March 24, 2025: Postal protest, cartoons, annexation, gender, mechanical bull ride

Relaunch update

This coming week will mean a big push to get some B Square organizational details settled, to prepare for the restart of a donation program around the beginning of April.

It's easy to say, "Yes, there will be an online donation program for individual contributions!" And frankly, just executing on the technical side would be straightforward. But getting the organizational structure settled is not trivial. I want to take the time to increase the chances that the whole operation winds up as a sustainable institution for decades to come.

A reminder: 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.

Weather

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

Monday: You won't need rain protection, but a warm jacket to ward off the morning chill to start the day would be a good idea. The temperature will climb from an overnight low of 38°F to a high of around 58°F. It will be sunny, but a steady wind of 10 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 36 mph, will make you glad you have worn some kind of outer wrap.

Tuesday: Take an umbrella, or a hat with a brim, or waterproof jacket, because there will be a 30–50% chance of rain for most of the day. Wear a jacket that provides some warmth, because morning temperatures will be starting from an overnight low of 37°F and will reach a high of 57°F after 4 p.m.

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

Roundup of recent articles

• Protesters rally in downtown Bloomington against postal privatization: 'U.S. Mail is not for sale!' On Sunday afternoon (March 23), a crowd of at least 80 people gathered on the courthouse square in downtown Bloomington, to protest the idea of privatizing the kind of mail delivery that is now provided by the U.S. Postal Service. The group included postal workers and other area residents.Carrying signs and chanting slogans like “U.S. Mail is not for sale!” demonstrators walked the southeast sides of the square along Kirkwood Avenue and Walnut Street. They then crowded together on the corner steps by the Alexander Memorial to hear remarks from Joshua Peterson, who is the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 828 president.
• Sunday Funnies: Hawk v. Fish This was the inaugural edition of Sunday Funnies for The B Square. If the conversation between the hawk and the fish on top of the Monroe County courthouse does not strike you as hilarious, you have some other options.
• Bloomington annexation update: Briefs now filed by both sides in appeal of case on the merits The initial briefs have now been filed by both sides in Bloomington's appeal of special judge Nathan Nikirk's ruling last August, that the city's attempted annexation of Area 1A and Area 1B could not go forward. The case involves the merits of annexation in those two areas, not the constitutional question that has been raised for the other five areas that Bloomington wants to make a part of the city. This article breaks down what the briefs for each side say about several different topics.
• Local court order, governor's order on gender put Monroe County board of health 'between a rock and a hard place' Until an executive order was issued by new Indiana governor Mike Braun on March 4, a change of name and gender on a birth certificate in Indiana followed a standard procedure at the local level. But the governor's order, coupled with guidance from the State Registrar and Division Director in the Indiana Department of Health, has put Monroe County's board of health in an apparent tough spot: How can it comply with a local court order obtained by a petitioner to change their gender on their birth certificate, and at the same time comply with the guidance from the state? The board of health voted at its regular Thursday meeting on a report to the court that outlines how it has completed some steps, which it hopes will keep county government out of litigation.

On the calendar

Innkeeper's Tax revenues: Appearing on the Monday (March 24) noon meeting agenda for the convention and visitors commission is the routine review of revenue from the county's innkeeper's tax. The $493,902 collected in December 2024 was almost double the $270,575 that came in for December 2023. But that followed a November that was down almost 30%—to $259,933, from the November 2023 figure of $364,739. That's the kind of thing that makes you wonder if it was simply a matter of when the receipts got reported. The first two months of the year in 2025 show a total of around $397,000, which is down 3% from 2024.

Bean Blossom fire protection: Appearing on the 5 p.m. Tuesday (March 25) meeting agenda for the Monroe County council is a $10,000 item to fund a review by Baker Tilley of two proposals, from the Monroe Fire Protection District and Ellettsville's fire department, to provide fire protection in Bean Blossom Township. For B Square background on this topic, see: Bean Blossom won’t join Monroe Fire Protection District until 2027 at the earliest

Transportation commission: Appearing on the 5:30 p.m. Tuesday (March 25) agenda for the board of Bloomington Transit is a presentation from the city's planning services manager Ryan Robling about the newly formed transportation commission, which replaces three previous commissions—the traffic commission, the bicycle and pedestrian safety commission, and the parking commission. Under the city code that regulates the new nine-member commission, one of the members has to be a member of the Bloomington Transit board of directors or a designee of the board, including possibly one of the BT staff. It's not clear if the board will go ahead and make its appointment this week.

The transportation commission also appears on the 6:30 p.m Wednesday (March 26) agenda for Bloomington's city council. The council has a total of three appointments to make—one from its own membership and two more from "residents living within city limits who have experience using forms of travel other than personal motor vehicles as their primary method of transportation." It looks like the item for the council's consideration this week will be about the appointment from the council's own membership.

Nobel Peace Prize, March 26 (Wednesday): 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.

Mechanical bull rides at ​Corazón de Jaripeo (Saturday, March 29): The mechanical bull rides that are a part of this Switchyard Park event could be a great resume builder! This celebration of Latin American traditions, will feature live music, dance performances, and family-friendly activities starts at 5 p.m. From 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. the pavilion will be transformed into a dance hall. Food options will include: Pili's Taco Truck, La Bodega, Ale's Ice Cream, and La Poblana.

Reporting in the works

School board vacancy: There's a vacancy on the MCCSC (Monroe County Community School Corporation) board, left by Brandon Shurr's departure. The open spot will likely get at least a mention at the board's upcoming meeting on Tuesday at 6 p.m. I don't see an easy way to link directly to the board's Tuesday agenda inside the general BoardDocs platform. So I have extracted it and posted it to BloomDocs.

Potential candidates to fill the vacant board seat will need to live in District 7, which includes a swath of central western Bloomington.

From the MCCSC bylaws:

A vacancy shall be filled by the remaining members of the Board within thirty (30) days.
I.C. 5-8-1-35, 5-8-3.5-1
I.C. 20-23-4-30

Filling a Board Vacancy

A vacancy shall be filled by the remaining members of the Board within thirty (30) days after the vacancy occurs. If a tie vote occurs among the remaining members of the Board or between candidates for the Board under I.C. 3-12-9-4, or the remaining members of the remaining Board members fail to fill a vacancy on the Board within thirty (30) days after any vacancy occurs, the judge of the circuit court shall make an appointment to fill the vacancy. (I.C. 20‑23‑4‑30(d) & (2))

The Board shall seek qualified and interested candidates from the community through the news media, word of mouth, and contacts with appropriate organizations. All applicants are to submit a notice of their interest, in writing, to the Board of School Trustees, sent to the administrative offices of the School Corporation. The Board shall interview all interested candidates to ascertain their qualifications. Appointment by the Board to fill a vacancy shall be by majority vote of the full Board.

Meet Koda!

This very, very good boy is a German Shepherd Dog/Great Pyrenees mix. From the shelter staff description:

Koda is handsome, very silly, is fine with other dogs who don't want to party (he's past those partying years). He is the epitome of affectionate and truly just seems to want someone to hang out with in his senior years. If you're looking for a very good, older gentleman, come meet Koda today!

Photo Finish (from B There)
Morton Street & University Street

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

There's more to Bloomington than the narrow slice that I traverse in my daily travels. 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 your week is off to a great start!

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