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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.

Will Bloomington burn big bucks in payouts, if billboard ban is OK’d? Plan commission punts vote

Will Bloomington burn big bucks in payouts, if billboard ban is OK’d? Plan commission punts vote

On Monday night, a short-handed Bloomington plan commission put off a vote on a proposed phasing out of billboards in the city by 2031. One big question that emerged during Monday’s meeting: How much compensation will Bloomington have to pay billboard owners, if the city causes them to

Column: A call for the Indiana General Assembly to kill the local caucus exemption in the Open Door Law

Column: A call for the Indiana General Assembly to kill the local caucus exemption in the Open Door Law

In about three months, nine people will be sworn into office to start a four-year term on Bloomington’s city council. Just four councilmembers will return. Five members will be new. Unless Republican Brett Heinisch prevails in the District 3 race against Democrat Hopi Stosberg, the council that is

Bloomington mayoral ballot access case dismissed, highlights 7-day waiting period for voter registration

Bloomington mayoral ballot access case dismissed, highlights 7-day waiting period for voter registration

On Friday, the lawsuit that Bloomington resident Joe Davis filed over access to the Nov. 7 ballot as an independent mayoral candidate was dismissed. The ruling on Davis’s claim was by Lucas Rudisill, who is the magistrate judge out of Greene County, who was assigned the case. Davis filed

Election notebook: In-person voting starts next week, vote center committee to start meeting

Election notebook: In-person voting starts next week, vote center committee to start meeting

Early in-person voting in Monroe County is set to start next Wednesday at 8 a.m. at the election operations building at 3rd and Walnut streets. [Indiana Voter Portal] Just one Bloomington race is contested—the District 3 Bloomington city council race between Democrat Hopi Stosberg and Republican Brett

5–4 Bloomington council vote: 3 more stops, not just Dunn, OK’d for reinstallation on 7-Line bicycle route

5–4 Bloomington council vote: 3 more stops, not just Dunn, OK’d for reinstallation on 7-Line bicycle route

“Wow. Just wow.” That was how Bloomington city council president Sue Sgambelluri summarized the contentious debate that had just concluded on the question of reinstalling stop signs at three intersections, along the route of the 7-Line separated bicycle lane. The intersections in question—Morton, Washington, and Lincoln—were not

First meeting of new board gets momentum restarted for Monroe Convention Center expansion

First meeting of new board gets momentum restarted for Monroe Convention Center expansion

In early July, Monroe County commissioners used a state statute to create a seven-member capital improvement board (CIB) to govern the expansion of the Monroe Convention Center. About three months later, on Wednesday morning, the first six appointees of the CIB convened an initial meeting in the Finch Room

2024 budget notebook: Monroe County council looks to do more for lower-paid workers

2024 budget notebook: Monroe County council looks to do more for lower-paid workers

At its work session on Tuesday night, the Monroe County council took up some leftover issues from its deliberations on the 2024 budget—salaries towards the upper end of the scale, as well as those at the lower end. Towards the higher end of county compensation, though not at the