Parks and Recreation to inventory and plant hundreds of trees in 2023-24
Bloomington was Indiana’s first city to be named a Tree City USA by the National Arbor Day Foundation, and received Tree City USA designation for the 39th consecutive year in 2023. Parks and Recreation’s urban forestry program is continuing its commitment to maintaining a healthy urban forest by preparing 90 empty street tree plots in downtown Bloomington to receive new trees this fall and is identifying locations to plant additional trees throughout the city in 2024.
Existing 4′ x 4′ tree plots in the downtown area are being enlarged to 5′ x 5′ to accommodate new tree grates and to provide better growing space for downtown street trees. The downtown tree plantings are funded by the Bicentennial Trees and Trails bond awarded in 2018. Visit https://bloomington.in.gov/about/trees/bicentennial-bond-project to learn more about the 2018 Bicentennial Trees and Trails Bond.
Funding provided by the Bicentennial bond will also be used to replace trees in medians on West Third Street, West Second Street, College Mall Road and South Henderson Street. Adding 21 new trees in these areas promotes canopy growth and reduces heat islands, and contractors are expected to plant median trees as weather permits this fall.
The Bicentennial bond has already funded the planting of 265 street trees, for which the urban forestry staff has completed a six-month, post-planting inspection. Additional locations for new and replacement trees to be planted in 2024 are being identified now, with a goal of planting between 300 and 400 trees in public rights-of-way next year. Parks and Recreation will mail pre-planting surveys to owners of properties adjacent to the identified tree planting sites to gauge the interest of property owners in having a tree planted nearby on public property. Information collected will be used to enhance post-planting evaluations.
For more information about Bloomington’s urban forest, about plans for celebrating the city’s 40th anniversary as a Tree City USA in 2024, or to request the planting of a street tree, visit Parks and Recreation’s urban forestry website at bloomington.in.gov/treecare.
Convicted Sex Offender and Domestic Abuser sentenced to over 5 Years in Federal Prison after being caught with firearm
Shaylor Goer, 47, of Indianapolis, Indiana, has been sentenced to 5 years and 3 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to illegally possessing a firearm. According to court documents, on March 31, 2022, IMPD officers were dispatched to Dearborn Street in Indianapolis, Indiana at 6am to investigate complaints of a suspicious individual. Upon arrival, officers saw Goer and requested that he stop. Goer did not comply, and instead ran down an alley, leading officers on a brief foot chase. Goer was eventually stopped and arrested. During a search of Goer’s person, officers found an empty gun holster on his hip. Officers searched the surrounding area and found a Kimber .45 caliber semiautomatic firearm on top of a trash can, belonging to Goer.
Goer is prohibited by federal law from ever possessing a firearm due to his fourteen previous felony convictions including two counts of failure to register as a sex or violent offender, two counts of domestic battery, aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a minor between the age of 13-17, manufacture/distribution of a look-alike substance, unlawful possession of a syringe, possession of cocaine, and burglary.
United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, Zachary A. Myers, Daryl S. McCormick, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Columbus Field Division, and IMPD Chief Randal Taylor made the announcement.
“Individuals with a history of violence and criminal activity should never be able to get their hands on a firearm,” said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, Zachary A. Myers. “Under the L.E.A.T.H initiative, it is a priority of our office, IMPD, and ATF to weed out those who pose the highest risk to those closest to them and the community as a whole. Holding dangerous, repeat offenders accountable for illegally possessing firearms is a critical part of this initiative.”
IU welcomes nearly 22,000 new beginner students, sees increase in overall enrollment
Enrollment is up this year at Indiana University campuses across the state as the university welcomed nearly 22,000 beginner undergraduate and graduate students this fall. In all, 87,628 degree-seeking students are enrolled at IU campuses across the state. When including non-degree-seeking students, which encompasses those in high school taking dual-credit courses, IU now serves 90,144 students on campuses across Indiana — more than any other university in the state.
IU Bloomington set a new enrollment record for the third year in a row, with 47,527 students enrolled overall. Other campuses with enrollment increases this year include IU Kokomo, IU South Bend and IU Southeast. IU students represent all 92 Indiana counties, every state in the nation and 170 countries across the globe. They’re enrolled in a total of 1,163,407 credit hours.
IU Bloomington
IU Bloomington’s incoming undergraduate class is 9,550 students in 2023, representing nearly 18% growth over the past five years and nearly 26% growth over the past decade. The cohort includes 918 first-generation undergraduate beginner students and a record 1,873 historically marginalized undergraduate beginner students. This cohort also has a record number of Indiana residents enrolled this year, totaling 5,161.
The incoming class at IU Bloomington also brings with it a history of strong academic achievement. The median high school GPA is 3.90, which sets a new record. Seventy-two percent of incoming students received gift aid, which includes scholarships and grants.
In all, Bloomington has enrolled a record 36,833 undergraduate students this year, an increase of nearly 11% over the past five years. The campus’s graduate program has grown over the past decade, with 10,694 graduate students enrolled at IU Bloomington this fall. The campus has a record total of 47,527 students enrolled, coming from all 92 Indiana counties, 50 states and 110 countries.
Bloomington’s Last Sunday Poetry & Open Mic featuring Shannon Winston
The Writers Guild @ Bloomington presents Last Sunday Poetry & Open Mic, featuring Shannon K. Winston and Bernardo Wade.
SHANNON K. WINSTON’s full-length poetry collection is titled The Girl Who Talked to Paintings (Glass Lyre Press, 2021). Her individual poems have appeared in Bracken, Cider Press Review, On the Seawall, RHINO Poetry, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA from the Warren Wilson Program for Writers and lives in Bloomington, IN.
Former Editor of Indianapolis Review, BERNARDO WADE serves as Assistant Editor and Poetry Editor for Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora. His first full-length poetry collection is forthcoming from Lookout Books.
The event will be held Sunday, September 24th 2023, 3 – 4:30pm at Morgenstern’s Bookstore & Café, 849 South Auto Mall Road, Bloomington.
Bloomington Open Studios Tour Arts Alliance Opening
- Friday, September 1st, 5 – 8 pm
- 15 Bloomington artists previewing their work prior to the Open Studios Tour October 14-15
- Arts Alliance Center (in the College Mall)
2894 East 3rd Street Bloomington
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