“Transient” arrested for vandalism at the Islamic Center of Bloomington
32 year-old Adam Walls has been arrested for his alleged involvement in theft and vandalism of the Islamic Center of Bloomington, located in the 1900 block of E Atwater Avenue. The incident occurred early in the morning on October 18th, and the suspect was caught on video surveillance damaging picnic benches, playground toys, a security camera, and fencing, while also stealing metal and wiring from the air conditioning unit. A Bloomington Police Officer identified images of the man as Wells, who is described as a transient residing mostly in Bloomington. Wells was brought to the station for questioning yesterday when he was located near Bloomington’s Shalom Center, and he was transported to the Monroe County Jail and remanded to jail custody for the charge of Institutional Criminal Mischief, a level 6 felony.
*** All criminal defendants are to be presumed innocent until, and unless proven guilty in a court of law.
Indiana woman killed by family pit bull
69 year-old Kathleen Bertram, was killed earlier this week in the town of Mathews, Indiana after being bitten in the neck by her son’s pit bull. Bertram was visiting family when she fell from an uneven chair, while holding her 3 year-old grandchild. The crying from the child apparently triggered the dog to attack her. The wounds were too severe for medics save Bertram, and she was pronounced dead at the scene. The Grant County Coroner has ordered an autopsy. Following the attack, the pit bull was still acting aggressively, and Animal Control was called to removed it from the home.
Bloomington Receives 2021 Aim Community Placemaking Award for Switchyard Park
Bloomington has received the Accelerate Indiana Municipalities (AIM) Community Placemaking Award for the development of Switchyard Park. The award was announced October 6th during the 2021 Aim Ideas Summit in French Lick. Bloomington won the statewide award in the Greater than 50,000 Population category. The award recognizes the transformation of the former railroad yard into a community asset that has attracted thousands of visitors and several new investors to the south side of Bloomington. The former industrial 65-acre site is traversed by the B-Line Trail and features a pavilion, spray pad, dog park, performance stage & amphitheater, community gardens, pickleball & bocce ball courts, and many more amenities. Switchyard Park officially opened to the public in November 2019.
AIM’s video recognizing Bloomington’s Community Placemaking Award may be viewed here
This Week in Hoosier History
1989 – Space Shuttle Atlantis was launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The commander of the spacecraft was Purdue graduate Donald Williams, born in Otterbein, Indiana. During the mission, the crew launched the Galileo space probe which went on to study the planet Jupiter and its moons