This is the WFHB Local News for Tuesday, October 28th, 2025.
In today’s newscast, the Bloomington City Council passed several ordinances for the salaries of city employees for 2026. More in today’s headlines.

Also coming up in the next half hour, we highlight the dog “Erik” who is available for adoption at the City of Bloomington Animal Shelter, on Lil Bub’s Lil Show – a co-production between WFHB and Lil Bub’s Big Fund.
But first, your local headlines:
Bloomington City Council Approves 2026 Salary Ordinances


The Bloomington City Council met on October 22nd. Councilmembers heard three ordinances to set the salaries for city employees in 2026. Deputy City Clerk Susan Stoll touched on the first ordinance which dealt with the salaries of workers for the police and fire departments.

City Human Resources Director Sharr Pechac presented the ordinance.

The council approved the salaries for the police and fire departments by a unanimous vote.

Then, City Clerk Nicole Bolden presented the ordinance regarding employees of the clerk’s office, saying they included a 2.7 percent cost-of-living adjustment for clerk staff.

Councilmember Isabel Piedmont-Smith asked if there were any other pay increases. Bolden responded that one position did include a pay increase.

Councilmember Dave Rollo asked if clerk staff salary rates were on-par with salaries for other cities. Bolden said the data can be construed as problematic.

The council passed the ordinance unanimously. Next, HR Director Pechac presented the salary ordinance for general city employees. Councilmember Piedmont-Smith asked about the living wage rate for the city. Pechac said the city tries to make salaries as competitive as possible with constraints of the budget.

Piedmont-Smith said she’d like to revisit the living wage ordinance arguing that $16.66 per hour is not a livable wage in Bloomington.

The council approved the ordinance by a 9-0 vote. The next Bloomington City Council meeting will take place on November 5th.
Sen. Bernie Sanders accepts Eugene Debs Award in Terre Haute

Senator Bernie Sanders accepted the Eugene V. Debs Award on Saturday in Terre Haute.

According to the Debs Foundation, this award honors a person or organization which has contributed to the advancement of industrial unionism, social justice and world peace.

The award is named after Eugene Debs, a Terre Haute native, who was an American labor leader and political activist. Debs ran for president five times between the years 1900 and 1920. He made his last presidential run from a prison cell in 1920 while serving a sentence for sedition after giving an anti-war speech in 1918, protesting U.S. involvement in World War I.

Senator Sanders opened his speech by explaining how he first discovered Debs, and why he believes Debs’ message still matters today.

Sanders shifted gears to discuss Debs’ criticisms of inequality in the U.S., which he says is prophetic. He linked income inequality of Debs’ era to the billionaires of today.

He harkened back to when Debs warned about leaders who weaponized the concept of patriotism, criticizing national leadership in today’s time.

Senator Sanders quoted a courtroom statement from Debs – discussing solidarity among the people. Sanders said there’s nothing we can’t accomplish if we work together.

Sanders closed with a warning about the consolidation of corporate power in modern times – from artificial intelligence to tech billionaires. He echoed Eugene Debs’ message about the control of labor.

This audio from Sanders’ speech was provided by Robert Deppert of the Bloomingtonian. You can find the full speech on the Bloomingto...