Sept. 7, 2026: Downtown Bloomington shooting; Indiana ICE agreements; jail population dashboard; election complaint dismissal; Trent Green

Civic Solver

We’re skipping the puzzle for this week and probably a few more weeks. The news operation is stretching me ever thinner. Puzzles seemed like a good place to conserve time and effort.

Weather Talk

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

Monday: Get your Hush Puppies on, because you were never meant for glitter rock and roll. And they will help keep you nice and cool even though slightly cooler weather is already forecast for today. It’ll be sunny with a high of 84F°.

Tuesday: Shorts, T-shirts, and sandals are in order for the brutally sunny, hot day in the forecast. The high will be around 90F°.

Sign up for weather alerts: Monroe County emergency alert system

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Recent articles

If you don’t want to wait until Monday or Thursday for the Almost Daily Bulletin, and you’d prefer to check in at any time you like on the most recent headlines from The B Square, complete with their synopsis, here’s the link: The B Square’s Most Recent 20

• Shooting in downtown Bloomington leaves 19-year-old man wounded.  A 19-year-old man was shot in the neck and shoulder near Kirkwood Avenue and Lincoln Street early Sunday and was taken to IU Health Bloomington in stable condition. Witnesses told police the gunman fled in a vehicle. The investigation is ongoing, and no suspect has been identified.
• Indiana police agencies have signed dozens of ICE agreements. Did local governments authorize them?.  ICE now has 45 immigration-enforcement agreements with 42 Indiana agencies, including tiny Stinesville. But a B Square review found the public record does not always show whether local elected bodies properly authorized the deals before they got signed.
• Sunday Funnies: Hawk v. Fish.  Fish learns that Camus doesn’t rhyme with famous.
• Monroe County jail notebook: Population at or below ACLU capacity mark for 3 days, county rolls out new data dashboard.  Monroe County’s jail population fell to 227 Saturday, marking three straight days at or below the ACLU’s 229-person functional-capacity figure. A new county dashboard now provides daily jail data. Since July 21, the population has fallen by 20, with substantial inmate turnover.
• Monroe County property transfers through Aug. 28, 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. 17 to Aug. 28, 2026. The data in this report comes from Beacon, the county’s online geographic information system for property and parcel data.
• Former IU quarterback Trent Green on keeping the ball: ‘Know the down and distance.’.  Former IU quarterback Trent Green returned to Bloomington Friday to unveil Dr Pepper’s “Fan Wall of Fame” mural on Kirkwood Avenue. Green also answered a question from The B Square about Fernando Mendoza’s championship-game run and his own two rushing TDs in the 1991 Copper Bowl.
• Monroe County election board dismisses complaint against assessor candidate Trimble.  Monroe County’s election board dismissed dueling election-law complaints between Democrat incumbent assessor Judy Sharp and independent challenger Lisa Jeneé Trimble. That leaves their dispute to voters to decide on Nov. 3.

Other notes

C’mon B Square readers, shape the future of your library! From the public library: “We’re creating a new strategic plan for the Monroe County Public Library, and we want to hear from you! Take our short survey and share your experiences and ideas. Your feedback will help us better serve you, your household, and our community.”

On the calendar

Fast charger in Trades District garage. Among several other items, on the 5:30 p.m Tuesday (Sept. 8) agenda for the Bloomington board of public works is a $38,725 item to install a fast charger for electric vehicles in the Trades District garage.

Income tax increase. On the 5 p.m. Tuesday (Sept. 8) meeting agenda for the Monroe County council is an income tax increase. It’s not unexpected. Back in 2023, the county council imposed the jail tax for the first time at a rate of 0.01%, which came with a corresponding decrease of .01 points in the special purpose tax for juvenile services—from 0.0950 to 0.0850. The decrease was meant to draw down the fund balance for juvenile services, and the new jail tax that first year was meant to fund health services in the jail. That 0.085 number got ratcheted down even more, to 0.03, when the county council increased the jail tax to 0.17.

The idea was eventually to restore the special services rate to 0.0950. For this latest increase, the overall income tax rate would increase from 2.14% to 2.205%.

County council budget presentations. Set for Wednesday (Sept. 9) at 5 p.m. is the third night of departmental budget presentations for the Monroe County council. Presenting will be the clerk’s office, treasurer’s office, jail, and the sheriff’s office.

Public safety working session. The Bloomington city council has a work session set for Wednesday (Sept. 9) at 6:30 p.m to host a community discussion about public safety.

Friends of Lake Monroe hits the decade mark: Sept. 13 Friends of Lake Monroe marks its 10th anniversary with live music from Frank Jones and the Undertones, a look back at a decade of work, and light appetizers on Sunday, Sept. 13, at The Fields Clubhouse. Doors open at 6 p.m., with remarks at 7 p.m. and music at 7:30. Tickets are $35 for members, $40 for non-members or $250 for a table of eight, and sales close Sept. 7.

Big Book Sale: Sept 18-21. The Friends of the Library will be hosting their Big Fall Book Sale in Meeting Room 1B/C at the Downtown Library with thousands of items at bargain prices. The 2026 Big Fall Book Sale will be open to the public Sept. 18–21 with a special early-bird sale for Friends members on Sept. 17. For hours on specific days, check the book sale webpage.

New Leaf New Life benefit book event: Sept. 23. Authors Chastidy Mader, Ryan Mader, Nordia McNish and Trunnis Goggins II will discuss resilience, recovery, purpose and second chances Wednesday, Sept. 23, from 6–8 p.m. at Redbud Books, 408 W. Kirkwood Ave. Tickets cost $20, with $12 from each ticket benefiting New Leaf New Life, which supports people affected by incarceration and reentry.

Nerd Nite Bloomington: Sept. 25. Bug sex, imperfect maps and the Great Molasses Flood get the 15-minute-talk treatment at Nerd Nite Bloomington #6. Doors open at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25, with presentations starting at 7:30 p.m. at The Bishop Bar in Bloomington. Organizers would like people to RSVP.

Meet Blade!

This very, very, good boy is a Siberian husky. Here’s what the shelter staff have written about Blade:

Blade is a very good husky boy! He walks well on leash, enjoys meeting other dogs and knows several commands!

Photo Finish: Washington Street & 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

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