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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 lengthens time for CARES-style business relief, townships draw on $200K in county help: “December is not an easy month.”

Monroe County lengthens time for CARES-style business relief, townships draw on $200K in county help: “December is not an easy month.”

At its regular meeting on Wednesday, Monroe County commissioners approved a reconfiguration and an extension into next year, of a program under which it has already approved distribution of $238,880 to businesses or social service agencies and $85,713 to other taxing units. The distributions were for reimbursements related

The B Square Beacon: Local news experiment goes month-to-month into 2021

I want to start by saying thank you to everyone who has made a financial contribution to The B Square Beacon over the last 11 months. Based on those contributions, I plan to continue operations into 2021 by still putting nearly every waking moment into reporting on local government in

Draft climate action plan for Bloomington includes recommendations for 17 changes to local law

Draft climate action plan for Bloomington includes recommendations for 17 changes to local law

On Tuesday, Nov. 17, the week before Thanksgiving, a draft of a climate action plan for Bloomington was presented to the city council’s four-member standing committee on climate action and resilience. The meat of the 158-page draft climate action plan is a table of 266 recommended actions,

Column: Indiana’s public access counselor opinion shows Bloomington’s city council has a transparency problem

Column: Indiana’s public access counselor opinion shows Bloomington’s city council has a transparency problem

On June 10 this year, Bloomington’s city council decided to hire then-deputy council administrator/attorney Stephen Lucas to replace the retiring Dan Sherman. Lucas had been serving as Sherman’s deputy for about nine months. Just after the meeting when the council voted to hire Lucas, The Square

Opinion: Bloomington’s new city seal ordinance delivers insight into a possibilities for better legislative process

Opinion: Bloomington’s new city seal ordinance delivers insight into a possibilities for better legislative process

An ordinance that establishes a new city seal for Bloomington does not appear on the city council’s regular meeting agenda for Wednesday, Dec. 2. Yet that is the date when it was proposed by the city clerk to be effective. Those two morsels make for some pretty thin civic

Monroe County electeds mull legal fees, COVID-19 relief money, innkeeper’s tax, food and beverage tax

Monroe County electeds mull legal fees, COVID-19 relief money, innkeeper’s tax, food and beverage tax

At a work session held on Tuesday of Thanksgiving week, Monroe County councilors took care of some year-end appropriations, and talked with county commissioners about next year’s priorities. A vote on extra appropriation to cover legal fees, amended by councilors from $30,000 to $18,126, was split

2020: Happy Thanksgiving, Bloomington!

2020: Happy Thanksgiving, Bloomington!

[This cartoon was “drawn” about 10 years ago for The Ann Arbor Chronicle. It ran last year in The Square Beacon, too. So it’s consistent with the Thanksgiving tradition of leftovers.]