Tag: homeless

Suspect arrested in westside murder near encampment, Bloomington police still investigating

A 42-year-old man has been arrested and charged with murder in connection with the death of a man near a westside homeless encampment in a wooded area, according to a news release issued Saturday morning (Dec. 9, 2023) by the Bloomington police department (BPD).

According to the release, after interviewing several witnesses on Thursday and Friday (Dec. 7 and Dec. 8), Craig A. Pearson was identified as a suspect, located, and arrested on a murder charge. Continue reading “Suspect arrested in westside murder near encampment, Bloomington police still investigating” →

Bloomington OKs zoning requirement for Beacon’s new shelter, supportive housing facility on 3rd Street

Sometime in late 2024 or possibly into 2025, Beacon, Inc. plans to start construction of a new facility across from Rose Hill Cemetery on 3rd Street.

The 45,000-square-foot two-story building, which will include a day shelter, a 50-bed overnight shelter, 20 one-bedroom apartments, and 5 work-to-live units for on-site staff, will be made legally possible by a conditional use approval for “supportive housing” that was granted by Bloomington’s board of zoning appeals (BZA) at its Thursday night meeting.

The vote by BZA members on the conditional use petition was 4–0.

Beacon, which serves Bloomington’s houseless population, now operates a day shelter, the Shalom Center, which is on Walnut Street, south of Seminary Park. Beacon also operates an overnight shelter called Friends Place, at 919 S. Rogers Street, which is south of Dodds Street.

The concept for the new project is to co-locate Beacon’s existing day shelter and overnight shelter, which will be located on the first floor of the new two-story building. The first floor is planned to include a commercial kitchen, bathrooms, showers, laundry, and a mailroom.

The new program of supportive housing units will occupy the second floor of the new building. The second floor will include 20 one-bedroom apartments for supportive housing and another five apartments for staff, who will be able to live there as part of their compensation for working at the facility.

The land purchase and a big part of the construction will be covered with a $7 million grant that Beacon received through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Continue reading “Bloomington OKs zoning requirement for Beacon’s new shelter, supportive housing facility on 3rd Street” →

20 supportive housing units, day/overnight shelters proposed by Beacon on West 3rd Street

The image is from the Monroe County online property lookup system.

Beacon, Inc. is looking to use a $7 million grant it received through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to build a new facility with 20 supportive housing apartments, across 3rd Street from Rose Hill Cemetery.

But in order to pursue that project—which is also planned to include a day shelter, an overnight shelter, and five staff apartments—Beacon will need approval from Bloomington’s board of zoning appeals (BZA). That  approval is subject to the conditional use criteria that are laid out in the city’s  unified development ordinance (UDO).

Beacon’s proposal is the second item on the BZA’s Thursday agenda. The BZA meeting, which will be held in city council chambers at city hall, starts at 5:30 p.m. Continue reading “20 supportive housing units, day/overnight shelters proposed by Beacon on West 3rd Street” →

Bloomington boards act on tents, belongings in parks, public right-of-way

Board of public works

Board of public works from left: Jennifer Lloyd, Elizabeth Karon, and Kyla Cox Deckard (Aug. 15, 2023)
District 6 Democratic Party nominee for city council Sydney Zulich (Aug. 15, 2023)
Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce president Eric Spoonmore (Aug. 15, 2023)

Board of park commissioners

Bloomington resident Nick Angelos (Aug. 16, 2023)
Board of park commissioners from left: Israel Herrera, Kathleen Mills, and Ellen Rodkey. (Aug. 16, 2023)
Christopher Emge with the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce (Aug. 16, 2023)

On Tuesday, Bloomington’s board of public works passed a resolution asking that the city council enact an ordinance that will keep the public right-of-way clear of tents or belongings.

It’s not clear when or if the city council will follow the board’s recommendation.

The following day, the board of park commissioners took action, to enact a new policy that essentially prohibits tents in parks. The new policy takes effect on Aug. 23—that’s next Wednesday.

Action by the two boards on successive days is part of a general effort by Bloomington mayor John Hamilton’s administration, to regulate the way Bloomington’s unhoused population is able to use public space.

Director of public works Adam Wason described to the three-member board of public how the draft ordinance would make clear that the police have the legal authority, to immediately clear the right-of-way of someone’s belongings, if they do not respond to a request to move.

