April 20, 2026: Earth Day, political poll, $7.59M price for College Square
This edition includes reports on Bloomington’s Earth Day and Eco-Heroes art winners, Monroe County property transfers, a $7.59M minimum offering for the College Square site, a political text poll about Mayor Kerry Thomson, and a proposed CIB-RDC land swap tied to a convention center host hotel.
Civic Solver
We don’t have a new puzzle this week. We hope to have a new one for you next week!
Weather Talk
Based on the National Weather Service forecast in text and charts here’s some advice.
Monday: To start the day, wear at least a light jacket and socks with your Birkenstocks or Tevas (do not let fashion bullies intimidate you). You’ll probably need sunglasses. We’re coming off an overnight low of 37F° with a frost advisory. The daytime high will hit 61F°, but the cloudless sky will make it feel a little warmer.
Tuesday: Leave on your socks for today, because the overnight low of 44F° will make the morning feel chilly. But you can probably get away without an extra layer because the mostly sunny skies will include a high of 76F°. Watch out for wind gusts of 25mph.
Sign up for weather alerts: Monroe County emergency alert system
Recent articles
- Photos: Earth Day, Eco-Heroes. At Bloomington’s Earth Day celebration Saturday at Switchyard Park, visitors helped build a sprawling sand mandala, adding colored sand by the cupful, handful, or grain-by-grain. Winners of the city’s Eco-Heroes Art Contest displayed their work inspired by this year’s theme, “Our Nature at Night.”
- Sunday Funnies: Hawk v. Fish. Hawk says: On my front bicycle wheel, one of those thin metal rods that connect the hub to the rim was busted. I took my bicycle to the shop. The mechanic just said, "I cannot comment! I cannot comment!" And started laughing. So weird. What explanation did Fish give?
- Monroe County property transfers through April 14, 2026. This report includes new property transfers in Monroe County that haven’t previously been reported by The B Square, with dates ranging from March 14to April 14, 2026. The data in this report comes from Beacon, the county’s online geographic information system for property and parcel data.
- Bloomington sets $7.59M minimum for College Square as hotel plans remain unsettled. Bloomington’s redevelopment commission will consider a public offering Monday (April 20) for the 2-acre College Square site, with a $7.59 million minimum price. The move comes as the CIB seeks a 30-day pause to negotiate a land swap tied to a convention center host hotel proposal.
- Political poll on Bloomington mayor, Hopewell South, other city issues circulates by text. A text-message poll circulating to Bloomington area residents asks about mayor Kerry Thomson’s job performance, and views on city government. When asked, Thomson did not explicitly confirm that she or her campaign commissioned the survey.
- CIB accepts downtown parcels, now seeks talks with Bloomington RDC on land swap to secure host hotel site. The Monroe County capital improvement board accepted downtown parcels transferred from city and county governments, then proposed swapping the Seminary Pointe block south of the convention center for the city-owned College Square site. The swap is aimed at clearing the way for a host hotel.
Quick Notes
Year-long delay of federal web accessibility requirements. The U.S.Department of Justice has put off for one year the requirements that governmental units like Bloomington and Monroe County comply with Web Accessible Content Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1). The new deadline for compliance is April 26, 2027. The guidelines require among other things that images displaying text include machine-readable digital text. The recent revisions to the way Bloomington assembles information packets for boards and commissions and the city council were prompted by the new requirement for WCAG 2.1 compliance.
On the calendar
Public offering of College Square by Bloomington RDC. On the 5 p.m. Monday (April 20) meeting agenda for Bloomington’s redevelopment commission is a resolution that would make a public offering for the College Square (aka former Bunger & Robertson site) property at 4th Street & College Avenue. For B Square background, see: Bloomington sets $7.59M minimum for College Square as hotel plans remain unsettled
Proposed revisions to westside bus routes. On the 5:30 p.m. Tuesday (April 21) meeting agenda for the Bloomington Transit board are revisions to Route #3 and Route #13, which currently serve the west side of town, including Ivy Tech and Cook Medical, as well as Walmart. The basic idea is to combine the two routes into a single route. For more background, see B Square coverage: Ridership slide fuels Bloomington Transit strategy shift: bigger buses, route rethink
Forum for county commissioner candidates. On Tuesday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. David Henry and Trent Deckard, the two candidates for the Democratic Party’s nomination for county commissioner have been invited to a forum hosted by the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce. The forum is scheduled to take place at the Waldron Arts Center on Walnut Street.
Hopewell South rezone. Back on the 6:30 p.m. Wednesday (April 22) meeting agenda for Bloomington’s city council is the rezone of Hopewell South as a PUD. The city council wants to add conditions to the rezone. For B Square background, see: Hopewell South PUD pushed to April 22 as Bloomington council, mayor spar over conditions
Flock camera report. Also on the 6:30 p.m. Wednesday (April 22) meeting agenda for Bloomington’s city council is a report on the status of Flock cameras. For B Square background: Bloomington Flock camera contract expired March 5, mayor reveals non-renewal 6 weeks later.
Jail settlement agreement extension: North Park purchase agreement? Bloomington’s city council is expected to consider a resolution at its 6:30 p.m. Wednesday (April 22) meeting opposing the choice of North Park as a jail location. That will be a part of he backdrop for Thursday (April 23), when the county commissioners could have a purchase agreement for North Park on their agenda for that day’s meeting. For B Square background, see: Pushback from public, county council on North Park jail site after filing for settlement extension.
Little 500: April 24–25, 2026. Looking ahead to the end of the week, the Little 500 bicycle race is on the calendar. Remember that even in a limestone town, a team called the Cutters can’t take winning for granite.
Ms. Lake Lemon: May 16. Start your training regimen now. This amazing contest of skill is to be held at Riddle Point Park this year. Monitor the Ms. Lake Lemon Facebook page for details, as they become available. The B Square covered last year’s inaugural event.
Meet Alvin!
This very, very good box is a mix. Here’s what the shelter staff have written about Alvin:
Alvin is a friendly guy who has lived his whole life outside before he came to the shelter. His previous foster said when hanging in the house with them he was a total couch potato. He also gets along with dogs and cats as long as they are social and friendly. He needs that special someone to show him all the ways of indoor living! If you have the time to give this guy a chance to blossom in a home environment please come visit him and give him a chance! He does need to be in a home with children 12 yrs and older.
Photo Finish: 4th Street & Walnut Street (Landlocked Music)
Molly Tuttle plays a miniset as a teaser for her show at the Bluebird tonight. It's also a celebration of Record Store Day here at Landlocked Music. She tries to remember exactly what day it was three years ago when the mayor of Bloomington proclaimed it Molly Tuttle Day. (Insider tip: That exact date doesn't matter, because any day Molly Tuttle is visiting Bloomington is considered Molly Tuttle Day.) She performed three songs: “Highway Knows,” “Goodbye Little Miss Sunshine,” and “San Joaquin.” (Dave Askins, April 18, 2026)
The Photo Finish items are drawn from the B There section of the B Square website.
Thanks for reading. I hope your week is off to a great start!
Dave Askins
734-645-2633
dave@bsquarebulletin.com
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