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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.

Early election notebook: Three days of in-person early voting

Early election notebook: Three days of in-person early voting

Through about 1:30 p.m. on Friday, 863 people had cast an early in-person ballot in Monroe County for the Nov. 8 elections. Early in-person voting started on Wednesday morning at Monroe County’s election operations center at 3rd and Walnut streets. For the first week of early voting,

Bloomington budget adopted, AFSCME workers get same pay (for now) as last year

Bloomington budget adopted, AFSCME workers get same pay (for now) as last year

On unanimous votes taken on Wednesday night, Bloomington’s city council adopted the six separate ordinances that make up the 2023 budget. That meant the council chose not to confront Bloomington mayor John Hamilton’s administration in the same way it did last year, when it postponed a vote on

Bloomington plan commission news: State’s highest court declines case on party affiliations for partisan-balanced boards

Chris Cockerham will remain a Bloomington plan commissioner. Andrew Guenther will not be installed to replace him. That’s because Indiana’s Supreme Court gave notice on Tuesday that it will not to hear an appeal that was requested in July by Guenther and former Monroe County Republican Party chair

Hear ye, hear ye: Early voting starts in Monroe County, Indiana

Hear ye, hear ye: Early voting starts in Monroe County, Indiana

At 8 a.m. sharp on Wednesday, Monroe County clerk Nicole Browne opened the door at the new election operations center at 3rd and Walnut streets in downtown Bloomington and proclaimed: “Hear ye, hear ye, the polls are now open!” That’s how in-person early voting started in Monroe County,

2023 Bloomington budget notebook: Parking cashouts, cop cars

2023 Bloomington budget notebook: Parking cashouts, cop cars

The methods used by city employees to get to work have surfaced in two ways during recent Bloomington city council deliberations on the 2023 budget. First, for city hall employees, mayor John Hamilton has already implemented a parking “cashout” program for the second half of 2022. It’s supposed to

First rezone hearing for potential new jail highlights employment center versus institutional use

First rezone hearing for potential new jail highlights employment center versus institutional use

On Monday, a lot of ground got covered at the Bloomington plan commission’s first hearing about a rezone request from Monroe County government. The rezone is needed if a new jail is to be built in the southwest corner of the city. But one topic emerged as a big

Traffic notebook: Added stops at Maxwell-Sheridan to be weighed by Bloomington city council

Traffic notebook: Added stops at Maxwell-Sheridan to be weighed by Bloomington city council

Probably at its regular meeting next week (Oct. 19), Bloomington’s city council will give a first reading to an ordinance that would make the intersection at Maxwell Lane and Sheridan Drive an all-way stop. Currently it’s a two-way stop, which requires traffic on Sheridan to stop at Maxwell.