Parks and recreation director Paula McDevitt told the board that the intent of the new policy against tents and other makeshift enclosures is to ensure that parks areas can be used and enjoyed “by the whole community.” The way tents are now used in parts has created serious public health and safety risks, due in part to illegal activity, McDevitt said.

McDevitt said the policy does not prohibit unenclosed shade structures, if they don’t shield from public view what is happening under them.

At both meetings, commentary from the public mic in favor of the administration’s position came from business owners, and business advocacy groups—the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, and Downtown Bloomington, Inc.

Public comment against the administration’s approach came from social service workers, members of mutual aid groups like Help Ourselves, and other advocates for the unhoused. Continue reading “Bloomington boards act on tents, belongings in parks, public right-of-way” →

Talk deemed off-topic, ill-tempered: Backdrop for Bloomington’s resolution on embargo against Cuba

Bloomington city councilmember Susan Sandberg (Jan. 18, 2023)
Bloomington city councilmember Dave Rollo (Jan. 18, 2023)
Bess Lee, CUBAmistad.
Frank Marshalek, CUBAmistad.
Dareal Ruble, Bloomington resident.
Outline of Bloomington in blue, superimposed (to scale) on map with Santa Clara, Cuba.

“Who the hell do you people think you are? You’re not the White House!”

That was Dareal Ruble speaking from the public mic at last Wednesday’s meeting of the city council.

He was reacting to a resolution on the meeting agenda that called for an immediate end to the US economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba.

The resolution was not controversial for councilmembers—it passed unanimously.

The vote came almost an hour after the resolution was introduced by Dave Rollo, who co-sponsored it with Susan Sandberg.

Rubel was interrupted twice during his allotted five minutes by council president Sue Sgambelluri, who admonished him—for speaking off the topic of the resolution, not for any particular choice of words.

But questions about the kind of tone and demeanor that councilmembers consider acceptable were swimming just under the surface of Wednesday’s meeting—in connection with an earlier agenda item.

Neither Rollo nor Sandberg supported a raft of resident re-appointments to boards and commissions that were approved early on the agenda.

After Wednesday’s meeting, Rollo confirmed to The B Square that he voted no, because the list included Greg Alexander’s reappointment to the city’s traffic commission.

Based on Alexander’s social media interactions, which Rollo described as “aggressive,” Rollo said he think’s Alexander’s temperament is “ill-suited” to serving on a city board or commission.

Continue reading “Talk deemed off-topic, ill-tempered: Backdrop for Bloomington’s resolution on embargo against Cuba” →

Houseless advocates march from Seminary Park to People’s Park to protest clearance from public spaces

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The clearance of an encampment at Bloomington’s Seminary Park in early December and again last week prompted on Monday the second protest in as many nights.

Protesters want the Bloomington’s mayor, John Hamilton, to allow encampments of houseless people to persist in public parks. They point to Centers for Disease Control guidelines that call for allowing encampments to stay in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, if other individual housing options are not available.

Whether such options are available is a disputed point.

Monday’s action included as many as 80 people at its peak, which retraced the steps of around a dozen people the night before, from Seminary Park to Bloomington mayor John Hamilton’s house. He lives in the Elm Heights neighborhood, south of the Indiana University campus, about a three-quarter mile walk from Seminary Park.

On Monday, the group continued from the mayor’s house to People’s Park on Kirkwood Avenue, where a teach-in was held, featuring speakers from Indiana University’s Rainbow Coalition, a relatively new coalition of multicultural groups on campus.

The night wrapped up around 11:30 p.m. as two houseless men pitched a tent at People’s Park, and protesters lined the sidewalk to form a wall against possible police action.

Protesters left soon after that, and as of 8 a.m. on Tuesday, the tent was still there. Another second, larger one had been added. Continue reading “Houseless advocates march from Seminary Park to People’s Park to protest clearance from public spaces” →

Public right-of-way near Bloomington’s Seminary Park cleared, encampment moves into park for now

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Around 2 p.m. Thursday afternoon, Bloomington police department (BPD) officers told the houseless people living in the encampment near Seminary Park, south of downtown Bloomington, that they could not occupy the public right-of-way.

Helped by a couple dozen grassroots volunteers and nonprofit caseworkers from Wheeler Mission and Centerstone, several campers moved down the hill into the park itself.

The right-of-way is an area that can be enforced around the clock. The park closes at 11 p.m. That means the move several yards down the hill might have bought the campers 8–9 hours of extra time.

