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South Bend Today · the city as it stands, November 2026
This section is the gathered present tense of the whole history: who governs, how many people the counters say are here, what the published economy looks like, what the schools and universities are doing this year, what the teams did this season, what is being built, and what is still open. It is verified to November 2026, item by item as dated — every entry below carries the date of the publication it rests on, because this is the file in the record that goes stale first. Where two published figures disagree, both are printed. Where the record reached for this build could not verify a current fact — an appeal's status past a certain month, a building's present state, a tenant roster — the gap is printed as a gap, in the entry where it belongs, rather than filled from an older page or a plausible guess. The deep accounts stand elsewhere in this history; what follows is the portrait, at the size the current record supports.
The government as it stands
November 2026
The mayor: James Mueller, the city's 33rd mayor, sworn in on 1 January 2020 and re-elected in November 2023, holds the office as this section closes. His chief of staff since 1 June 2026 is Troy Warner, who concluded six years of…
The November 2026 elections: the county offices turn over
3 November 2026
The prosecutor: The general election of 3 November 2026 changed the two county law-enforcement offices whose holders South Bend lives under, and both results stand in the unofficial returns as reported on 8–9 November 2026. Amy…
The count: 103,201
1 July 2025 estimate, published 2026
The latest figure: The Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimates, the most recent published series as this section closes, put the City of South Bend at 103,201 people on 1 July 2025, and St. Joseph County at 272,861 on the same…
The economy as published
September 2026 labor figures, published October–November 2026
The rate: The Bureau of Labor Statistics put the South Bend–Mishawaka metropolitan area's unemployment rate at 4.1 percent in September 2026, preliminary and not seasonally adjusted — the latest published month as this section…
The schools' current year
School year 2026–27, in session
The enrollment: The South Bend Community School Corporation's latest published enrollment figure is 13,704 students, from the corporation's federal E-Rate profile for fiscal year 2025 — the figure this history's Schools section…
The universities today
Fall 2026 term
The boundary, once: The University of Notre Dame and Saint Mary's College stand in the unincorporated Notre Dame census-designated place adjoining the city, not inside it — printed plainly here, as everywhere in this history…
The airport's record year
Calendar 2025, announced February 2026
The record: South Bend International Airport closed 2025 with the busiest year in its history: 1,111,002 ticketed passengers, up 23.5 percent over 2024, a fifth straight year of growth, and past the old record of 991,457 set in…
The teams' current seasons
Seasons of 2026, as they stand in November
The Cubs' summer: The South Bend Cubs' 2026 season is complete and stands as the best in the franchise's record: a league-best 77–51, a first-half title — the club's first since 2016 — season attendance of 314,301, the…
The zoo's record, and the calendar's current season
2025 record; 2026 season
The zoo's year: The Potawatomi Zoo's latest published attendance is another record: 409,776 visitors in 2025, the highest in the zoo's history, at the end of a series that runs 316,030 in 2022, 351,628 in 2023, and 361,626 in…
What is being built
Under construction or in funded planning, November 2026
The Memorial tower: Downtown's largest project is Beacon Health System's new Memorial Hospital tower, topped out on 10 October 2025 and opening in phases rather than at once: Beacon’s release of 31 August 2026 announced its…
What is open
Unresolved as of November 2026
The police tapes: The longest-running open question in the city's government remains open. On 28 May 2026, Judge Jamie C. Woods ruled that the police recordings at the center of the tapes case violated both the federal and state…
The council and the City Hall cost, re-verified
As of 10 November 2026
The roster stands: The Common Council as the Today portrait printed it stands unchanged at 10 November 2026. The council's own 2027 Budget Priorities filing, stamped in the clerk's office on 22 June 2026, carries the nine members…
The labor line, re-pulled: September 2026 is still the latest month
September 2026 figures, published 28 October–4 November 2026
The rate re-verified first-hand: The Bureau of Labor Statistics' own table for the South Bend–Mishawaka metropolitan area, extracted 30 October 2026, carries the September 2026 unemployment rate at 4.1 percent, preliminary and…
The Portage Manor clock: day 35 of 180
Vote of 6 October 2026; diligence running at 10 November 2026
Where the clock stands: The county commissioners' 2–1 vote of 6 October 2026, Rafael Morton dissenting, approved a purchase agreement, an access agreement, and a memorandum of option selling Portage Manor and thirteen additional…
The Memorial tower: the first floor's move, on the hospital's own announcements
Announced 31 August 2026; position at 10 November 2026
What Beacon has announced: Beacon Health System's own publications carry the tower's phased opening in two dated pieces. On 31 August 2026 the system announced that the tower's second floor was nearing completion and that the…
The police tapes: the appeal is filed, and reported carried to the state's highest court
Judgment 28 May 2026; appeal pending at 10 November 2026
The state the banked files left, and the two steps since: The Controversies and Today accounts both closed the tapes case at June 2026: Judge Jamie C. Woods's order of 28 May 2026 in the St. Joseph Superior Court (cause…
The behavioral-health consolidation, on its eve
Announced 15 October 2026; completion set for 1 December 2026
Announced, dated, and not yet complete: On 15 October 2026 Beacon Health System announced its decision to consolidate its inpatient behavioral-health service line at the Memorial Epworth Center in South Bend: the inpatient…
The schools clock, and the portrait's remaining dated lines
As of 10 November 2026
The superintendent search: Mansour Eid's retirement on 30 June 2027 stands as announced, and the search the Today portrait called the district's known next business now has its documented shape: the board will run a broad…
South Bend Today: How Current This Record Is
10 November 2026
Verified to 10 November 2026, item by item as dated: The lines stand as follows. The council roster is unchanged since the caucus of 20 May 2026, on the council's own documents through the autumn (the entry below). The City Hall…