4) agenda for Bloomington’s city council is the Hopewell South PUD, which will get consideration for the first time. It will be the inaugural use of the council’s newly enacted ability to discuss an ordinance on the first occasion when it appears on an agenda.

Flock cameras. On the 6:30 p.m. Wednesday (March 4) agenda for Bloomington’s city council is a resolution that requires a briefing on the topic of Flock cameras and their automatic license plate reading (ALPR) capability from the chief of police and requires the mayor to suspend “impose an immediate pause on any expansion of the ALPR program.”

At first glance the resolution might prompt some questions about the separation of powers between the city council and the executive branch. But the information request has a solid grounding in state law, which says the mayor “shall ... provide any information regarding city affairs that the legislative body requests.”

As far as immediately pausing the program, that’s something that seems unenforceable through a council resolution alone. But for the 2027 budget, the council could zero out the services category for the police department, which would require any contracts needed by department to get a separate appropriation from the city council. That could effectively prevent the city from contracting with Flock, because the council could just deny any appropriation for a contract with Flock.

Instead of viewing the resolution as an opportunity for conflict with the council, Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson could instead take the chance to push the requested information to the council and the public, ahead of the council’s consideration of the resolution on Wednesday. The precise nature of the information has been known since last Friday, and none of it would have been a surprise, given the amount of controversy about the issue.

Candy Stripe Classic Bicycle Race: March 8. The board of public works has approved the necessary street closures for a criterium bicycle race on March 8 that is hosted by the Cycling Club at Indiana University. It’s part of a two-day event. The race is several laps around The Mill, up and down Madison and Morton streets between 10th and 11th. There’s a “family ride,” which is a chance for parents and kids to turn one lap of the course so they can get an idea of how tight those corners really are.

Zingtrain: April 1. Brought to you by the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, this is a full day of training at the Bloomington Convention Center from the world’s leading experts in customer service—Zingerman’s Deli in Ann Arbor, Michigan. That’s not just the chamber telling you that, it’s me—former Ann Arbor resident for two decades—telling you that. And check this out: This event is free to everybody, chamber members and non-members alike. The chamber’s event description has more details. Lunch will also be provided!

Trashion Refashion: April 12. Trashion Refashion has announced the release of ticket sales for this year’s event, which is set for April 12, at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. Organizers describe the event like this: “This beloved event blends high fashion with sustainability, showcasing over 50 original, upcycled designs modeled by a diverse cast of community members. A highlight of Bloomington’s arts scene since 2010, the show promotes environmental sustainability and artistic creativity while challenging conventional notions about beauty and consumerism.” It’s a fundraiser for the Center for Sustainable Living. There’s more information in the link to the news release, but here’s a direct link to purchase tickets.

Ms. Lake Lemon: May 16. Start your training regimen now. This amazing contest of skill is to be held at Riddle Point Park this year. Monitor the Ms. Lake Lemon Facebook page for details, as they become available. The B Square covered last year’s inaugural event.

Meet Lumas!

This very, very good boy is a husky. Here’s what the shelter staff have written about Lumas.:

Lumas is a very friendly and energetic boy who does good on leash. Quietest husky around! Loves toys and pets.

Photo Finish: 3rd Street & College Avenue

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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