Sept. 1, 2025: Trash rates, diversity training cuts, fight over closed sessions, football

Weather

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

Monday: Wear long sleeves to stave off the morning chill or even a light jacket. But make it a jacket you don’t care about losing, because you will probably want to shed the jacket when the day warms up to its high of around 81F° and you will forget where you left it. Skies will be clear. It’s not going to rain.

Tuesday: This will be a repeat of Monday, so the sartorial advice is the same. The day will start off around 55°F and top out around 82F°. If you’re looking to practice weather talk, try this as a response to anything somebody says about how nice the weather is: “Sure can’t complain.” And if that is directed at you, be ready with: “I dunno, I’m pretty good at complaining.”

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

Roundup of recent articles

• Bloomington trash cart customers get accidental 3% discount, city loses $48K so far.  Since the start of the year, Bloomington residents who get weekly trash service from the city of Bloomington have been getting an accidental 3% discount. The total amount undercharged so far, according to the Bloomington mayor’s office, is around $48,000.
• Monroe County property transfers through Aug. 31, 2025.  This report includes new property transfers in Monroe County that haven’t previously been reported by The B Square, with dates ranging from Aug. 7 to Aug. 31, 2025. The data in this report comes from the county’s online geographic information system.
• Sunday Funnies: Hawk v. Fish.  Hawk: To save money, local governments in Indiana are using digital technology to codify all their laws. Do you feel bad that it's the cod that always get the glory? How does Fish answer?
• MCCSC advances $181M budget for 2026 amid declining enrollment, rising costs.  The MCCSC board of trustees voted Tuesday to begin the legal process of adopting its 2026 budget, authorizing the district to advertise proposed spending for the 2025-2026 school year. Across all funds, the district expects to spend no more than $181,004,367 in 2026
• Bloomington mulls cutting funds for diversity training, 2 cultural programs amid GOP directives.  Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson’s office has proposed cutting $300,000 in city funding previously allocated for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging training from next year’s city budget in response to fiscal pressures and the Republican crackdown on DEI.
• Bloomington North notches first win of Cooper era with 29–20 victory over Bedford.  The Bloomington High School North football program has been steady. But frequent coaching changes over the last three years have forced the Cougars to constantly adjust. On Friday, the Cougars put up their first win of the Brett Cooper era, a 29–20 victory over Bedford North Lawrence.
• Photos: Bloomington South hangs on against Martinsville 38–27.  On Friday night, Bloomington South improved its record to 2–0 with a 38–27 home win against Martinsville. Martinsville came out strong, starting the game with a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. It took a late-game interception to stop a Martinsville drive to seal the victory for the Panthers.
• Dispute between corporation counsel, clerk cancels Bloomington city council’s closed meeting.  Bloomington’s corporation counsel did not include the city clerk in the group that was allowed to attend a closed council meeting, and said the meeting would be canceled if any others attended. The clerk countered that it was her job to attend. The city council’s closed door session got canceled.
• 2026 Budget notebook: Bloomington council, mayor likely to boost staff COLA from 2% to 2.7%.  On Wednesday, Bloomington councilmembers appeared to reach a consensus that the proposed cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for city employees that is baked into Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson’s proposed 2026 budget should be increased from 2% to 2.7%.

On the calendar

Revisions to CDBG funding agreements. On the 5 p.m. Tuesday (Sept. 2) meeting agenda for Bloomington’s redevelopment commission RDC are revisions to agreements for old grant awards from CDBD (Community Development Block Grant) funds for three different nonprofits.

Monroe County 2026 budget. The county council continues its budget hearings on Wednesday (Sept. 3) starting at 5 p.m. On that night, proposed budgets for the recorder, prosecutor, coroner, sheriff, and jail will be considered.

Affordable housing PILOT fund. On the 6:30 p.m. Wednesday (Sept. 3) meeting agenda for Bloomington’s city council is a resolution to establish a fund to hold money that is paid to the city under payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreements. The fund is required to exist under state law and revenues can be spent only on affordable housing purposes such as financial assistance for low-income households, housing development loans, administration and the like. But some of the projects that this fund is now supposed to cover existed before now, and date back to 2022 and 2016. It’s not clear how revenues from those PILOT arrangements have been handled up to now.

Native Plant Sale. A native plant sale will take place on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Switchyard Park’s Maintenance Building (1601 S. Rogers St. entrance). The sale is hosted by MC-IRIS, City of Bloomington Parks & Recreation, and Monroe County Parks and Recreation.

Tire amnesty day. The Monroe County waste reduction district is holding a tire amnesty day so that Monroe County residents can dispose of tires in an environmentally responsible manner, for free. Restrictions apply to certain types of tires. Tire collection will be held Saturday, Sept. 6 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Monroe County Fairgrounds, 5700 W. Airport Rd, in Bloomington. A maximum of eight tires will be allowed per vehicle per trip. Monroe County residents only. No commercial haulers, businesses, churches, schools, landlords, etc.

Lake Monroe Day: Sept. 14. The fundraiser will be held at the Fields Clubhouse (1333 S. Fenbrook Lane) from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. From the Friends of Lake Monroe: “Attendees can mingle with other lake supporters and be treated to appetizers from One World Enterprises, music by King Bee and the Stingers, a wine pull, and brief updates from the organization working to protect Lake Monroe. Tickets are $30 for members, $35 for non-members, and $220 for a table of eight.”

Taste of Tibet: Sept. 20. Note that this date is corrected from a previous listing! The buffet starts at 6 p.m. (RSVP is requested). A guided tour of the monastery will be available during the open house from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on the same day. The buffet will include traditional Tibetan delicacies like momos, Pingsha, Alu khatsa, and Tibetan butter tea prepared by the monks.

Meet Bowzer!

This very, very good boy is Great Pyrenees-Anatolian shepherd. Here’s what the shelter staff have written about Bowzer.

Bowzer is a pretty great dude. While he is hesitant meeting new people (for about five whole seconds) everything else about him is fantastic! He loves getting pets, does excellent head lean snuggles, likes other dogs and is so stinkin handsome. We know you'll love him as much as we do!

Photo Finish: 6th Street & Walnut Street

The Photo Finish items are drawn from the B There section of the B Square website.

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Thanks for reading. I hope your week is off to a good start!

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