Oct. 8, 2026: Bloomington budget cuts, $2.5M proposal fails; Habitat water deal; early voting; $30M police HQ; food inspections

Weather Talk

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

Thursday: Keep wearing a smile, because it’s again perfect sunny weather with a high near 79F°.

Friday: Don’t change anything you have been doing for the last four days. It’ll be sunny with a high near 82F°.

Sign up for weather alerts: Monroe County emergency alert system

Recent articles

• 2027 budget: Council president proposes $2.5M across-the-board target for Bloomington general fund.  Bloomington council president Isak Asare has proposed cutting $2.5 million from the city’s 2027 general fund, leaving Mayor Kerry Thomson’s administration to identify the specific reductions before final adoption. Council takes up 16 possible amendments Wednesday night. [Note: Just six of the amendments passed. The $2.5-million across-the-board amendment failed. The B Square expects to publish coverage early Thursday morning, probably after this newsletter is sent.]
• Bloomington utilities, Habitat settle Osage Place water dispute.  Bloomington utilities approved a settlement letting Habitat for Humanity get water service for Phase 2 of Osage Place while a Phase 1 stormwater dispute continues. Habitat will withdraw its appeal, and CBU keeps authority to require approved drainage fixes by Oct. 30, 2027. The vote was unanimous.
• Polls open for early voting in Monroe County ahead of Nov. 3 election.  Early voting for the Nov. 3 election began Tuesday at Monroe County’s North Showers building. About a half-dozen voters waited outside in 42-degree air before the 8 a.m. opening. Clerk Nicole Browne gave the legally required proclamation that the polls were open.
• Bloomington looking for architect to design $30M police HQ project at 714 S. Rogers.  Bloomington is seeking architects to design a new police headquarters at 714 S. Rogers St., with proposals due Nov. 6. The city wants to reuse as much of the 56,000-square-foot former convalescent center as possible while keeping construction costs at or below $30 million.
• Monroe County Retail Food Inspections: August 2026.  During 70 of the 92 inspections of retail food establishments done by the Monroe County health department in August 2026, no violations were found. During 11 of them at least one core violation was found, but nothing more severe. During 4 of them, at least one priority violation was found.

Other notes

Early voting numbers. Through the first two days of early voting in Monroe County, 991 people have cast a ballot at the early voting location, at the North Showers location on Morton Street. This is a stat that’s easy to check for yourself on the early voting dashboard that Monroe County government has set up.

On the calendar

$35K more for encampment cleanup. On the 10 a.m. Thursday (Oct. 8) meeting agenda for the Monroe County commissioners is an item approving an additional cost for the cleanup of the Thomson property off South Rogers Road for an amount not to exceed $35,000. This looks like it’s the second time such an increase has been authorized, the first one on Sept. 24. That brings the total cost, so far, for the cleanup of the property after the encampment was cleared in late August, to $140,000. (The original contract was for $70,000.)

Pizza Trail: Oct. 1–31. October is pizza month. And in Bloomington this is commemorated with a Pizza Trail that Visit Bloomington is promoting. The idea is you sign up for a mobile pass, which sounds like a kind of digital punchcard. Every time you check in with one of 20 different local pizza joints, you get a credit. And at the end you can redeem the points for gift cards to ... pizza joints. There

Book crawl Oct. 23–24. You probably know what a bar crawl is. It’s that, but with bookstores. From the organizers:

As we continue to sell tickets, we wanted to let you know along with the keynote speakers on Oct. 25, Wright Thompson and Michael Koryta, we are also launching our first Bloomington Book Festival Book Crawl. It will be happening Oct. 23–24.

Here is what the book crawl will look like: 9 participating bookstores — Book Corner, Caveat Emptor, Knitting Romance, MCPL Friends of the Library, Morgenstern Books, Naughty Dog Books, Redbud Books, Steve’s Book-O-Rama, and Vintage Phoenix.

• Begin at any of the above participating bookstores to pick up your passport.
• A single purchase (ANY purchase, no minimums) from EACH store gets you a stamp in your passport. (A purchase is necessary to receive a stamp.)
• Each stamp is an entry into a raffle to receive 2 free tickets to The Bloomington Book Festival on Oct. 25, 2026.
• Each fully completed passport is an entry into a raffle for the grand prize: over $500 in gift cards, autographed copies of Wright Thompson’s “The Barn” and Michael Koryta’s new release “Die Famous,” and 2 free tickets to this year’s Bloomington Book Festival.
• Once your passport is completed or you are finished with the book crawl, leave your passport with the last bookstore you visited.
• The drawing for the prizes will take place the morning of Oct. 25.
• The winners will be contacted that morning via email and text and announced on our social media!

Meet: Missy!

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

If you’re looking for a lovable companion, Missy will be happy to move right in. She’s a very happy dog who loves her people! She’s house trained and is quiet and content at night in her crate. She knows basic commands and is quickly learning good manners. She will love going for walks or runs or hikes with you and playing in water.  She will also be happy napping by your feet or sitting on the couch next to you (or on your lap). Although she has the shortest little minute where she is shy with new people, she warms right up and will park herself in your lap if you let her. She’s a delightful dog with so much love to give!

Photo Finish: College Avenue & 6th Street

The Photo Finish items are drawn from the B There section of the B Square website. Today’s photo was taken with an “app” that I have built to make it easier to for readers to submit B There items. The URL for the app is: https://btherephoto.bsquarebulletin.com/ You can add that to your phone’s home screen for easy access. It will let you take a new photo, or upload a photo you have already taken. Give it a try. I’ve tested it out on an Android and an iPhone.

Thanks for reading. I hope you have a great weekend.

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

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