Indiana Daily Student

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR As the summer wraps up and IU’s fall semester is rapidly approaching, the Indiana Daily Student

will take a two-week break from printing our weekly paper. This issue will be on stands until Aug. 18, when

our annual Welcome Back issue will be published. In the meantime, we will still publish regular

IDS

content and breaking news coverage on idsnews.com and will keep you updated via our social media.

Thank you for your continued readership of the IDS.

Ethan Moore

Summer 2022 Editor-in-Chief

Thursday, July 28, 2022

Indiana Daily Student | idsnews.com

Repping the Hooseirs, p. 5

County clears unhoused encampment

City plans to relocate police, fire departments By Meghana Rachamadugu megracha@iu.edu

IDS FILE PHOTO BY ETHAN LEVY

Protestors march down First Street toward Mayor John Hamilton’s house Jan. 18, 2021, in response to the evictions of people experiencing homelessness from Seminary Park on Jan. 14, 2021. This summer, property behind the At Home store in Bloomington, which had members of the unhoused community living there, was cleared out by Monroe County on June 8. By Meghana Rachamadugu megracha@iu.edu

On June 8, Monroe County commissioners set out to evacuate and clear the property behind the At Home store in Bloomington using county funds. This was the result of complaints from store employees and other residents who saw members of the unhoused community living there. The Bloomington police and city employees cleared a similar camp in Seminary Park a year ago. The cleanup started on June 3, one day after all residents had to evacuate the county-owned land, the article said. County commissioners worked with volunteers from Beacon and other unhoused community advocacy

groups to collect and set aside personal belongings for the former residents. Harry Collins, a Bloomington Homeless Coalition advocate, told the HeraldTimes that people in the encampment had been living there for three or more years, undetected in the high brush and trees. He said after a resident set up camp closer to the store, people started to complain about the camp. Collins said he understood the mayor’s obligations to city residents and business owners but was uncertain about the camp residents’ success in finding other places to live. There were also several traces of hypodermic needles and hazardous waste. According to the article, com-

missioners spent $18,000 on an agreement with Bio-One and no more than $157,000 on one with Crider&Crider to clean toxic and land waste, respectively. Greg Crohn, the County Facilities and Fleet Manager at the time, said in the first week, Bio-One and the Monroe County highway department worked in tandem. Bio-One went through the camps and took items considered as personal effects to separate storage containers. Then, the highway department came in with loading equipment and placed any materials Bio-One considered “caustic chemicals,” or causing bodily harm, into 40yard dumpsters. Crohn said the clean-up called for nine 40-yard dump-

sters because of the number of needles and other hazardous materials, including liquids used to produce methamphetamine. “It was originally planned to only take five days for BioOne to be able to clean up the site, but we found a much larger volume than what was previously anticipated so that it ended up taking another week to get clear,” Crohn said. Penny Githens, a Monroe County Commissioner, said the contract with Bio-One ended up lasting twenty days. She said in Indiana, it’s still illegal to possess a syringe, and when people moved, they ended up dropping and leaving them. “It became a serious SEE ENCAMPMENT, PAGE 4

FOOTBALL

COLUMN: Increased pressure in Indiana’s schedule shows the Big Ten’s need to dump divisions

IDS FILE PHOTO BY ETHAN LEVY

Then-freshman quarterback Donaven McCulley covers his face after fumbling the opening snap against Rutgers on Nov. 13, 2021, at Memorial Stadium. By Will Foley

wtfoley@iu.edu | @foles24

Around this time last year, Indiana football fans anxiously awaited the start of one of the program’s most hyped-up seasons in the modern era. Coming in with an AP preseason ranking of No. 17 and key starters returning, many fans guessed that a Rose Bowl appearance was not out of the question. Fast forward a year later, and fans’ hopes have diminished to winning at least one conference game. Following a dismal 2021 season in which the Hoosiers faced injuries, untime-

ly ejections, poor strategizing and a lack of execution, the highest that Indiana could go was a 2-10 record and 0-9 performance in conference play. Now, changes are bound to ensue after plenty of roster shake-ups for the oncoming season. Many players graduated, transferred or left for the NFL draft, such as fifth-round pick linebacker Micah McFadden. While losses like that of the former All-American sting, it may be made up for by Indiana’s 25th nationally ranked recruiting class and solid additions from the transfer market. The Hoosiers saw play-

ers come and go through the transfer portal, the most notable departure being former star quarterback Michael Penix Jr. However, the team’s fresh faces are expected to make an immediate impact. Former University of Missouri quarterback Connor Bazelak, the 2020 SEC Co-Freshman of the Year, is the favorite to take over the starting role from what was a revolving door in 2021. Still, with all changes considered, Indiana’s schedule leaves little room for error if expectations for a bowl game remain intact. Indiana’s season starts with several games favoring

