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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.

Building “culture of compliance” preferred to punishments for Bloomington’s triple layer of COVID-19 health orders

Building “culture of compliance” preferred to punishments for Bloomington’s triple layer of COVID-19 health orders

The major COVID-19 news across the state of Indiana on Wednesday came at governor Eric Holcomb’s mid-afternoon press conference. Holcomb announced a statewide mandate for wearing face coverings to prevent the spread of the virus. The governor’s order is to be issued Thursday, and is supposed

Monroe County board of health elevates COVID-19 health order to regulation status: $500 fine possible

Monroe County board of health elevates COVID-19 health order to regulation status: $500 fine possible

A regulation adopted unanimously by Monroe County’s board of health on Tuesday night is based largely on same the wording of an order issued late last week by county health officer Thomas Sharp. Both are meant to help prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The regulation takes

New choices in election of Monroe County at-large councilors

New choices in election of Monroe County at-large councilors

After the June 2 primaries, voters in Monroe County could choose up to three from five different candidates for at-large county councilor—three Democrats and two Republicans. Now they have a choice of six, even after one of the Republican’s withdrew from the race. Zachary Weishheit, a Bloomington

Not a jail or a hospital: Stride Coalition’s crisis diversion center gets ribbon cut ahead of Aug. 3 opening

Not a jail or a hospital: Stride Coalition’s crisis diversion center gets ribbon cut ahead of Aug. 3 opening

On Monday afternoon, leaders of several local organizations gathered on the lower level of Monroe County’s Morton Street Parking garage for a crisis diversion center ribbon cutting. The space was originally designed as a place for inmates of the county jail—a place they could be housed in case

Monroe County COVID-19 cases continue to surge, hospital numbers up, zero deaths for nearly a month

Monroe County COVID-19 cases continue to surge, hospital numbers up, zero deaths for nearly a month

Sunday’s noon update of the State of Indiana’s COVID-19 dashboard showed no additional COVID-19 deaths in Monroe County. That’s two days shy of a month since the county’s last COVID-19 death was recorded, on June 21. But the dashboard showed that a recent

Local prosecutor charges two in July 4 Lake Monroe case, victim wants feds to prosecute as hate crime

Local prosecutor charges two in July 4 Lake Monroe case, victim wants feds to prosecute as hate crime

Two weeks ago on July 4, an incident took place in the woods at Lake Monroe. Vauhxx Booker has described his role in that incident as “almost the victim of an attempted lynching.” On Friday morning, county prosecutor Erika Oliphant announced that she had filed charging documents in the Monroe

COVID-19 Update: Mask order now in effect for Monroe County; other measures take effect on July 23 in Bloomington, later elsewhere

COVID-19 Update: Mask order now in effect for Monroe County; other measures take effect on July 23 in Bloomington, later elsewhere

A new health order issued Friday afternoon requires Monroe County residents to wear face coverings when they’re not at home—with several caveats. The order took effect at 5 p.m. on Friday, a few hours after it was issued by Monroe County health officer Thomas Sharp. It will