Nov. 27, 2025: Thanksgiving, towing, septic hauling, stepped up law enforcement

Thanksgiving Day time killer

At some point during this next stretch of days, you might find yourself with time to kill, or a desire to escape an unfriendly holiday debate about the best Christmas color, or a need to scrub off the energy of a small child without going into the backyard to toss the pigskin back and forth.

Try this: a digital jigsaw puzzle custom made for the Bloomington area for the day after Thanksgiving. Sure, you know about the Canopy of Lights, but what year did it start? You’ll get the answer when you complete the puzzle. It will probably take you or your child at least 2 minutes and 40 seconds, which is the fastest time that has been reported to me so far, achieved by a reader who wrote that it was “fueled solely by the desire to beat your time.”

Weather Talk

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

Thursday: Put on a warm coat and a hat before heading out on Thanksgiving Day, because things will start form an overnight low of 26F° and the high temperature will reach just 37F°. But it’s not going to rain or snow—it will be mostly sunny.

Friday: It will be pretty much a repeat of Thursday, but colder and brighter. The high temperature will reach just 33F° and will be sunny, not just mostly sunny.

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

Roundup of recent articles

• Bloomington may increase towing fee limits, end partial payment option, start storage clock quicker.  Bloomington’s city council on Dec. 3 will consider changes to two towing ordinances that raise the maximum charge from $135 to $150, eliminate the 20% release-payment option, shorten the storage-fee clock from 24 to 12 hours, and allow a $75 after-hours pickup fee.
• Bloomington eyes big hike in septic disposal fees, would still cover just half the cost.  On Dec. 3, Bloomington’s city council will consider an ordinance raising the septic dumping rate at the Dillman Road plant from about 2 cents to 8 cents per gallon—a four-fold increase. A study showed current charges no longer cover treatment costs.
• Monroe County, Bloomington area to see heavy patrols, sobriety checkpoints for holiday travel.  Bloomington police and other local agencies will boost traffic enforcement from Nov. 26 through year’s end, staffing sobriety checkpoints and conducting saturation patrols as part of Indiana’s Safe Family Travel campaign. A B Square review found about 5% of recent jail bookings involved OWI charges.

Quick notes

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.

On the calendar

There’s nothing left on the calendar for government meetings for the rest of the week. But let’s look ahead to next week.

Host hotel for convention center: Land donation after all? On the Monday (Dec. 1) meeting agenda for Bloomington’s redevelopment commission (RDC) is a resolution that affirms the RDC’s support for the convention center expansion project. A key resolved clause of the resolution says that the land at 4th Street and College Avenue, commonly called the former Bunger & Robertson site, will be made available to the host hotel project at no cost. Here’s how that resolved clause reads:

The Bloomington Redevelopment Commission hereby provides notice of its further commitment to the host hotel project by making the real estate at College Square necessary for the host hotel available, in some form, to the host hotel project at no or nominal costs to the project.

That appears to be a significant change from Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson’s administration’s previous position, which appears to have been that the city needed to see compensation from the roughly $7 million that was paid for the real estate, because Thomson wanted to invest the proceeds to address the affordable housing needs in the city. For B Square background, see: CIB braces for no-deal scenario with preferred hotelier on Bloomington Convention Center

Bus stop installations. On the Tuesday (Dec. 2) meeting agenda for the board of public works is a $47,150 contract with CGR services for the installation of five bus shelters at Bloomington Transit stops. The bus shelters themselves cost $83,070.

Nov. 28: Canopy of Lights. The earliest events for this annual kickoff to Bloomington’s holiday season start at 5 p.m on Friday in the courthouse square. The lighting ceremony starts around 6:45 p.m. For full details see the Visit Bloomington web page.

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.

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 Holly!

This very, very good girl is a husky. Here’s what the shelter staff have written about Holly:

This pretty pup is all energy and spunk! Holly loves running around with her brother (Jolly) but is slightly more reserved around meeting new people. If you’re looking for that classic husky energy and sass she'll be a right fit!

Photo Finish: 7th Street & Walnut Street

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

Thanks for reading. Happy Thanksgiving!

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

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