March 20, 2025: Downzoning, alleys, sirens, gender, Cider!

Relaunch update

Included in Monday's Almost Daily Bulletin were two embedded maps. One map showed the requested alley vacation for a planned hotel in the Trades District. The other map showed the requested rezone of more than 200 parcels in the unincorporated part of Monroe County.

But those maps did not appear on the screen for readers who viewed the email message in the natural way, namely with their email reader. That's because embedded maps don't generally work with emails. I did not know that. Now I do. I'm sorry for the frustration that it caused some of you.

I am glad that there is now a version of the email messages that is automatically published to the website. And in the website version, those embedded maps do appear. If you ever find yourself looking for an old edition of the Almost Daily Bulletin, and you don't want to rummage through your email inbox, they all get posted to the website, too, in their own section.

As always, there is an easy answer to a question I've heard a lot so far: Will there be a way to donate money to The B Square? Yes! That's in the works, and as soon as it's ready, it will be announced. By the start of April, I hope it will be sorted out.

Weather

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

Thursday: Wear a warm jacket or even your winter coat, and bring an umbrella. The overnight low of 37°F won't come until 10 a.m. and the temperature won't get any higher than 41°F. There'll be about a 50% chance of rain through the morning dropping to around 20% by 1 p.m.

Friday: Wear the same warm jacket that you did Thursday. No need for an umbrella, though. The temperature will climb to a high of 54°F by 4 p.m. But in the morning, the temps will be coming off a below-freezing low.

Severe weather preparedness: Are you signed up for severe weather alerts, so that you get a text or an email message, or both, when a warning gets issued? Why not? Sirens aren't magic. Why not take a minute right now, on Thursday morning, to sign up for emergency alerts.

I heard some complaints that some sirens did not go off last weekend. I can't verify that all of them sounded, but the sonic waves from the one in downtown absolutely landed on my eardrums.

When I worked in South Dakota as a reporter, it was a common complaint that the sirens did not go off. The boilerplate information I got from emergency managers went something like: Well, they're meant to alert people who are outside, to go inside to seek shelter—so if you were outside, that could be why you didn't hear it. The windy conditions that generally are connected to occasions when sirens go off, can also affect the audible range of sirens.

Of course, that answer is probably not very satisfying, especially if you typically do hear the siren tests, but did not hear the warning connected to an actual storm. Does Monroe County government have a way to check if the sirens actually went off? Responding to an emailed B Square question, emergency manager Jamie Neibel wrote:

We have software that can tell us brief, general diagnosis of each siren. Looking at that, the siren located at the Harrodsburg Community Park did activate successfully. We reference back to the software whenever we get reports of the sirens not functioning.

There absolutely is truth to the boilerplate information, their purpose is to warn people who are outside to seek shelter indoors. Wind speed, leaves on the trees can also change the sound quality from inside a building. So, they should not be relied upon as the sole source of warnings.

Roundup of recent articles

• Downzone of 200+ parcels surrounded by Bloomington goes to county commissioners with nod from advisory planning group The Monroe County plan commission has recommended that the county commissioners downzone over 200 parcels in unincorporated areas surrounded by Bloomington from High Development (HD) to Residential 1 (RES). This rezoning, initiated by the county commissioners, is supposed to better reflect the existing character of these older neighborhoods, many of which have septic systems and are located in areas with karst topography, and is connected to past annexation efforts by the city of Bloomington.
• Alley vacation needed from Bloomington city council, to make Trades District hotel deal work The Bloomington Redevelopment Commission (RDC) has approved a resolution to petition the city council to vacate a platted alley in the Trades District, which is necessary for Alluinn IU Trades District Hotel to purchase two parcels and develop a 150-bed hotel. This alley vacation would resolve design challenges posed by the existing north-south alley and might involve swapping it with a new east-west alley

On the calendar

Gender on birth certificates. Included in the 4:30 p.m. Thursday (March 20) board of health meeting information packet is a breakdown of vital statistics, like the number of birth and death certificates issued in February this year. There were 193 birth certificates compared to 267 death certificates.

In connection with birth certificates, it's possible that the topic of Indiana governor Mike Braun's executive order will come up at the board's Thursday meeting—because it says "Indiana’s Executive Branch will respect and enforce the biological binary of man and woman as a fundamental and deeply rooted principle of American legal history and tradition that is embedded in Indiana’s statutes and Constitution." Last week at the Monroe County health department, a trans person reportedly tried to change their birth certificate to reflect their gender and was told that the local department was awaiting guidance.

Help clean up Jackson Creek Park, March 22 (Saturday). What a great way to wrap up spring break: Volunteer to help clean up Jackson Creek Park and learn about World Water Day. The meetup spot is 5970 S. Rogers at 10 a.m. Trash bags and gloves will be provided.

Nobel Peace Prize, March 26 (Wednesday): This is still about 10 days out. Starting at 7 p.m. at First United Church (2420 E. 3rd St.), Ira Helfand will be speaking on the topic of preventing nuclear war. Helfand is a member of the international steering group for International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). ICAN was the winner of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize.

Reporting in the works

On Tuesday, Monroe County assessor Judy Sharp met with me and George Balas, a freelance reporter, who will be working on a way to provide the regular summaries of property transfers to B Square readers. I think Balas will come up with something spectacular.

Meet Cider!

This very, very good boy is an Australian Cattle Dog/Border Collie mix. The shelter staff note says: "I am new to the shelter and we are all getting to know each other. If you are interested in adopting stop by the shelter for a visit." Let's try and make Cider's stay at the shelter a super brief one!

Photo Finish (from B There)
3rd Street & Walnut Street

For more items like these, see the B There section of the B Square website.

There's more to Bloomington than downtown. To improve the geographic coverage of B There, please consider occasionally contributing to The B Square 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