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How the city council can increase union pay at a single meeting (Bonus: Bloomington’s salary ordinances since the beginning of time)

The Bloomington city council’s first meeting of 2019 on Wednesday includes an agenda item that would make changes to the compensation of AFSCME (American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees) employees. Wednesday’s agenda item is an amendment to the salary ordinance for 2019, approved by the city

Local government kicks off new year with first meetings of 2019

This week the elected bodies of Monroe County and the City of Bloomington – as well as several appointed boards and commissions – hold their regular sessions for the first time in 2019, following the holiday break. Monroe County The 7-member Monroe County Council meets on Tuesday, Jan. 8. Their agenda

2018 Year in Review: Taking Bloomington’s temperature

2018 Year in Review: Taking Bloomington’s temperature

The second half of December in Bloomington, Indiana, might have felt a little warmer than normal. How can that sort of gut feeling be checked against reality? What does “normal” even mean? One place to start is the Applied Climate Information System (ACIS), which was developed and is maintained by

Deadline to apply for Monroe County Citizens’ Academy: Feb. 4

Deadline to apply for Monroe County Citizens’ Academy: Feb. 4

The Monroe County Citizens’ Academy – a free series of classes to learn about county services and operations – starts Feb. 7. The deadline to apply is Monday, Feb. 4. Participants will meet with Monroe County staff and elected officials to get a deeper understanding about how local government works. The course,

B Square Elsewhere: Garbage Collectors in Bloomington, Indiana

B Square Elsewhere: Garbage Collectors in Bloomington, Indiana

On Jan. 3, 2019 the Haywood Library (in Haywood, California) tweeted a link to a poem by Philip Appleman called “To the Garbage Collectors in Bloomington, Indiana, the First Pickup of the New Year.” The library’s “poem of the day” for the third day of the year is from

Square Spots: Tiny Mobile House

Square Spots: Tiny Mobile House

Corner of East 6th and Madison: Tiny house on wheels spotted in the wild – perhaps the handiwork of Loren Wood Builders? –

2019 edition of Bloomington’s city council will be the second-most experienced ever

The nine current members of the Bloomington, Indiana, city council will start 2019 with 95 years of collective experience, which makes it the second-most experienced council ever. It’s seven years fewer than that of the council’s 2017 edition, which was the most experienced one in Bloomington’s