Nov. 24, 2025: Convention center hotel, SRO housing, nurses wanted, football over

Funding the B Square: Every piece of the puzzle

Solely due to the individual financial contributions of many of you, The B Square has been able to provide a livelihood for one person and to pay for occasional work by some freelance reporters and photogs. To all of you who have already clicked on the big red button in the upper right hand corner of the website: Thank you!

To expand The B Square’s staff, and to put it on a sustainable financial footing for the next decade or more, we are working to add corporate sponsorships.

Part of the sponsorship mix will be weekly puzzles. They will be included as links in the Almost Daily Bulletin, which you will see at the very end, after you have read every word. This is Week 2, so the second puzzle is now available. It’s another jigsaw puzzle, but more difficult than the one from Week 1. It has more pieces. It took me 3 minutes and 23 seconds to complete.

There’s nothing to stop you from wagering on your puzzling skills against others, as long as you keep things friendly. Potential candidates for elected office in 2026, or even 2027, might find it useful to complete each puzzle and document their results, in case it comes up during the campaign.

For readers with children who have been clamoring for ways to occupy their onscreen time with an activity that will add to their civic knowledge—as I imagine most children do—turn them loose on this week’s puzzle!

Weather Talk

Based on the National Weather Service forecast in text and charts here’s some advice.

Monday: Slow down. There’s a dense fog advisory through 11 a.m. Slow down. Wear a jacket, but not anything that will make you overheat on a day when the high will reach 54F°.

Tuesday: Take an umbrella or a rain jacket with you, because the rain that will come on Monday night will extend through Tuesday morning. Whatever you wore to knock the chill off on Monday will probably work for Tuesday, when the high is expected to be around 60F°.

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

Roundup of recent articles

• Convention center notebook: Extra costs include foundation change for sanitary sewer; art project draws 180 applications.  Bloomington’s convention center expansion has used about 13% of its $2.4M contingency as steel goes up on the $52M project. The CIB also heard an update on the $520K public-art effort, which drew 180 applicants and is expected to be narrowed to five finalists by mid-December.
• Sunday Funnies: Hawk v. Fish.  Hawk: How can you tell the city of Bloomington is concerned about the safety of little pumpkins as they walk around town? What does Fish say in reply?
• Monroe County property transfers through Nov. 18, 2025.  This report includes new property transfers in Monroe County that haven’t previously been reported by The B Square, with dates ranging from Oct. 30 to Nov. 18, 2025. The data in this report comes from Beacon, the county’s online geographic information system for property and parcel data.
• Monroe County posts three nursing jobs to bridge public health service gap, looks to Morgan County for help.  Monroe County has posted three public-health nursing jobs and is pursuing a short-term interlocal agreement with Morgan County to help cover vaccinations and screenings after a contract with IU Health ends Jan. 1, 2026. The board was updated at is Thursday meeting.
• New Palestine shuts out Bloomington South, ends playoff run for Panthers.  Bloomington South’s season ended Friday with a 42–0 semi-state loss to undefeated New Palestine. The Panthers struggled on both sides of the ball and could not repeat their recent comeback wins. South finishes 11–2, claiming Conference Indiana, Sectional, and Regional titles.
• Bloomington OKs up to three single-room rentals in owner-occupied houses.  Bloomington’s city council voted 7–2 to allow up to three SRO bedrooms in owner-occupied homes in R1–R4 zones, with limits including conditional-use review, owner residency, and a two-year 150-foot buffer. Supporters cited affordability; dissenters warned of investor work-around..
• CIB braces for no-deal scenario with preferred hotelier on Bloomington Convention Center.  Negotiations between Bloomington and Dora Hospitality over the former Bunger & Robertson site appear stalled, with a Dec. 17 deadline looming. A major funding gap remains, prompting the CIB to prepare backup options—including revisiting the 2024 hotel RFP—if no agreement is reached.

Quick notes

Mimosas at Lincoln Square Pancakes. At the same meeting of the local alcoholic beverage board when the new restaurant in the Princess Theater space received a recommendation for its three-way liquor license transfer, Lincoln Square Pancakes received a recommendation for a beer and wine license so that it can start serving mimosas. Last week’s Nov. 18, 2025 meeting agenda for the state’s alcohol and tobacco commission included the recommendation for Lincoln on 11th, LLC.

Dynamic zoning petition map. Have you ever been walking or driving around Bloomington and seen one of those signs that says there’s a zoning request pending for the property, with a number to call? That number goes to the planning department, where some of the most helpful people in all of city government work. Don’t hesitate to call it. But here’s another way to find out what’s going on with that zoning request: a dynamic map with all the pending requests. Here’s a screenshot of the map, which links to the actual map

On the calendar

Government meetings. There aren’t any government meetings on the calendar that I am planning to cover.

Dec. 6 –9: YMCA Holiday Bazaar. From the organizers: “Browse the Holiday Bazaar at our Southeast Y on December 6, 8, and 9 to find the perfect hand-crafted gifts for your loved ones this holiday season! Hand-knitted and crocheted items, such as scarves, hats, stuffed animals, blankets, and more, will be available for purchase during the bazaar.”

Hours on individual days break down like this: Saturday, Dec. 6: 8 a.m.–noon; Monday, Dec. 8: 8:30 a.m.–noon; Tuesday, Dec. 9: 8:30 a.m.–noon. All items are handmade by the YMCA’s Y Service in Friendship group, which is made up of volunteers. All proceeds benefit the Y for All Scholarship Fund.

New hours for library: Remember, the hours for the downtown branch of the Monroe County Public library have changed. The new hours are: Monday–Thursday 9 a.m.–7 p.m. The hours on other days are unchanged: Friday–Saturday 10 a.m.–6 p.m. and Sunday noon–6 p.m. The reduced hours were a decision made by the library board three months ago.

Dec. 1: Online auction for “Batman House” ends. The big old mansion at Kirkwood Avenue and Madison Street is up for auction for a minimum bid of $750,000. The high bid so far is still $760,000. The auction is being conducted online.

Meet Malcolm!

This very, very good boy is a mix of Labrador retriever and Weimaraner. Here’s what the shelter staff have written about Malcolm:

Malcolm is a very good boy. Yes, he’s exuberant when he meets new people but give him a couple of minutes to calm down and this boy is solidly awesome. Malcom is house trained, walks nicely on leash, has never met a stranger, is crate trained, can be trusted around nice things, likes other dogs, and knows basic commands. Serious rockstar potential here folks. Come meet him today!

Photo Finish: Griffy Lake Nature Preserve

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

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

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

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Civic Solver

Civic Solver turns Bloomington’s everyday civic life into a puzzle worth cracking — from familiar faces to local landmarks. A weekly reason to stay curious: Complete this week’s puzzle.