27 August 1924: On Tuesday evening, Sept. 2, South Hill residents will celebrate the reopening of the fire station on South Main Street, known as No. 4, which has been closed for the past eight or nine years. A street parade, led by the Bloomington band, will form on the east side of the courthouse square at 7:30 p.m. and then move south on Main Street to Fire Station No. 4 to join in the celebration.

27 August 1949: At the City Council meeting Friday night (Aug. 26), Councilman Walter Benson proposed a 4% city tax on tickets to “all sporting events and other forms of entertainment” in Bloomington. Currently, only theater tickets have a 4% city tax. Benson suggested that at least a quarter of the tax revenue should be used for city recreational purposes. “I don’t like that,” he told a Pantagraph reporter after the meeting, “but we have to find money somewhere.”

27 August 1974: The Bloomington City Council has taken a major step toward mandatory downtown sidewalk repairs costing an estimated $315,000. Corporate counsel David Stanczak has been hired to draft an ordinance and obtain legal descriptions that will lead to a mass mailing of letters around April 1 requiring downtown property owners to repair the sidewalks at their own expense within 30 days. If they are not repaired, the city plans to take over the task and bill adjacent property owners for the cost.

27 August 1999: The mood on both sides of the Pontiac Elementary School strike seemed somber and determined on Thursday (Aug. 26), the first day classes were canceled. Teachers said this was the first time they had struck in District 429. School board officials said they were trying to follow the direction of voters who approved tax caps in Livingston County this spring. “There is no magical way to generate more and more money except through taxpayers,” said school board Chairman Joshua Thompson.