Tag: Monroe County

$80K emergency repair of bridge north of Bloomington OK’d by county commissioners

In the maps provided with this article, bridges with “good” ratings are shown in green, those with “fair” ratings in orange, and those with “poor” ratings in red.
Looking north along North Walnut Street towards Bridge #931.
In the maps provided with this article, bridges with “good” ratings are shown in green, those with “fair” ratings in orange, and those with “poor” ratings in red. The bridge indicated by the red arrow is the one that need an emergency repair.
Bridge #931 in Monroe County, which currently has a steel plate covering a hole in its deck. (May 26, 2023)

At their regular Wednesday morning meeting, Monroe County commissioners approved a $79,725 contract with CLR, Inc to fix a hole in the bridge on Bus SR 37 (aka North Walnut Street), just south of the on-ramp to I-69.

The bridge spans Beanblossom Creek.

The emergency work is expected to be done sometime in mid-August.

Of the three companies contacted by Monroe County’s highway department, CLR, Inc. was the only company to provide a quote. The other two companies that were asked for a quote were Force Construction and Ragle, Inc.

According the meeting information packet, those two companies were not able to give quotes, due to their current workload.

Highway director Lisa Ridge confirmed to The B Square that the steel plate that has been laid over the hole—marked with orange barrels and indicated on the bridge’s approach for drivers with signage reading “BUMP”—is a temporary measure, not the emergency fix. Continue reading “$80K emergency repair of bridge north of Bloomington OK’d by county commissioners” →

Election notebook: Same old story, Bloomington voter turnout is one for the ages

It’s the custom of Monroe County clerk Nicole Browne to send out hourly updates over the course of Election Day.

The May 2, 2023 municipal primary was no different. One of Browne’s updates included this note: “I tried to find the oldest voter who has participated in this municipal election…and, so far, she appears to be 99 years young.”

Browne’s update continued: “Her 100th birthday will be this summer and I want to acknowledge her making the concerted effort to vote.”

The B Square has now confirmed—based on the voter history file provided by county election staff—that it was a 99-year-old who was the most senior voter to cast a ballot in person, on Primary Election Day.

But that nonagenarian wasn’t the absolute oldest person to vote in the primary. After expanding the pool to include those who voted early—either in-person or with a mailed-in ballot, it was a 101-year-old living in the Bloomington 22 precinct, who earned the “absolute oldest” distinction.

On the other end of the spectrum was a 17-year-old living in the Perry 15 precinct, who was the youngest to vote in the May 2 primary. She will celebrate her 18th birthday eight days before the Nov. 7 general election. (In Indiana, it’s possible to vote in a primary, if you turn 18 by the time the general election takes place.)

What about all the other voters in between? How old were they? Continue reading “Election notebook: Same old story, Bloomington voter turnout is one for the ages” →

April 2023 food inspection reports for Monroe County released by health department

Caption: The image links to a dynamic map. (The color coding scheme goes like this: Green=Zero violations; Yellow=At least 1 non-critical violation but no critical violations; Red=At least 1 critical violation.)

Monroe County’s health department has released the reports for inspections of food service operations that were conducted in April.

Just about one-third (24) of the 66 places that were inspected in April had no violations.

Recording at least one non-critical violation, but no critical violations were 13 establishments. Recording at least one critical violation were 29 establishments, or more than half of those that were inspected in April.

Summaries of the inspections completed in April are now available on a list which is published on the health department’s website.

Continue reading “April 2023 food inspection reports for Monroe County released by health department” →

2023 primary election notebook: Final prep done for Bloomington, Ellettsville voting on May 2

An election worker at Fairview Elementary School sets up the boundaries past which no campaigning can take place (May 1, 2023).
Voting maps on the wall at Election Central at 7th and Madison streets (May 1, 2023).
From left: Fairview Elementary School location election inspector Justin Aronson and Monroe County election board member David Henry (May 1, 2023).

Final preparations for tomorrow’s May 2 primary elections in Bloomington and Ellettsville are now pretty much complete.

Monroe County’s election board met on Monday evening at Election Central at Madison and 7th streets to field telephoned questions from the workers at the 18 polling locations, who were setting up for 12 hours of voting on Tuesday.

Making calls to inspectors at the 18 locations to confirm that all the equipment was set up were Monroe County clerk Nicole Browne, and deputy clerk Tressia Martin.

Browne is a member of the election board. Also on hand Monday evening were Democratic Party election board appointee David Henry and Republic Party appointee Donovan Garletts. Henry is also Monroe County Democratic Party chair.

Bloomington voters are electing party nominees for mayor, clerk, and nine city council seats. Ellettsville voters are electing party nominees for clerk/treasurer and town council. Preliminary results from Bloomington and Ellettsville precincts will be published as updates to this article as they are available.

Continue reading “2023 primary election notebook: Final prep done for Bloomington, Ellettsville voting on May 2” →

2023 primary election notebook: Early voting winds down well ahead of 2019 numbers

Based on current early voting numbers, as many as 8,000 voters could participate in Bloomington’s 2023 primary elections.

Monroe County election operations at 3rd and Walnut streets in downtown Bloomington (April 29, 2023)

That would be a 60-percent increase over turnout for the 2019 primaries, when around 5,000 voters cast a ballot for Bloomington mayor in the Democratic Party’s primary.

What’s the arithmetic on the projection of 8,000 voters in this year’s primary?

