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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.

Election notebook: Same old story, Bloomington voter turnout is one for the ages

Election notebook: Same old story, Bloomington voter turnout is one for the ages

It’s the custom of Monroe County clerk Nicole Browne to send out hourly updates over the course of Election Day. The May 2, 2023 municipal primary was no different. One of Browne’s updates included this note: “I tried to find the oldest voter who has participated in this

Local Democratic Party won’t contest District 6 Bloomington council election outcome now, leaves door open to future action

Local Democratic Party won’t contest District 6 Bloomington council election outcome now, leaves door open to future action

Monroe County Democratic Party chair David Henry has confirmed to The B Square that he has not filed a petition under Indiana election code objecting to the outcome of the May 2 primary. The primary made David Wolfe Bender the party’s nominee for the Bloomington District 6 city council

$626K in general fund spending, $1.3M in ARPA money for police-fire OK’d by Bloomington council

$626K in general fund spending, $1.3M in ARPA money for police-fire OK’d by Bloomington council

At its Wednesday meeting, Bloomington’s city council unanimously approved $626,000 in spending from the city’s general fund, along with an appropriation of $1.3 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money. After adding another $233,600 in spending for the parks department, and a transfer

Referred by election board to county prosecutor, state attorney general: Residency questions about District 6 Bloomington city council candidate

Referred by election board to county prosecutor, state attorney general: Residency questions about District 6 Bloomington city council candidate

David Wolfe Bender’s name was the only one that appeared on the May 2 Democratic Party’s primary for the Bloomington city council’s District 6 seat. So Bender is currently the party’s nominee for that council position. All other things being equal, he will appear on the

Fee increase: Trash talk for Bloomington city council to start, but not end, on June 7

Fee increase: Trash talk for Bloomington city council to start, but not end, on June 7

The first reading of an ordinance that would increase trash collection fees by at least 58 percent got its first reading at Wednesday night’s Bloomington city council meeting. Under Bloomington local law, no discussion of an ordinance by the city council is allowed on the occasion of a first

Bloomington public bus notebook: Uber-Lyft late night continues, paratransit to get same-day service

Bloomington public bus notebook: Uber-Lyft late night continues, paratransit to get same-day service

Now set to continue, but with a few tweaks, is pilot program started last year by Bloomington Transit (BT), to replace late night service on some routes—with vouchers that can be used on Uber or Lyft. The Uber-Lyft option is branded as BT Late Nite. The approach of using

April 2023 food inspection reports for Monroe County released by health department

April 2023 food inspection reports for Monroe County released by health department

Monroe County’s health department has released the reports for inspections of food service operations that were conducted in April. Just about one-third (24) of the 66 places that were inspected in April had no violations. Recording at least one non-critical violation, but no critical violations were 13 establishments. Recording