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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 commissioners order sheriff to enforce laws on courthouse lawn curfew, camping

Monroe County commissioners order sheriff to enforce laws on courthouse lawn curfew, camping

An executive order from Monroe County’s three-member board of county commissioners, adopted at their regular Wednesday meeting, directs the sheriff to enforce two existing ordinances regulating how the courthouse grounds are used. The order came in response to anti-police-brutality protests that have taken place nightly starting

Lawsuit now filed in dispute over Bloomington plan commission seat

Lawsuit now filed in dispute over Bloomington plan commission seat

On Tuesday, a lawsuit was filed over the disputed seat on Bloomington’s plan commission. In the lawsuit, would-be plan commissioner Andrew Guenther and Monroe County GOP chair William Ellis ask the court to grant a writ of quo warranto, which is a challenge to someone’s right to

Midnight update: No courthouse grounds curfew enforcement; town hall on law enforcement funding set for June 30

Midnight update: No courthouse grounds curfew enforcement; town hall on law enforcement funding set for June 30

By a bit after midnight on Wednesday morning, no sheriff’s deputies had arrived at the Monroe County courthouse lawn to enforce a local ordinance on hours of use for the grounds. [Updated at 2:24 a.m. on June 10, 2020: Sheriff’s deputies arrived around 12:30 a.

BLM Bloomington Facebook forum: Disarm IU police, sell the Bearcat, boycott city farmers market

BLM Bloomington Facebook forum: Disarm IU police, sell the Bearcat, boycott city farmers market

Last Saturday, members of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) B-town Core Council held a live-streamed Facebook event, under the banner “Black Against the Wall.” The Facebook forum came the day after an event that was not organized by BLM. A few thousand people took part in a demonstration

Habitat for Humanity PUD, Trinitas site plan OK’d by Bloomington plan commission, as seat remains disputed

Habitat for Humanity PUD, Trinitas site plan OK’d by Bloomington plan commission, as seat remains disputed

Bloomington’s plan commission gave approvals to two significant petitions at its Monday night meeting. The first was a request to rezone about 12.5 acres just east of RCA Community Park, as part of a planned unit development (PUD), so that 70 single-family homes can be built there.

Food and Beverage COVID-19 relief update: $250K granted by county, $1.2 million loaned by Bloomington

Food and Beverage COVID-19 relief update: $250K granted by county, $1.2 million loaned by Bloomington

As initial unemployment claims numbers start to decline in Monroe County, Bloomington’s loan program and the county’s grant program, which draw on food and beverage tax proceeds, to support pandemic-impacted businesses, continue to make some allocations, even if they’re tapering off. The latest unemployment numbers from

Margins, flipped results for mail-in versus in-person make Monroe County election stories

Margins, flipped results for mail-in versus in-person make Monroe County election stories

Much of the media coverage of 2020 primary elections focused on the mechanics of voting methods, instead of the campaigns. That’s because the COVID-19 pandemic led the state election commission to postpone the primaries four weeks, from May 5 to June 2, and to make no-excuse absentee