Based on numbers from Monroe County election division staff through the end of the day on Friday, the count of walk-in early voters was 2,558. By midday on Saturday (April 29), another 118 people had voted, which election staff estimated would reach around 200 by day’s end. Continue reading “2023 primary election notebook: Early voting winds down well ahead of 2019 numbers” →

March 2023 food inspection reports for Monroe County released by health department

Caption: The image links to a dynamic map. (The color coding scheme goes like this: Green=Zero violations; Yellow=At least 1 non-critical violation but no critical violations; Red=At least 1 critical violation.)

Monroe County’s health department has released the reports for inspections of food service operations that were conducted in March.

Just under half of the 88 places that were inspected in March had no violations.

Recording at least one non-critical violation, but no critical violations were 17 establishments. Recording at least one critical violation were 28 establishments.

Summaries of the inspections completed in March are now available on a list which is published on the health department’s website.

Continue reading “March 2023 food inspection reports for Monroe County released by health department” →

Movement, but no progress yet, on site selection for new Monroe County jail

Monroe County commissioner Julie Thomas (April 17, 2023)
Monroe County councilor (April 17, 2023)
Monroe circuit court court judge Darcie Fawcett (April 17, 2023)
Monroe County sheriff Ruben Marté (April 17, 2023)
DLZ’s Scott Carnegie (April 17, 2023)
Monroe County commissioner Lee Jones (April 17, 2023)
From left: Monroe County councilors Jennifer Crossley and Kate Wiltz.
Kay Weinberg with Care not Cages (April 17, 2023)
CJRC meeting on (April 17, 2023)
CJRC meeting on (April 17, 2023)

A significant bit of news out of Monday’s meeting of the community justice response committee (CJRC) was an announcement from the public mic by Bloomington’s public engagement director Kaisa Goodman.

Goodman told the committee that a tour of some county-owned land south of Catalent had been arranged for later in the week.

Touring the property, which some see as a viable site for a new jail, will be Goodman, Bloomington’s corporation counsel Beth Cate, Bloomington planning director Scott Robinson, county attorney Jeff Cockerill, jail commander Kyle Gibbons, county councilor Kate Wiltz, and possibly one other county council member.

The location of a new jail has been a wide open question since December 2022, when Bloomington’s city council unanimously rejected a rezone request  for some land in the southwestern tip of the city, where county commissioners had proposed building the new jail.

The site south of Catalent, also known as the Thomson PUD, has been frequently mentioned as a possible alternative—it’s not downtown but is closer to services and is better served by public transit. County commissioners are cool to the idea, because they have reserved the acreage for the pharmaceutical company’s possible southward expansion, among other reasons.

Despite the scheduled tour, it’s an overstatement to say that any momentum is building towards the choice of that site or any site as a new jail location. Continue reading “Movement, but no progress yet, on site selection for new Monroe County jail” →

Early voting for May 2, 2023 municipal primary starts, traditions observed

Early voting at Monroe County election operations at 4th and Walnut Streets. (April 4, 2023)
Monroe County clerk Nicole Browne’s “I Voted!” sticker.
Early voting at Monroe County election operations at 4th and Walnut Streets. (April 4, 2023)

On Tuesday morning at 8 o’clock sharp, Monroe County clerk Nicole Browne opened the door to the election operations center at 4th and Walnut streets and called out: “Hear ye, hear ye, the polls are now open!”

That’s how in-person early voting kicked off this year for the May 2 primary elections in Monroe County.

Bloomington voters will be electing party nominees for mayor, clerk, and nine city council seats. Ellettsville voters will elect party nominees for clerk/treasurer and town council. Continue reading “Early voting for May 2, 2023 municipal primary starts, traditions observed” →

Bloomington mayoral primary forum: Are we scared of being the best at taking care of the less fortunate?

2023 Democratic Primary candidates for mayor of Bloomington, from left: Don Griffin, Susan Sandberg, and Kerry Thomson. (March 28, 2023 Heading Home forum)

At a Tuesday evening event for mayoral hopefuls in the Democratic Party’s May 2 primary, moderators from Heading Home of South Central Indiana quizzed the candidates about housing for low-income residents and homelessness.

The hosts also flipped the usual script for part of the event.

Each candidate had submitted one question for the audience to answer on arrival at the venue—Crestmont Boys and Girls Club on the north side of town. The questions were accessible through a QR code that appeared on a handout at the reception table.

Out of the roughly 100 people who attended, 58 responded to the three questions.

Co-moderator Leon Gordon, who is administrative director for Bloomington Housing Authority, reported a perfect 50-50 split for the question submitted by Don Griffin:

Are we as a community scared of being the best at taking care of those that are less fortunate?

Griffin then gave his take on the response to the audience poll question, followed by Susan Sandberg  and Kerry Thomson. Continue reading “Bloomington mayoral primary forum: Are we scared of being the best at taking care of the less fortunate?” →

Convention, visitors notebook: Innkeeper’s tax revenue up, Monroe County preps for 2024 eclipse

The first meeting of the year for the Monroe County convention and visitors commission (CVC) was relatively upbeat.

It was held on Wednesday at the Monroe Convention Center.

The revenue report for the county’s five-percent innkeeper’s tax showed a a 55-percent increase for the first two months of 2023 compared to the first two months of last year.

Mike McAfee, who’s executive director of Visit Bloomington, described the current state of planning for the solar eclipse next year. The narrow band of the full solar eclipse will pass right over Bloomington just a little over a year from now, on April 8, 2024.

One glumly received point of information was the status of the convention center expansion project, which still has not moved forward as hoped.

The CVC is the five-member public entity that controls expenditures of the innkeeper’s tax revenues. The CVC’s purpose is to promote the development and growth of the convention and visitor industry in Monroe County. Continue reading “Convention, visitors notebook: Innkeeper’s tax revenue up, Monroe County preps for 2024 eclipse” →