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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.

2022 Bloomington budget released same day as encampment clearance, includes 6 new on-the-ground, non-sworn public safety positions

2022 Bloomington budget released same day as encampment clearance, includes 6 new on-the-ground, non-sworn public safety positions

Early in the day on Friday, an encampment of people experiencing homelessness under the B-Line bridge at Grimes Lane was cleared by Bloomington city workers. That was expected, based on Tuesday’s posting of notices near the encampment, with a Friday deadline for vacating. Later on Friday, Bloomington mayor

Column: Connecting some annexation dots with Bloomington’s 2020 Census data

Column: Connecting some annexation dots with Bloomington’s 2020 Census data

A week ago, the US Census released the data from its 2020 decennial count. Locally, the immediate focus was on Bloomington’s count of 79,168—which came in lower than had been estimated. It was lower even than the 2010 count of 80,405. A fair amount of effort

Bloomington Transit OKs side letter with drivers union: Pay bump, $1,000 essential-worker bonus

Bloomington Transit OKs side letter with drivers union: Pay bump, $1,000 essential-worker bonus

At its Tuesday meeting, the five-member Bloomington Transit board voted to approve a side letter agreement with AFSCME Local 613, which is the drivers union. The agreement is hoped to aid recruitment of new drivers—BT is currently short by about a dozen. The agreement is also hoped to

Booker case won’t be heard by Monroe County judge

Booker case won’t be heard by Monroe County judge

It will not be a Monroe County judge who tries the case of Vauhxx Booker, a former Bloomington resident who two and a half weeks ago was charged by special prosecutor Sonia Leerkamp with battery and criminal trespass. On Tuesday afternoon at a scheduled hearing, Monroe County circuit court judge

Friday, Aug. 20 deadline posted: B-Line bridge encampment removal to be guided by new general police order

Friday, Aug. 20 deadline posted: B-Line bridge encampment removal to be guided by new general police order

Bloomington officials are now looking to remove the encampment under the B-Line Trail bridge at Grimes Lane. It was established around four and half months ago. On Tuesday, sometime before 5 p.m., several signs were posted by the city of Bloomington under the bridge and along the trail.

Agreement OK’d by Bloomington RDC on sale of Showers administration building

Agreement OK’d by Bloomington RDC on sale of Showers administration building

The administration building at 10th and Morton is the third of three old Showers Company buildings in Bloomington’s Trades District, north of city hall, that now has a possible future as an adaptive reuse project. A process for closing a deal on the building was put in place through

Monroe County pandemic numbers keep rising, like statewide trend

Monroe County pandemic numbers keep rising, like statewide trend

Monroe County’s pandemic numbers continue to trend in a bad direction, according to Indiana’s COVID-19 dashboard, which was updated Monday at noon. In the initial stages of the current surge, Monroe County’s positive case numbers looked like they might be leveling off at around 20 a