Bloomington’s director of public engagement, Mary Catherine Carmichael responded to a Square Beacon question about the park clearance by saying the city wanted the campers to “finish the transition to safer shelter options.” Continue reading “Public right-of-way near Bloomington’s Seminary Park cleared, encampment moves into park for now” →

Bloomington looks to nonprofits to help place Seminary Park area campers elsewhere by Jan. 11

annotated seminary park vicinityScreen Shot 2020-12-22 at 3.03.06 AM
Seminary Park looking south along College Avenue on Dec. 22, 2020.
Seminary Park looking south along College Avenue on Dec. 22, 2020.

Just south of the historical marker placed at Seminary Park, near College Avenue, a campsite persists this week.

That’s after people and their belongings were removed from the park two weeks ago by a combination of Bloomington police officers, the department’s social worker, and other nonprofit street outreach staff who work with those experiencing homelessness.

The Wednesday night removal two weeks ago was based on a violation of park rules, which prohibit overnight camping.

The dozen tents now pitched near the park look like they’re at least partly in the public right-of-way, based on the parcel boundaries from Monroe County’s online property lookup system.

Camping in the public right-of-way is also not something the city has to allow.

On Jan. 11, the city won’t be allowing it any longer, according to Bloomington’s director of public engagement, Mary Catherine Carmichael.

Carmichael told The Square Beacon, “We’ve asked funders and providers to transition folks overnighting in the Seminary Park area to alternative shelter/housing or camping by Jan. 11.” She added that the city of Bloomington will continue its efforts to point park area campers to other resources.

Carmichael added that an initial deadline of Jan. 8 had been set, but after more discussion, was shifted to three days later.

The roughly three weeks that remain before the next potential removal action by the city of Bloomington will give the city and local organizations some time to sort out possible alternatives.

[Updated Dec. 24, 2020 at 5:24 p.m. Bloomington’s police department issued a press release late Thursday afternoon announcing the death of one of the Seminary Park campers. The news release states: “There were no signs of foul play or injuries to the man.”] Continue reading “Bloomington looks to nonprofits to help place Seminary Park area campers elsewhere by Jan. 11” →

Bloomington’s Seminary Park action spurs “Hands off Homeless” rally, call for funding of grassroots efforts

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On Friday evening, about 200 people gathered on the southeast corner of the Monroe County courthouse square to respond to the city of Bloomington’s action on Wednesday night, to remove a group of a dozen and half tents and people from Seminary Park.

One demand that was read aloud by Marc Teller, who’s with the Bloomington Homeless Coalition, is to set up a place for the unhoused to camp that is more centrally located with better access to services.

Another demand read aloud by Teller is for the government money that was allocated to Wheeler Mission—to re-open the women’s shelter, which had closed over the summer—to be transferred to Hotels for Homeless. Teller reported that on Wednesday night, 17 Seminary Park campers had been taken in by Hotels for Homeless.

Advocate for the homeless Janna Arthur, who was a write-in candidate for Monroe County council this year, said, “No one was left behind—because of Hotels of Homeless.”

The grassroots organization, founded over the summer, has become eligible for city of Bloomington social services funding (Jack Hopkins) through fiscal sponsorship by New Leaf-New Life.

At Friday’s rally, local activist Vauhxx Booker used his time addressing the crowd to encourage people to donate directly to the group through its PayPal link. Continue reading “Bloomington’s Seminary Park action spurs “Hands off Homeless” rally, call for funding of grassroots efforts” →

Bloomington parks board votes 1–3 on policy change: Daytime camping still allowed

A member of Bloomington’s Seminary Park community on Dec. 8, 2020, who preferred not to be identified by name. (Dave Askins/Square Beacon)
The view to the southwest of Seminary Park in Bloomington, on Dec. 8, 2020, from the corner of Walnut and 2nd streets. (Dave Askins/Square Beacon)

A proposed policy change that would have prohibited camping or otherwise inhabiting Bloomington’s parks at any time, not just overnight, got just one vote of support at Tuesday’s meeting of the board of park commissioners.

Dissenting on the vote was Les Coyne, who was congratulated at the start of the meeting on concluding his 44 years of service as a park commissioner.

The other three commissioners voted against the change to policy, despite a press release issued by the mayor’s office a couple of hours before the meeting started, in support of the policy change.

The press release said, “The recommendation to amend the special use permit policy is being made in response to an increasing presence of tents and other makeshift structures in several city park properties overnight.” Continue reading “Bloomington parks board votes 1–3 on policy change: Daytime camping still allowed” →