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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.

Enforcement by city, county against encampments in different locations Thursday night: 1 tent remains at Seminary Park

Enforcement by city, county against encampments in different locations Thursday night: 1 tent remains at Seminary Park

Seminary Park Click to view slideshow. During a Thursday night meeting of Bloomington city council’s four-member public safety committee, to hear public comment about the houseless encampment in Seminary Park, Monroe County sheriff’s deputies were patrolling county land further south off Rogers Street. At Seminary Park, after

Public right-of-way near Bloomington’s Seminary Park cleared, encampment moves into park for now

Public right-of-way near Bloomington’s Seminary Park cleared, encampment moves into park for now

Click to view slideshow. Around 2 p.m. Thursday afternoon, Bloomington police department (BPD) officers told the houseless people living in the encampment near Seminary Park, south of downtown Bloomington, that they could not occupy the public right-of-way. Helped by a couple dozen grassroots volunteers and nonprofit caseworkers

Bloomington city council strips its sidewalk committee of duties

Bloomington city council strips its sidewalk committee of duties

After about 2 hours and 45 minutes of deliberations on Wednesday night, Bloomington’s city council eliminated two of its 11 committees. Not surviving the night was the council’s sidewalk committee. The council started with a resolution could have eliminated as many as four of its committees. But the

Indiana bill on checking executive authority gets first committee hearing

Indiana bill on checking executive authority gets first committee hearing

Getting a first committee hearing on Tuesday afternoon was a bill that would put the state legislature in a position to have a say on extending the Indiana governor’s executive orders related to a disaster emergency. HB 1123 is one of several bills that deal with executive powers, which

Seminary Park encampment not yet cleared, chance comes up for 50 more shelter beds

Seminary Park encampment not yet cleared, chance comes up for 50 more shelter beds

Reduced in number but remaining in place on Monday night, was Bloomington’s Seminary Park encampment of people who are experiencing homelessness. The enforcement action, which Bloomington’s city administration had warned would come “on or about Jan. 11” looks like it might be taken about Jan. 11, not exactly

Press release: New strain of COVID-19 in Hoosier state, vaccine dashboard gets daily update

Press release: New strain of COVID-19 in Hoosier state, vaccine dashboard gets daily update

Indiana’s department of health issued a press release just before noon on Monday (Dec. 11) saying that a new strain of COVID-19, previously identified in the United Kingdom, has been found in the state of Indiana. According to the press release, the new strain does not cause more

Column: B Clear bunnies, in case you need a carrot to dive into data

Column: B Clear bunnies, in case you need a carrot to dive into data

Like many cities in America, Bloomington uses its website to offer a pile of municipal data to the public. Bloomington’s data warehouse is branded as B Clear Open Data. When an item appears on the city council agenda, or an issue becomes controversial in the community, it’s always