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Halloween is coming up and Hawk and Fish are ready. How would a ghost campaign for Bloomington city council? And why did the mayor hire a vampire as public engagement director?

This report includes new property transfers in Monroe County that haven’t previously been reported by The B Square, with dates ranging from Sept. 17 through Oct. 14, 2026. The data in this report comes from Beacon, the county’s online geographic information system for property and parcel data.

Monroe County’s jail population fell to 214 on Saturday, marking 11 straight days below the ACLU’s functional capacity figure of 229. Over 89 days of tracking, the population has declined from 247, with at least 822 departures. The median stay among those who left was two days.

Bloomington is considering about $6.87 million in bonds to replace its aging aerial fire truck and fund street safety projects. The borrowing would raise property taxes. A public hearing and possible final city council vote are scheduled for Nov. 4.

A federal judge ordered immigration officials to give Manuel Alejandro Nadal Ortiz a bond hearing by Oct. 22, or release him. The government must report compliance by Oct. 23. He is the second Bloomington man arrested Sept. 1 to win a similar ruling.

Bloomington’s city council voted 7–0 to ban automated license plate readers and certain surveillance cameras. A disputed amendment allowing access to recordings for criminal investigations passed 5–2, despite concerns it could weaken the ban. At least 29 people spoke from the public mic.

Bloomington’s city council adopted the 2027 budget on a 6–1 vote, with Isak Asare dissenting over whether city spending delivers clear, measurable benefits to residents. The council withheld millions for housing and parking projects. Matt Flaherty and Kate Rosenbarger were absent.