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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.

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.

Election notebook: Candidates inspect ballot proofs

Election notebook: Candidates inspect ballot proofs

On Friday for most of the day, 190 different ballot types for the May 3 primary elections were on display for review by the candidates at Monroe County’s election central. That’s the office in the old Johnson Hardware building at 7th and Madison streets. The B Square counted

City council says millions more dollars needed, but Bloomington adds a couple more sidewalk segments

City council says millions more dollars needed, but Bloomington adds a couple more sidewalk segments

Accepted on Wednesday night as a part of the Bloomington city council’s transportation committee report on sidewalks were five projects to construct or design short new stretches of sidewalk in different parts of the city. For sidewalks this year, the city council approved $336,000 from the city’s

Catalent tax abatement OK’d in first of two Bloomington city council votes: 9–0

Catalent tax abatement OK’d in first of two Bloomington city council votes: 9–0

Bloomington’s city council voted 9–0 on Wednesday night to approve a tax abatement for Catalent in exchange for a capital investment of $350 million and 1,000 new jobs. Final approval will require a confirmatory vote on March 2, after a public hearing. The additional jobs would grow

Column: Rain’s coming, Bloomington, so please help clean out storm drains

Column: Rain’s coming, Bloomington, so please help clean out storm drains

The National Weather Service forecast for Bloomington on Wednesday (Feb. 16) and Thursday (Feb. 17) is warm. The high temperature is supposed to hit 60 F degrees both days. The rain that’s supposed to come with the warmer weather is enough to warrant a flood watch for a large