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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’s new job grid gives raises to most, leaves salary sore point for commissioners on Spoonmore’s last day of service

Monroe County’s new job grid gives raises to most, leaves salary sore point for commissioners on Spoonmore’s last day of service

On Tuesday, his last night of service on the county council, Eric Spoonmore called the group’s adoption of a new job classification grid “momentous for Monroe County government.” The new job grid means an increase in compensation for most county employees. In his closing remarks, Spoonmore said, “This council

No more pet store sale of dogs or cats in Bloomington, starting Jan. 1, 2023

No more pet store sale of dogs or cats in Bloomington, starting Jan. 1, 2023

On an 8–0 vote on Wednesday, Bloomington’s city council passed an ordinance that bans the sale of cats and dogs by retail pet stores. That means Bloomington joins some other Indiana localities that have passed ordinances prohibiting the sale of cats and dogs by pet stores, which include:

Monroe County OKs $1K vaccination incentive for each employee as pandemic continues surge

Monroe County OKs $1K vaccination incentive for each employee as pandemic continues surge

At its Tuesday work session, the Monroe County council approved a $1,000 reward for each full-time employee who can show they have been vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus. Part-time employees are also eligible for a $500 payment, if they can show they’ve been vaccinated. The

Installations at park, parking garages part of a busy end of year for Bloomington’s public art program

Installations at park, parking garages part of a busy end of year for Bloomington’s public art program

Towards dusk on Tuesday, visible progress was being made on the installation of “Urban Fabric,” a piece of public art that will wrap the new 4th Street parking garage in downtown Bloomington. The public artwork for another recently completed city parking garage, located in the Trades District just north of

Column: Sandboxing some possible new Bloomington city council districts

Column: Sandboxing some possible new Bloomington city council districts

Based on the results of the 2020 census, the populations of Bloomington’s six current city council districts are way out of kilter. There’s no question that some city council district boundary adjustments will need to be made, before the next municipal elections are held in 2023. The changes

Annexation notebook: Bloomington would get a bit less diverse if all additions of territory go through

Annexation notebook: Bloomington would get a bit less diverse if all additions of territory go through

Thanksgiving marked roughly the halfway point in the 90-day window for remonstrance petitions to be filed against Bloomington’s planned annexations. That means the Jan. 6, 2022 deadline for remonstration against Bloomington’s annexations is now on the near horizon. In the next couple of weeks, many of the

Pandemic notebook: November numbers surging, local impact of ‘breakthrough’ cases not certain

Pandemic notebook: November numbers surging, local impact of ‘breakthrough’ cases not certain

Monroe County has seen a doubling in the rolling average of COVID-19 confirmed positive cases from the third week in October through most of November. On Oct. 23 the number was about 19, which has climbed to an average of about 38 cases a day on Nov. 23. That’