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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.

Convention center expansion deal between Bloomington and Monroe County looks possible by year’s end

Convention center expansion deal between Bloomington and Monroe County looks possible by year’s end

Last Friday, city and county officials met for two hours about the convention center expansion. It was the latest in of a flurry of recent efforts to bridge longstanding disagreements on governance of the project. What entity will have control, direction and eventual ownership of the project—a capital improvement

Decision on Bloomington farmers market future to be made in January: “The First Amendment has not changed since July.”

Decision on Bloomington farmers market future to be made in January: “The First Amendment has not changed since July.”

A decision about if and how Bloomington’s farmers market will operate next year won’t come until Jan. 9. That announcement was made by Mary Catherine Carmichael, director of public engagement for the city of Bloomington, to a crowd that packed city council chambers on Saturday afternoon. What makes

UDO Update: Last proposed amendments to updated zoning include increased height for R4, timeline for payment-in-lieu procedures

UDO Update: Last proposed amendments to updated zoning include increased height for R4, timeline for payment-in-lieu procedures

This Tuesday’s special session of Bloomington’s city council could wrap up the last of 69 numbered amendments to be considered to the update of the city’s unified development ordinance (UDO). The council started considering UDO amendments in mid-November, during special sessions dedicated just to such amendments.

Opinion: Convention center expansion should be designed from ground up as Net Zero facility

Opinion: Convention center expansion should be designed from ground up as Net Zero facility

On Wednesday, Bloomington’s city council is set to approve an appropriation ordinance for around $6 million of food and beverage tax money. It’s for an architect to design the expansion of the convention center at College Avenue and 3rd Street. The ordinance will likely be amended at Wednesday’

Photos: Climate Strike Bloomington Dec. 6, 2019

Click to view slideshow. On Friday, Dec. 6, 2019, a coalition of several groups staged a sit-in at Bloomington’s city hall. The Beacon captured some of the activity there, before heading over the county courthouse to cover a city-county meeting about the convention center expansion. In this

Photos: Hawk eats dove

Photos: Hawk eats dove

On Friday afternoon, The Beacon left the climate strike at city hall early to walk over to the county courthouse for the meeting between county and city officials about the convention center expansion. It’s been a contentious issue. Along the way, a Cooper’s hawk was spotted with a

Monroe county election board looks ahead to 2020 after imposing one fine, waiving two others, finding no violation of electioneering law

Monroe county election board looks ahead to 2020 after imposing one fine, waiving two others, finding no violation of electioneering law

Members of Monroe County’s election board met Thursday afternoon to review some logistical issues related to elections in 2020 and to wrap up some loose ends from this year’s municipal elections in Bloomington. The loose ends included late filings by three candidates of their campaign finance forms (CFA-