the Hoosiers. The season opener against Big Ten opponent Illinois should see Indiana start 1-0 if all things go as expected. At the very least, it should not be a repeat of their crushing 34-6 loss at Iowa to open the 2021 season. The Hoosiers’ next two games against the University of Idaho and Western Kentucky University shouldn’t be too challenging. If they are, you might want to look away for the rest of the season, considering those two opponents gave Indiana its only victories in 2021. Indiana closes out nonconference play at the University of Cincinnati before facing its main dilemma: Big Ten divisions are unbalanced. As the current format stands, each Big Ten team faces all six of its division opponents and three opponents from the other division. The problem is that the Big Ten East is much, much better. Unfortunately, Indiana happens to be in the Big Ten East. Aside from Indiana, the East contains Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, Maryland and Rutgers. The West is made up of Purdue, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Nebraska and Northwestern. Looking at the Hoosiers’ schedule, they will face three top-10 teams from the end of last season: Michigan, Ohio State and Michigan State. In addition to the season opener against Illinois, Indiana will face SEE FOOTBALL, PAGE 4

The City of Bloomington is buying a portion of the Showers Building to replace Bloomington police and fire department headquarters, according to a city news release. The Showers Building, a historic building built in 1910, has three sections and is next to the City Hall. According to the article, the city and county own two parts for their offices and Cook Financial Corporation Properties owns the last section — 64,000 square feet at 320 W. Eighth St. With the city council’s approval, the Bloomington Redevelopment Commission made an offer of $9.25 million to purchase the CFC section for the two departments. The city said they will decide the plans for the current facilities at a later time. The city said that flooding last summer damaged both departments’ current headquarters and that the fire department had to relocate. The police department underwent a long-term cleaning, but is still open. “City government always strives to meet the needs of residents through accessible and responsive city services,” Mayor John Hamilton said in

the news release. “Modernizing public safety facilities under one roof and centralizing service locations can help us do that.” Hamilton also said that completing the purchase would allow the city to preserve a building of historical value in Bloomington. The news release said that the city offer had been accepted, but the sale was contingent on the funding. Both sources said the city council allotted funds from the Economic Development Local Income Tax (ED-LIT) meant for public safety. “Our department administration has been spread out all over the city for years and for the first time, we would be able to be in the same location working closer with other city departments," Bloomington Fire Department Chief Jason Moore said in the news release. Bloomington Police Department Chief Mike Diekhoff said in the news release that the relocation was “a logical extension” of the city trying to prioritize Bloomington residents in their work. "A new police headquarters will strengthen public safety in our community and help us retain and recruit new officers," he said in the news release.

City council tables developer’s plans to buy public land By Marissa Meador

marnmead@iu.edu | @marissa_meador

Peerless Development, a Chicago-based real estate developer working on, returned to the Bloomington City Council again Wednesday to request the vacating of an alley owned by the city to build apartments on the Johnson Creamery smokestack site. At the initial meeting, the council asked Peerless to build a public art display in exchange for the land, but no deal had been reached. Some councilmembers said they didn’t feel like the proposal would benefit the public enough to warrant a sale of city property. “It just doesn’t sit well with me when I’m going to approve a project where the rent of a two-bedroom apartment is gonna be higher than a mortgage on a three bedroom house out on the side of town where I live,” councilmember Jim Sims said.

Councilmember Sue Sgambelluri said she supported more housing, but not in this form. “I don’t think it can be argued that additional luxury houses provide us with public benefit.” Sgambelluri said. The council voted to table the issue. The council also removed what it deemed as an unnecessary part of a 2019 agreement between the City of Bloomington and the Bloomington Housing Authority to allow the BHA to comply with Section 8 housing and complete Rental Assistance Demonstration conversions. Section 10, which required the BHA to refund part of the city’s infrastructure investments if they ever made a profit, was deemed unnecessary because matters of funding were determined by individual agreements with Housing and Urban Development or the City of Bloomington. The vote was unanimous.

Village Deli to temporary close in 2023 for construction By Marissa Meador

marnmead@iu.edu | @marissa_meador

The Village Deli will be temporarily closed in 2023 for construction of a fourstory apartment complex beginning next summer. Approved by the Bloomington Plan Commission July 11, Strauser Construction’s proposal includes mostly studio and onebedroom apartments, with a total of 29 bedrooms split between 25 apartments. The space will include a parking garage on the ground floor. In order to achieve the four-story height not usually allowed for the downtown area, the complex had to meet one of the city’s incentives. One of these incentives is sustainability, which Strauser Construction plans on satisfying with light exterior colors, a roof that reflects light, covered parking and solar photovoltaic panels.

Owner Bob Costello said in an email that he plans to relocate The Village Deli during construction and will announce the new location shortly before construction begins in the summer of 2023. The complex includes 2700 square feet of restaurant space, so the Village Deli will return to the same spot when construction is complete. Some residents compared the temporary closing of the Deli with old favorites like Ladyman’s Cafe. Ladyman’s, which served fried chicken and fresh-baked pies from its spot on Kirkwood Avenue since 1957, closed when Heartland Development Group bought the restaurant in 2006. Although Village Deli’s temporary relocation is uncertain, internet commentators expressed relief that the restaurant is here to stay.


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