This is the WFHB Local News for Monday, March 30th, 2026.

In today’s newscast, WFHB reports on the third No Kings rally on the Courthouse lawn, a deadline approaching for the new jail project and the delay on the Hopewell South project by the city council.

You’ll also hear Christine Herring, executive director of Pals – People and Animal Learning Services. It’s been nearly a year since a tornado wiped out the horse barns at this local nonprofit. Find out how you can help the effort to rebuild later in the show on a new episode of Activate!

Thousands attend third ‘No Kings’ on the Courthouse Square

By Emma Maher and Shane Gebhard

Photos by Jessie Grubb.

WFHB News interviewed organizers and attendees of the third No Kings rally on the Monroe County Courthouse lawn on Saturday. Correspondent Emma Maher spoke with local activist Bryce Greene who says he sees the actions of the current presidential administration as authoritarian overreach.

“I’m here because I want to fight against fascism. I want to fight against this monopoly capitalism that’s dominating our lives, and I believe that the way to do that is by getting people together and joining together in common struggle,” says Greene. “No kings is a direct repudiation of the ruling class that currently governs America, the billionaires who dominate our political and economic system and the elites who want to extract as much as they can from the working class while giving nothing back.”

Stay tuned to the WFHB Local News tomorrow to hear more coverage from the No Kings protest on Saturday.

April 7 deadline looms as Monroe County leaders clash again on North Park as potential jail location

By Dave Askins

A resolution adopted by Monre County commissioners Thursday morning (March 26) re-establishes North Park as a potential new jail site, even after county councilors rejected North Park in their own resolution, which was adopted about a month ago, on Feb. 24.

The three-member board of commissioners and the seven-member county council, which is the county’s fiscal body, will have to reach agreement, if any progress is to be made on a new jail site.

Even though Thursday’s resolution from commissioners doesn’t explicitly say that North Park is the only site they will consider, it’s not clear what other sites could satisfy the two criteria set forth by the commissioners.

Thursday’s resolution states the county will “unilaterally reject” any site that cannot support future co-location of justice functions, or would cause what it calls “unreasonable delay.” The resolution also asks the county council to commit available cash reserves to begin the project ahead of any bond issuance.

North Park is a roughly 52-acre site towards the northwest edge of Bloomington, just outside the city limits along State Road 46, offering a large, contiguous tract for development. County commissioners say they are still in touch with the property owner and think that a new purchase agreement could be reached, even if the previous one expired.

Commissioner Jody Madeira’s gave remarks during Thursday’s meeting that seemed aimed at mitigating the political fallout of putting North Park back into the conversation—after the county council in late October last year rejected the appropriation needed to close the land deal, and more recently passed resolution stating that the council no longer wished to consider North Park as an option for a jail site.

Madeira acknowledged at the start of her remarks that putting North Park back into the center of the conversation would cause many observers to wonder “why North Park is still a viable property, when the council has so vociferously said no.” To explain that, Madeira said council has not spelled out explicitly what makes North Park unacceptable—leaving the commissioners without a usable standard for evaluating other properties.

From there, Madeira based a defense of North Park on a repeated refrain about what is known and certain:

We know everything about that property. And we know that we can put a jail at that site in a transparent fashion. We know that we can use public dollars efficiently. We know we can minimize waste. We know we can maximize long term value. We know that we can safely put it there in all ways and under all circumstances. We know that we can safely use taxpayer dollars, we know that we can ground our decisions in evidence, and we know that we are not making a hasty decision. We know that we are not making one out of urgency or incomplete information. And that’s the only site where my little empirical brain feels comfortable at this time moving forward.

Madeira described North Park as a “political hot potato.” She stressed that the project requires collaboration with the county council as well as with the city government in Bloomington. The justice center, Madeira said, is a “group project” that depends on transparency and public confidence.

That was the latest edition of B Square Bites – a collaboration between B Square Bulletin and WFHB. To read the full article, you can visit B Square Bulletin’s website.

