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Dave Askins

Dave Askins

Bloomington, Indiana

Dave Askins is editor and publisher of The B Square Bulletin. A Hoosier native with a background in math and linguistics, he previously co-founded the Ann Arbor Chronicle with his wife, Mary Morgan.

Collaboration across Monroe County government a recipe for cooking up better food safety reporting

Collaboration across Monroe County government a recipe for cooking up better food safety reporting

In January 2023, when a Monroe County resident asked for food service inspection reports, the best response that county government could muster came from Mike Kuzemka, who works in the health department as the environmental health services manager. Kuzemka asked the resident to fill out a records request form. Now,

Week 8: Free speech policy protesters persist at IU Bloomington, hear report of search warrant

Week 8: Free speech policy protesters persist at IU Bloomington, hear report of search warrant

Sunday evening marked two months of weekly protests at Sample Gates in Bloomington, against Indiana University’s new “expressive activities” policy, which was effective Aug. 1. Sample Gates is the spot where Kirkwood Avenue dead ends at the western edge of the Bloomington campus. On the university campus, during the

Likely to be fueled by Monroe County ARPA: New west-side Bloomington bus, ‘shadow’ rural service

Likely to be fueled by Monroe County ARPA: New west-side Bloomington bus, ‘shadow’ rural service

A new bus route to the west side of Bloomington—which will go outside city limits, to serve Ivy Tech, Simtra, and Cook Medical, among other employment centers—looks like it will get its $177,885 annual cost covered by Monroe County government. That’s one of the bits of

Bloomington releases annexation trial exhibits, court of appeals case still waiting on transcript

Bloomington releases annexation trial exhibits, court of appeals case still waiting on transcript

Responding to a B Square records request, the city of Bloomington has produced the exhibits that were admitted into evidence as part of the bench trial on annexation of Areas 1A and 1B, which was conducted in late April and early May of 2024. The B Square has published the

Early voting notebook: Monroe County turnout so far in 2024 outpacing 2020 numbers

Early voting notebook: Monroe County turnout so far in 2024 outpacing 2020 numbers

A Friday evening email from Monroe County election supervisor Kylie Farris delivered the daily totals for the first week of early in-person voting in Monroe County for the Nov. 5, 2024 election. Those daily totals added up to 4,249 ballots cast over four days, starting Tuesday (Oct. 8). Based

Monroe County board rejects contract for display of election night results on 2–1 vote

Monroe County board rejects contract for display of election night results on 2–1 vote

At Thursday’s noon meeting of Monroe County’s election board, the stage was set for resolving a lingering question of how local election results will be announced to the public on Nov. 5. Elected county clerk Nicole Browne had on two occasions—first on Sept. 25 and again this

Convention center expansion update: Favored hotelier named, project cost dialed in at $71M, Bloomington budget challenge rejected

Convention center expansion update: Favored hotelier named, project cost dialed in at $71M, Bloomington budget challenge rejected

On Wednesday, several aspects of the planned expansion of the Monroe Convention Center came into sharper focus. An afternoon meeting of the Monroe County capital improvement board (CIB) included a vote to give the nod to Dora Hospitality LLC over Garfield Public/Private LLC and MHG Hotels LLC as the