June 19, 2025: Local economy, old buses, hotel deal, cross-country bicycle race, missed deadlines

Weather

Based on the National Weather Service forecast in text and charts here's some advice:

Thursday: You can probably get away without an umbrella or a big-brimmed hat today, but there's about a 20% chance for scattered showers and thunderstorms through the morning until a little past noon. Dress light, because the humidity will make the high temperature of 81°F feel plenty bad.

Friday: Slow down and drive even slower than you normally do, because there could be areas of fog before 9 a.m. But otherwise, it's supposed to be mostly sunny. Dress light, because the high will be near 85°F with a heat index that makes it feel a couple of degrees warmer.

Weekend: Break out your short pants, because it's going to hit the low 90s Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.

Sign up for weather alerts: Monroe County emergency alert system.

Roundup of recent articles

• IU economist says Bloomington should hear the alarm bells, but 'fire deparment' is coming.  Phil Powell, Indiana University professor of business economics, led off remarks on Wednesday with three statistics that he called alarm bells: low labor productivity, shifting demographics, and high housing costs.
• Bloomington Transit notebook: Old buses scrapped, additional enviro study OK'd, annual accord with IU approved.  At its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, the board of Bloomington Transit (BT) handled several fairly routine items, as well as one that stood out as non-routine. The non-routine item came in connection with a pending land purchase for the new location of BT's operations center.
• Trades District update: Bloomington OKs revised hotel deal, greenlights interior renovation to The Mill.  A revised agreement with Alluinn IU Trades District Hotel LLC for the sale of two city-owned parcels in the Trades District was approved on Monday by Bloomington's RDC. The RDC also signed off on a proposal to renovate the interior of The Mill.
• Photos: Cross-country bicycle race leader stops through Bloomington.  Around 10 p.m. on Monday night, Philipp Kaider, a 39-year-old Austrian, pedaled through Bloomington as the race leader in the Race Across America (RAAM). Kelton O'Connell was out on the wet Monday evening to capture some photos of Kaider as he passed through town.
• Bloomington misses statutory deadlines for action on zoning code changes, after initiation by city council.  One of the proposed zoning changes to be heard on July 14—about single-resident occupancy (SRO) housing—was initiated by city council action last November. By mid-July, the statutory deadline for a plan commission vote will have been blown by about three months.

On the calendar

Juneteenth. The holiday commemorates June 19, 1865, when the enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, finally found out about their freedom. It was more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Monroe County commissioners are not holding their regular Thursday meeting.

Big Talk. Michael Glab invited me as a guest on his WFHB show called "Big Talk." If you enjoy the boring character of my writing, you can probably find the same level of boredom listening to me talk about The B Square.

Special Food distribution June 27. From Hoosier Hills Food Bank. "The drive-thru distribution will take place Friday, June 27 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Hoosier Hills Food Bank, 2333 West Industrial Park Drive. Each vehicle will receive one fresh box of perishables including produce, dairy and protein and a choice of one box of dry products tailored either for children or seniors. Both dry boxes will include approximately one week’s worth of dry staples with items targeted for each population such as 100% juice boxes for kids and no salt added canned goods for seniors. While anyone is welcome, this distribution is focused on children and seniors and guests will need to choose one box or the other."

Parks survey! I get that there is a certain survey fatigue that can set it, but this one is short. It's about the Bloomington parks system, to help the staff update the master plan for parks. The parks survey took me under 4 minutes to complete.

Meet Rocky!

This very, very good boy is a shepherd mix. Here's what the shelter staff have to say about Rocky:

If you're looking for the best fetch partner EVER, Rocky's your guy. When he's not gleefully retrieving tennis balls, he's probably tending to his perfectly fluffy fur or saying "Hi!" to every person he passes. Come meet this all-star pup today!

Photo Finish
South Woodlawn Avenue (Bryan Park Pool)

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

The geographic coverage of the B There section is pretty limited. Please consider occasionally contributing to the B There section some brief factual observations about the world outside your own head, as you go about your normal business. (Photos are optional for B There.) The mechanics of making a contribution are pretty straightforward—just let me know if you'd like to learn the ins and outs. If you're looking at this bulletin in your email inbox, you should be able to reach me by hitting Reply.

Thanks for reading. I hope you have a great weekend!

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