Oct. 6, 2025: Hiring freeze, IU property transfers, 2026 elections, football

Weather Talk

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

Monday: Put on a very light jacket to knock off the chill in the morning and take an umbrella or your preferred rain protection device. There’s a chance of showers from early in the morning, increasing to about 50% by noon, with an added risk of thunderstorms. Chances of rain just keep increasing through the day, and it will definitely rain overnight. The daytime high for Monday will be around 76F°.

Tuesday: Take an umbrella or figure out some other way to stay dry, because it’s gonna be a rainy old day, with a chance of thunderstorms. A rain jacket will probably not leave you overheated, because the high is expected to be around 74F°.

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

Roundup of recent articles

• Monroe County property transfers through Sept. 26, 2025.  This report includes new property transfers in Monroe County that haven’t previously been reported by The B Square, with dates ranging from Sept. 12 to Sept. 26, 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 do landscaping professionals keep secrets about perennials that grow in tight, rounded mounds that can range from a foot to three feet across with small serrated, dark green leaves, forming a dense cushion of foliage that sets off their bright flower heads? What does Fish say in reply?
• Bloomington South stays unbeaten, wins 55-24 over Columbus North.  On Friday night the Bloomington South Panthers headed east to test their their 6–0 record against the Bulldogs of Columbus North. The Panthers stayed perfect on the season with a 55-24 win. Photographer Dave Quick captured these pivotal moments from Friday night’s win over Columbus North.
• Bloomington North Cougars blank Columbus East 42–0.  At home on Friday night, Bloomington North’s Cougars beat the visiting Columbus East Olympians, 42–0. That brings their record to 4–3 on the season. Photographer Amy Mason captured these pivotal moments from Friday’s win over Columbus East.
• Edgewood Mustangs fall to Sullivan 28–21.  After starting the season 5-0, the Edgewood High School football team has hit a rough patch the last two weeks. On Friday night, the Mustangs to Sullivan 28-21 at home.
• IU buys 57 pieces of real estate from IU Foundation for $23M—no word yet from either side about why.  Last Sunday, as a part of its routine mapping of recent Monroe County property transfer records, The B Square reported the sale of several properties by Indiana University Foundation to the Indiana University Board of Trustees. There’s no insight yet on why the transfers were made.
• Push now to reopen Monroe County vote center debate resisted by board chair, clerk.  Vote centers were again a topic of discussion for Monroe County’s election board, when board member Penny Githens on Thursday pushed for the board to reset a process for establishing them. Four months ago when the board voted on vote centers, the measure failed.
• Monroe County commissioner will continue to serve during cancer treatment.  Following a series of absences from Monroe County commissioner meetings, Lee Jones has confirmed in a phone interview with The B Square that she is undergoing treatment for leukemia, which was diagnosed in late July.
• Push towards 2026 budget: Monroe County OKs hiring freeze, eyes local income tax revenue, cuts longevity pay, keeps 3% COLA.  Monroe County councilors worked until around 11 p.m., on Tuesday trying to get their 2026 budget into shape for adoption on Oct. 14. The council started the night with a draft budget that calls for $127.65 million in revenue, and $132.06 million in expenses, for a deficit of $4.41 million.

On the calendar

Affordable housing incentives: Payment in lieu. On the 5:30 p.m. Monday (Oct. 6) agenda for the Bloomington plan commission is a proposal to change the incentive options for the payment-in-lieu option for incentives related to constructing affordable housing. A key component of the proposal is an increase to the amount to be paid, which comes from calculating the cost per unit instead of per bedroom, and increasing the cost from $20,000 to $50,000.

Noise violation appeals, private hauler appeal. On the 5:30 p.m. Tuesday (Oct. 7) agenda for Bloomington’s board of public works are a few appeals, two for citations for violation of the city’s noise ordinance, and one for violation of the city’s ordinance that says you can’t have a private hauler for trash, if the city offers service to your building.

2026 Bloomington budget. On the 6:30 p.m. Wednesday (Oct. 8) agenda for Bloomington’s city council are three appropriations that make up the city’s budget for 2026. Adoption could take place that night, but there’s room in the statutory calendar for the council to postpone it. They need to get the job done by the end of the month, though. There’s also an item on the agenda for discussion on pay for elected officials.

2026 Monroe County budget. On the 5 p.m. Wednesday (Oct. 8) agenda for a special work session of the Monroe County council are several budget-related items, including what looks like a possible reconsideration of the council’s decision last week to eliminate longevity pay.

Snow plowing jobs: Oct. 7. The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) will host four hiring fairs in southeast Indiana for INDOT winter seasonal positions on Tuesday, Oct. 7. The hiring events will take place from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the following locations:

• Aurora Sub District Office: 310995 Marsh Road Aurora, IN 47001
• Bloomington Sub District Office: 2965 N. Prow Rd, Bloomington, IN 47404
• Columbus Sub District Office: 3545 W Two Mile House Rd., Columbus, IN 47201
• Falls City Sub District Office: 5701 U.S. 31, Clarksville, IN 47129

Winter seasonal positions run between early November and early April at a starting pay of $21 per hour for full-time operations and $25 per hour for snowplow-only/on-call positions. Job duties include performing general highway maintenance, traffic maintenance, snow and ice removal and other duties related to winter operations. A valid CDL is required to be considered for a seasonal role.

Pumpkin Launch. The city of Bloomington hosts a competition every year involving the construction of a contraption to fling a pumpkin as far as possible. It’s Pumpkin Launch! The deadline for entry is Oct. 15. The competition itself takes place on Oct. 25. For past B Square coverage of Pumpkin Launch: Photos: Cold rain can’t squash Pumpkin Launch 2021

Little 500 fall racing series. Mark your calendar for Nov. 1 and Nov. 2 for cyclocross and street sprints.

Meet Griffin!

Yes, Bloomington’s animal shelter also provides refuge for cats. This very, very good boy is a cat. Here’s what the shelter staff have written about Griffin:

Griffin is above all a huge snuggler. He wants to be as close to you as possible, on your lap, under the covers attempting to follow you into the bathroom, he just wants to be near you. He is a super sweet guy even when being put into an a pumpkin costume he will give you an annoyed look and then go with the flow. His favorite pastimes are scratching so provide him with lots of scratchable posts and playing with any sort of cat wand or toy. He loves to talk, get chin scratches and spy on the neighbors. Griffin also likes new people but needs a bit of time to get acquainted with them.

Photo Finish: Indiana Avenue & Kirkwood 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