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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.

If you still have your ballot, please hand-deliver, says Monroe County election official

If you still have your ballot, please hand-deliver, says Monroe County election official

On Wednesday, Monroe County election board member Carolyn VandeWiel passed along a kind of public service announcement to The Square Beacon: If you still have your absentee ballot, don’t drop it in the mail. Please hand-deliver it to Election Central. Election Central is at the corner of 7th

Bloomington city council votes to offer staff job to current deputy without a search

Bloomington city council votes to offer staff job to current deputy without a search

On Wednesday, Bloomington city councilmembers voted 9-0 to make an offer to Stephen Lucas to assume the role of council attorney/administrator on Aug. 1. That’s the day after Dan Sherman retires from the job, after around 30 years of service. Lucas is Sherman’s current deputy. Council

Food and beverage tax revenues start to show COVID-19 impact

Food and beverage tax revenues start to show COVID-19 impact

The impact of Indiana governor Eric Holcomb’s initial stay-at-home order, which was effective starting March 25, is starting to show up in food and beverage tax revenue reports for Monroe County. In the April report delivered to food and beverage tax advisory commission (FABTAC) members at their

Column | On voting: Wear a mask for civic task

Column | On voting: Wear a mask for civic task

In-person early voting in Monroe County starts at 8 a.m. Tuesday at Election Central in downtown Bloomington. The week of early in-person voting, leading up to election day on June 2, will take place in the middle of a declared health emergency. It was enacted to prevent

Committee set to award $319K to 24 social services nonprofits, formal hearing on May 28

Committee set to award $319K to 24 social services nonprofits, formal hearing on May 28

At its meeting last Thursday, Bloomington’s Jack Hopkins social services funding committee settled on a total of $318,795 in funding for requests from 24 different nonprofits. The formal hearing and announcement of the grant awards is scheduled for May 28. The committee started the process a few weeks

Monroe County June 2 primary election update: 18K absentee ballots sent so far; early in-person voting starts Tuesday

Monroe County June 2 primary election update: 18K absentee ballots sent so far; early in-person voting starts Tuesday

According to Monroe County election supervisor Karen Wheeler, 17,997 absentee ballots had been sent out to voters as of Friday and 6,517 of them received by her office. When The Square Beacon touched base with Wheeler on Saturday morning, she said about 5,000 more ballots still need

Bloomington city hall opens in limited way on Tuesday, mask wearing promoted by #WearItBtown

Bloomington city hall opens in limited way on Tuesday, mask wearing promoted by #WearItBtown

Bloomington’s city hall, closed to the public since the third week of March, will re-open in a limited way next Tuesday, the day after Memorial Day. The city’s mayor, John Hamilton, gave a reminder about the limited re-opening at Friday afternoon’s weekly press conference. Local