March 27, 2025: School board opening, hotels, buses, control of streets
Relaunch update
I have scheduled some meetings for later this week and early next week that will help determine the shape of things to come for The B Square.
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:
Thursday: When you head out in the morning, take an umbrella or a waterproof jacket that will provide some additional warmth. The overnight low of 39°F will climb to the high of just 55°F by around 2 p.m. with a 30–50% chance of rain starting around 10 a.m.
Friday: Take your umbrella and whatever else you use to stay dry, but don't layer up too much, because you'll overheat. The almost definite night time rain will start to taper off by 8 a.m. but showers could extend through mid-morning. The daytime high will reach 76°F.
Sign up for weather alerts: Monroe County emergency alert system.
Roundup of recent articles
- MCCSC board seat open after Shurr resigns, applications due March 27 The District 7 seat on the Monroe County Community School Corporation (MCCSC) Board of School Trustees is vacant due to Brandon Shurr's resignation, and the board has 30 days to appoint a replacement.The March 27 deadline for applications is today. The new board member will face budgetary challenges due to declining enrollment and reduced revenue, as well as the redistricting of school attendance zones.
- Public Bus Notebook: Bloomington Transit ridership still trending up post-pandemic, but far below pre-2020 levels Bloomington Transit (BT) ridership in 2024 saw a 4% increase to 2.52 million rides compared to 2023, which continued an upward trend since the COVID-19 pandemic. But that's still about 20% below 2019 levels, possibly due in part to an 8% drop in service hours.
- Short term rentals making up bigger share of Monroe County innkeeper's tax revenue Total innkeeper's tax revenue for Monroe County continues a flattish trend, when adjusted for inflation. The revenue from short term rentals (STRs) like Airbnb and Vrbo has increased and now makes up almost 30% of the total, a fraction that has been growing since 2020.
On the calendar
Long (but normal?) county commissioners agenda. The 10 a.m. Thursday morning agenda for Monroe County runs literally from A to Z—there are 26 items listed out under New Business, one for each letter of the alphabet. All of it looks pretty straightforward, but sometimes that's exactly where the interesting stuff is lurking. It's also a good reason to show up to the meetings, where the mundane and routine might turn out to be at least mildly controversial.
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! Or it could be great way for neighbors to settle grudges. 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.
Voice Studio Recital – Students of Jane Dutton: On March 30 (Sunday), from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. in Auer Hall on Indiana University campus, some students at Jacobs School of Music will give a recital. Jane Dutton is a gigantic star in the world of opera. I did not know that before I took a spin through the big pile of events that is the B Square's calendar, spotted her name and wondered: Is that the same Jane Dutton as the kid who grew up a couple of blocks away from me in Columbus, Indiana. Yep.
Reporting in the works
Land deal for convention center expansion hotel: The big news out of the Monroe County capital improvement board (CIB) meeting on Wednesday was that there was no news to report on the formal status of a potential deal between Dora Hospitality and Bloomington's redevelopment commission (RDC). That deal would allow for the development of the former Bunger and Robertson property north of the existing convention center as a hotel to support the convention center expansion across College Avenue from the current center. But there's supposed to be an item on the RDC's agenda for April 7 that could bring some clarity to the situation.
Transportation commission, control of city roadways: The newsy bit out of the city council's Wednesday meeting was the council's selection of Matt Flaherty as the council's representative to the newly formed transportation commission. The transportation commission merged three former commissions: bicycle and pedestrian safety commission; traffic commission; and parking commission.
Flaherty prevailed by a vote of 5–4 over Andy Ruff. They each voted for themselves. Ruff had support from: Dave Rollo, Courtney Daily, and Isak Asare. Flaherty got votes from: Kate Rosenbarger, Isabel Piedmont-Smith, Hopi Stosberg, and Sydney Zulich.
A big theme that emerged during the deliberations on the appointment was the idea that the city council does not have the final word on permanent changes to city streets. It's apparently not even clear that the installation of stop signs needs approval from the city council. That would be remarkable, because some of the bitterest conflicts on the city council over the last decade or so have involved changes to roadway infrastructure, like installation of stop signs or traffic calming measures.
Meet Link!
This very, very good boy is a Husky. Here's what the shelter staff say about Link.
Link is a curious guy who enjoys long walks on the trail, preventing the encroachment of squirrels and birds, and testing out the latest in dog toys. He has experience with being crated and prefers to potty outdoors on a regular schedule. Link has met children both outside of and at the shelter and is excited to hang out with them.
Photo Finish (from B There)
6th Street & Walnut 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. Have a great weekend!
Dave Askins
734-645-2633
dave@bsquarebulletin.com