Jan. 5, 2026: ‘Hands off Venezuela’ rally, polar plunge, future live reports

Happy New Year!

Civic Solver

This week the link to the Civic Solver returns to its usual place at the bottom of the Almost Daily Bulletin. (It’s a jigsaw puzzle!)

Weather Talk

Based on the National Weather Service forecast in text and charts here’s some advice.

Monday: Bundle up when you head out, because the day will start from an overnight low just under freezing, around 31F°. But be ready to shed some of your gear through the day because the high will reach 50F°. Maybe wear some shades because it will be mostly sunny, and the low angle of the sun this time of year could make for a squinty experience.

Tuesday: Slow down. There will be patchy fog to start the day. Take an umbrella or a rain jacket, because there will be a chance of sprinkles with a slight chance of drizzle before 7 a.m., then a slight chance of drizzle between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. The high will get up to 57F°. Hang onto your hat, because there could be wind gusts up to 23 mph.

Sign up for weather alerts: Monroe County emergency alert system

Upcoming live reports

We have homebrewed a way to deliver live written updates straight from The B Square publishing platform. The original thought was to develop a way to report live updates from basketball and football games—so that readers can just park themselves on the website and watch their screen as the score and scoreboard clock status get updated. There’s no need to refresh the page. This approach works fine for updating readers from other civic events, too.

The B Square’s current approach will be to publish the URL for the live report a couple days in advance so that folks who want to plan to follow the action can bookmark it.

• Live Report: MCCSC board annual reorganization (Jan. 6, 2026).  This will be a live, text-based report from the MCCSC school board meeting on Tuesday (Jan 6) beginning at 6 p.m.
• Live Report: Election Central candidate filings (Jan. 7, 2026).  This is where live reports will be filed from Election Central, starting 8 a.m. on Jan. 7, 2026 to document the filing of declarations by candidates for elected office this year.

Recent articles

• Speakers at Bloomington rally denounce U.S. attack on Venezuela, call out history of intervention.  Bloomington residents rallied Sunday (Jan. 4) on the Monroe County courthouse lawn to protest a U.S. military strike that removed Venezuela’s president. Speakers condemned U.S. interventionism, linked it to past actions in Latin America, and marched down Kirkwood chanting “Yankee, go home!”
• Monroe County property transfers through Dec. 29, 2025.  This report includes new property transfers in Monroe County that haven’t previously been reported by The B Square, with dates ranging from Dec. 16 to Dec. 29, 2025. The data in this report comes from Beacon, the county’s online geographic information system for property and parcel data.
• Sunday Funnies: Hawk v. Fish.  Hawk: The officiating at the Rose Bowl was bad. That Alabama player absolutely meant to kick the ball, but he missed. Shoulda been a flag. What does Fish say?
• Short swim, long tradition: New Year’s Day Plunge at Lake Monroe.  Dozens of Bloomington area residents welcomed 2026 with a polar bear plunge at Paynetown State Recreation Area. About 50 people dashed into 43-degree water on New Year’s Day, most for a quick dunk. The 13-minute event mixed shock, cheers and a familiar bear suit.

On the calendar

Soil borings for artwork. On the 5 p.m. Monday (Jan. 5) meeting agenda for Bloomington’s redevelopment commission is the approval of a right of entry for Patriot Engineering and Environmental Inc. to do soil borings at several locations in the Trades District to determine the suitability of locations for public art.

New Bloomington city council officers. On the 6:30 p.m. Wednesday (Jan. 7) city council agenda is the annual election of officers—president, vice president, and parliamentarian. The first two are a part of state law. The parliamentarian exists in Bloomington local code, but not in state code. Also a provision only of local Bloomington law is the assignment of seats at the council table by the president.

Naked trees only. The Monroe County waste reduction district has announced that Christmas trees can be dropped off at any of the usual locations for the next few weeks. No ornaments can still be attached. From the MCWRD: “The District partners with Rumpke Trash & Recycling Services and Blue Stone Tree, to provide holiday tree recycling from Dec. 26, 2025 through Jan. 17, 2026.

Natural trees, wreaths, and garlands will be accepted at all five district recycling centers. Before dropping off trees for recycling, all decorations, including, but not limited to, ornaments, lights, artificial snow, garland and tinsel must be removed.”

No artificial trees! Here’s the complete news release.

Puzzlefest! Mark your calendar for Jan. 25 from noon to 4 p.m., because the Monroe County History Center is sponsoring a jigsaw puzzle competition, which will take place from 1-3 p.m. at the Switchyard Park Pavillion.

For the competition, teams of four race to complete the same 500-ish piece puzzle. The competition signup is currently open online. The registration fee for a team of four is $60 and proceeds go to support educational programming at the Monroe County History Center. But guess what: Completing puzzles can be a spectator sport. It’s free to watch the competition and participate in the puzzle sale/swap.

Starting in 2026, from Tuesday to Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. you can donate puzzles to the puzzle swap at the History Center.

Anyone who drops puzzles off at the History Center through Jan. 24 will avoid a wait on Jan. 25 and will get extra tickets to use in the swap.

Meet Tonks!

This very, very good girl is a mix of German shepherd and Labrador retriever. Here’s what the shelter staff have written about Tonks:

Tonks is a beautiful, smart girl! Her previous owner shared that this lovely pup is housetrained, walks great on a leash, and does well with other dogs. She was very anxious with young children in the home, and would do best in a home without children or with older children. If you're looking for a smart, fun, and gorgeous dog, look no further -Tonks is your girl!

Photo Finish: Kirkwood Avenue & Grant Street

The Photo Finish items are drawn from the B There section of the B Square website.

Thanks for reading. I hope your first full calendar week of 2026 is off to a great start!

Dave Askins
734-645-2633
dave@bsquarebulletin.com

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Civic Solver

Civic Solver turns Bloomington’s everyday civic life into a puzzle worth cracking—from familiar faces to local landmarks. A weekly reason to stay curious: Complete this week’s puzzle.