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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.

Pandemic notebook: Adjusted daily data shows downward (and upward) trends a smidgen earlier

Pandemic notebook: Adjusted daily data shows downward (and upward) trends a smidgen earlier

Numbers reported in all categories related to the COVID-19 pandemic continue to decline. A change to the way the state of Indiana is reporting daily case totals hasn’t changed the shape of the trends. At Friday’s every-other-week news conference of local leaders, IU Health community

Bloomington mayor: “We need to talk about resources for our community—new revenue.”

Bloomington mayor: “We need to talk about resources for our community—new revenue.”

During a speech on Thursday night, billed as a “state of the city” address, Bloomington mayor John Hamilton put the first half hour into a celebration of the city’s accomplishments dating to 2017 and earlier. That was the windup to three more pragmatic points. Hamilton said that for “Democrats

2022 election plans: Polling sites OK’d as Monroe County preps 302 S. Walnut building for early voting

2022 election plans: Polling sites OK’d as Monroe County preps 302 S. Walnut building for early voting

Preparations continue for the May 3 primary elections in Monroe County. Twenty-nine polling sites were approved by Monroe County’s board of commissioners at their regular Wednesday morning meeting. The approved sites are mostly the same locations that have been used in the past. Among the sites that are

5 of 7 Bloomington annexation attempts thwarted, according to county auditor’s certified results

5 of 7 Bloomington annexation attempts thwarted, according to county auditor’s certified results

Late Wednesday afternoon, Monroe County auditor Cathy Smith released her final certified results of the remonstrance petitions for seven separate annexation efforts by the city of Bloomington. Based on the auditor’s certified results, remonstrance efforts in five of the seven areas have succeeded outright, because more than 65 percent

Monroe County Democrats choose human rights lawyer Shruti Rana as vice chair

Monroe County Democrats choose human rights lawyer Shruti Rana as vice chair

At a caucus held by Zoom video conference on Sunday, the Monroe County Democratic Party chose Shruti Rana as its vice chair. Rana is assistant dean at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. As a legal scholar, she focuses on international and human rights law.

Pandemic notebook: Declining case numbers give momentum for lifting restrictions

Pandemic notebook: Declining case numbers give momentum for lifting restrictions

The Monday update to Indiana’s COVID-19 data dashboard confirmed the trend in declining positive case numbers and hospital census statewide. Also in Monroe County the downward trend continued, as the rolling daily average of positive cases dropped to 37. That’s still about twice the rolling average at

Column: Let’s try making journalists out of Bloomington’s elected officials

Column: Let’s try making journalists out of Bloomington’s elected officials

Bloomington has way fewer local news reporters than in years past. In a column published last November by The Limestone Post, former Herald-Times reporter Steve Hinnefeld put some specific numbers on that trend. The newsroom at his former paper has diminished from 50 to just a dozen, Hinnefeld wrote.