June 2, 2025: Convention center, potential terrorist threats, 3 drops daily

My recovery from eye surgery continues with three drops daily of two different meds into my left eyeball. I have a post-op inspection with the surgeon on Wednesday, which I hope results in medical clearance to look at screens for as long as I like. Anyhow, I don't want to lose the habit of sending out an email every Monday and Thursday. Even though this edition of the Almost Daily Bulletin is still missing most of the standard elements, I still hope it contains some information you'll find useful in the next few days.

Launch of new downtown microtransit service. Monday (June 2) marks the start of Bloomington's new free microtransit service in the downtown, operating Monday through Friday, from the hours of 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. For B Square background see: Bloomington Transit looks to boost micro-transit numbers with free downtown zone trips.

Traveling town hall (June 2). Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson is holding the next edition of her Traveling Town Halls on Monday, June 2, at University Elementary, 1111 N. Russell Rd. It's set for 6 to 7 p.m. Also scheduled to attend are Jane Kupersmith, who is director of economic and sustainable development, and councilmember Hopi Stosberg.

Host hotel for convention center expansion. On the Bloomington redevelopment commission's 5 p.m. Monday meeting agenda is approval of another $300,000 to support a potential deal with Dora Hospitality to construct a host hotel for the Bloomington Convention Center on the former Bunger & Robertson site at 4th Street and College Avenue. For B Square background, see: Bloomington RDC to be asked for $300K more in support of Dora deal on convention center host hotel

West Showers. Also on the Bloomington RDC's 5 p.m. Monday meeting agenda is an item to terminate the leases of several tenants of West Showers. It was generally known that this would happen at some point, to make way for some city governmental use of West Showers, beyond the fire department's administration. I'm not sure what the immediate plans are for city use.

Ground breaking for convention center expansion. The groundbreaking for the convention center expansion is set for Tuesday (June 3) at 3:30 p.m.—across College Avenue from the existing facility.

Transportation commission applications. I asked the city of Bloomington for a copy of the applications for the new transportation commission, and received versions that showed redacted street address, email addresses and phone numbers for two reasons. The reasons are reflected in citations to the Access to Public Records Act: IC 5-14-3-4(b)(19) and IC 5-14-3-4(b)(20). The first is an exception that says a record can be withheld if disclosing it "would have a reasonable likelihood of threatening public safety by exposing a vulnerability to terrorist attack." That appears to be absurd on its face.

The second one says that a municipally owned utility can withhold the addresses and phone numbers of its customers. Applications for the transportation commission don't concern customers of a municipally owned utilities—because the applications are not in possession of city of Bloomington utilities. It sure looks like a public access counselor opinion has already considered this question. The PAC opinion says you can't extend that exception to anyone's address and phone number who happens to be a utility customer—the record has to be one that is maintained by the municipally owned utility.

On top of that, at least one of the applicants is not even a customer of CBU, which is a fact that emerged when I used this one weird trick known to journalists, but apparently not to the attorneys in the city's legal department—I asked him. I have raised the issue with the deputy mayor, because I don't think the legal department will ever manage to hold itself accountable for errors like this.

Handmade Market (June 7). The Handmade Market is set to take place on Saturday, June 7 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. from the news release: "Over 100 regional artists will showcase an incredible selection of modern handmade goods such as jewelry, apparel, bath and body products, housewares, local foods, and much more. Artist booths will fill the Monroe Courthouse lawn and the adjacent blocks of Kirkwood Ave and 6th Street."

Lemonade Day (June 7). Set for the same day as the Handmade Market is Lemonade Day, which is a national movement of sorts. From the Lemonade Day website: "Lemonade Day is a free, fun, experiential learning program that teaches youth how to start, own and operate their own business—a lemonade stand. The foremost objective of Lemonade Day is to empower youth to take ownership of their lives and become productive members of society—the business leaders, social advocates, volunteers, and forward thinking citizens of tomorrow."

Thanks for reading. I hope your week is off to a great start!

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