Bloomington City Council delays Hopewell South project for a second time

By Camdyn Glover

On March 25th, the Bloomington City Council met and discussed the Hopewell South project which is being delayed for a second time.

The Hopewell project is a city-led redevelopment on the old IU Health hospital site. Proponents of Hopewell say it will drive more affordable housing to Bloomington. Mayor Kerry Thomson has made Hopewell a center piece on how she hopes the city will address housing needs.

“I know that there are many possibilities of the impact that we can make when we create housing,” said Thomson. “We must choose to prioritize where we want to have a clear impact, where we want to be best at something.”

Mayor Thomson said this housing project has been discussed since 2017, emphasizing community involvement. In order to remain affordable, construction would be led by local builders and the mortgages provided by local lenders. The mayor further explained what this project would entail for the community.

“Hopewell South is simply Phase 1. It is not Hopewell in its entirely entirety, and we have picked two specific goals to focus on: be affordable at market rate to as many people as possible, at the lowest income possible and attainable to many more of our residents, and be a neighborhood that makes the most of walkability,” said the mayor.

Council members discussed legal concerns, reasonable conditions and amendments for the planned unit development, speaking on topics such as affordability and utilities.

Councilman Dave Rollo proposed to postpone further discussion on this ordinance. Other council members agreed, saying they would have time to consult with legal counsel and research further questions.

Council member Sydney Zulich, however, was one of few members who voted against this postponement. She explained the reality of the housing affordability crisis.

“Out of the nine of us up here, I am the only one who does not own property. All of my eight colleagues do, and my generation has no hope of following in their footsteps if we continue to let perfect prevent good. So the people of this city deserve results, and that is why I will be voting against postponement,” said Zulich.

The council voted 6-3 to postpone the ordinance. It will be further discussed at the next Bloomington City Council meeting on April 1st.

Ellettsville Town Council tackles youth sports, septic dumping rate increase and firetruck repair

By Elyse Perry

The Ellettsville Town Council met on March 23rd and discussed a mass gathering permit for the Ellettsville Youth Sports League Season Kick-off Jamboree on April 11. Council member Scott Oldham ran through the considerations for the event.

“This is a yearly thing that they do, police and fire, public works. All satisfied with the plans are in place,” said Oldham.

Town Manager Mike Farmer said while parking is always a problem, the town always gets through it. He also said the permit fee was waived since the Ellettsville Youth Sports League is a non-profit. The permit was approved unanimously.

The council moved on to discuss the septic dumping rates increase, which was set to be tabled for another week. Farmer said the increase affects four vendors. He said the new gates and security are not installed yet.

“We’re waiting on the tech people now,” said Farmer. “Everything is in place, gates. We’re waiting on the keypads, and the new dumping station is not built yet.”

He said there is new security at the wastewater treatment plant. The rate increase was approved 5-0.

During supervisor comments, Fire Chief Kevin Patton said a firetruck is being repaired following issues found during routine aerial testing.

“The next aerial is supposed to be in middle, end of next year,” said Patton. “The hope is we can get this one fixed and it’ll still be in service.”

He said he is still waiting for a quote.

Next, Street Commissioner Kip Headdy said the town is planning to replace its street sweeper at an estimated cost of $383,000. The purchase would be funded through a trade-in of the current sweeper and the use of stormwater utility funds.

The next Ellettsville Town Council meeting will be April 8th.

Featured Segments:

It’s been nearly a year since a tornado wiped out the horse barns at People and Animal Learning Services. No animals were hurt, and if you look at photos of the damage you might call that a miracle. For 25 years this local nonprofit has connected people to horses for adaptive riding therapy and educational programs. Pals’ executive director Christine Herring says the utter destruction of their facilities was a chance for Pals to reinvent itself as an equine-assisted learning campus. Herring is looking for donations to continue rebuilding on a new episode of Activate!, coming your way right now on the WFHB Local News.

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