Sept. 28, 2026: MCCSC redistricting, jail numbers, absentee voting, courthouse clock, Young council bid, homelessness spending

Weather Talk

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

Monday: Slow down. There will be patchy fog early. Then it will clear off for a sunny day with a high of 78F°.

Tuesday: Slow down. There will be patchy fog early. Then it will clear off for a sunny day with a high of 80F°.

Sign up for weather alerts: Monroe County emergency alert system

Recent articles

• MCCSC redistricting priorities: Socioeconomic balance, savings.  MCCSC has set numerical guardrails for possible redistricting, reorganization or restructuring. Socioeconomic balance and projected savings were given the most weight. A separate eight-month facilities study is also underway and could shape future scenarios.
• Sunday Funnies: Hawk v. Fish.  What if the Monroe County courthouse dome were painted to look like a pumpkin?
• Monroe County property transfers through Sept. 22, 2026.  This report includes new property transfers in Monroe County that haven’t previously been reported by The B Square, with dates ranging from Aug. 21 to Sept. 22, 2026. The data in this report comes from Beacon, the county’s online geographic information system for property and parcel data.
• Monroe County jail notebook: Population still up, but just two recent drug arrestees remain.  Monroe County’s jail held 237 people Saturday, while its 10-day rolling average stood at about 234, down from 254 in late July. Despite heavy turnover, the population continues to exceed the ACLU’s 229-person functional capacity. Only 2 of the 7 Seminary Park arrestees on Tuesday are still in jail.
• Monroe County election board: 1,075 absentee ballots issued as registration deadline looms.  Monroe County election officials reported 1,075 absentee ballots issued as the Nov. 3 election approaches. Voter registration closes Oct. 5, with early voting starting Oct. 6. A Sept. 30 town hall will be held for Ellettsville–Richland voters on the proposed government reorganization.
• Timepiece notebook: Monroe County courthouse clock has no hands for now, waits on a new gearbox.  A broken gearbox has left the ornate wall clock in Monroe County’s Nat U. Hill Room without hands. The county has ordered a replacement gearbox for the 1908-era timepiece, which operates separately from the courthouse tower clocks and bell timer.
• Lilliana Young launches 2027 bid for Bloomington city council at-large seat.  Lilliana Young will seek a Democratic nomination for Bloomington city council in 2027, less than five months after challenging state Rep. Matt Pierce. Young, a democratic socialist, is campaigning on housing, infrastructure, human rights and opposition to surveillance technology.
• Monroe County adds $35K for encampment cleanup, $50K for patrols, $162K for housing.  Monroe County commissioners approved more spending tied to homelessness Thursday: $35,000 for Powerline Camp cleanup, up to $50,000 for security patrols, and $162,379 for Heading Home’s direct-to-housing initiative

Other notes

Patience required for Monroe County government website. Here’s the word from IT at the county (emphasis added in bold):

We are writing to inform you of an upcoming data migration that will have an impact on the County website. Our website host, the State of Indiana, has partnered with a new content management company. This requires that all data on our site be migrated from the previous company to the new partner. The migration is planned to begin on September 30th and run through October 15th. During this time, our site may experience issues to include but not limited to temporary outages, broken links, or missing data. Please note that our website address and navigation of the site will remain the same as it is currently. The Technical Services Department is working closely with the State and their partners to limit disruption to services. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience.

On the calendar

Parks investment priorities plan: Sept. 28. Bloomington’s board of park commissioners will hold a special meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 28, at the Switchyard Park Pavilion, 1601 S. Rogers St., to review a plan for investing in aging parks facilities and addressing maintenance needs. The proposed 2026 Investment Priorities Plan includes projects at Bryan Park Pool, Winslow Sports Park, Olcott Park, Banneker Community Center, RCA Community Park and Cascades Golf Course, as well as long-term options for Frank Southern Ice Arena. The plan also explores a possible $7.3-million general obligation bond in 2027. No final action is scheduled, and public comment will be taken. The plan is available at

City council 2027 budget amendments?? At its meeting last Wednesday (Sept. 23), the various elements of the Bloomington city budget were introduced, for possible adoption on Oct. 7. On Wednesday there were some vague allusions to various amendments to the budget that councilmembers wanted to consider. In fact, a work session on the topic of amendments was set for this Wednesday (Sept. 30) at 6:30 p.m. None of the amendments have been posted for public viewing as of Monday morning, as I write this. That’s disappointing. If and when they are publicly available, the link where I think they will be posted is the usual place.

Ellettsville–Richland reorganization town hall: Sept. 30. The League of Women Voters of Bloomington-Monroe County will host a town hall from 5:30–6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30, at the Monroe County Public Library’s Ellettsville Branch, 600 W. Temperance St. The public can ask questions about the proposed Ellettsville–Richland Township reorganization and its possible consequences. Panelists are James Perry and Justin Ross of IU’s O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs and IU Maurer School of Law student Colby Wicker.

Organizers say the event is intended as an informational session, not a debate. Questions may be submitted in advance to league@lwv-bmc.org Background on the reorganization is available at https://ellettsvillerichlandinfo.org For B Square background see: Ellettsville–Richland reorganization headed to November ballot

Bloomington Paint Out: Oct. 3. The fifth annual Bloomington Paint Out takes place rain or shine on Saturday, Oct. 3, at Bryan Park, with artist check-in from 9:30 a.m. to noon at the Woodlawn Pavilion. Artists of all ages and skill levels can paint anywhere in Bloomington, with finished work due by 3:15 p.m. for judging in several age and experience categories. Free classes, supplies and artist demonstrations will be offered at the pavilion from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. There is no registration fee or advance registration.

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: Odin!

This very, very, good boy is an Akita. I am surprised the shelter does not say anywhere that he is, of course, the king of the dogs. Here’s what the shelter staff have written about Odin:

Odin is a big ole handsome gentleman who loves people and has been very polite meeting other dogs! He came to the shelter with his son, who has since been adopted. Odin is a gentle giant and proudly parades the yard showing off how handsome he is. He absolutely loves to eat, but he is on a special diet due to some allergies. It's very important that he stick to his food, no matter how adorably he requests to share your snacks!

Photo Finish: 6th Street & Washington Street

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

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

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

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