Some things can’t be — mustn’t be – hidden. Fortunately, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke are initiating actions to disclose facts about sexual abuse of children, facts apparently covered up by high officials…
Bill Knight
Bill Knight | Kaepernick’s job loss is a labor dispute
by Bill Knight • • 0 Comments
As of Labor Day this month, professional quarterback Colin Kaepernick has been prevented from working at his job for 551 days, just before the National Football League’s regular season starts Sept. 6 when the Eagles host the Falcons in prime…
Bill Knight | Chicago Farmer
by Community Word Staff • • 0 Comments
“Chicago Farmer” is a great name for an act, like “Goofy Ridge Industrialist” or “nonviolent commando.” But Chicago Farmer is much more than a snappy name. Born Cody Diekhoff, Chicago Farmer is more than a 39-year-old “singer/songwriter.” The troubadour is…
Bill Knight | Eugene Debs fought for workers, free speech
by Bill Knight • • 0 Comments
After escalating tensions in Bosnia, Herzegovina and Serbia and the assassination of Austria-Hungary heir and Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian nationalist, 104 years ago this month Germany pledged military support to Austria-Hungary, which three weeks later declared war on…
Bill Knight | “The Return of the Slinkenwolf”
by Bill Knight • • 0 Comments
Cynics or snobs listening to “The Return of the Slinkenwolf” may hear a banshee wielding a buzzsaw, but such types might also prefer humpback whales’ mating calls or think Up With People really was. However, the raw, industrial-strength style displayed…
Bill Knight | Minor League Baseball: Pays less than minimum wage
by Bill Knight • • 0 Comments
When the Peoria Chiefs take the field for 16 home games this month, know that they’re working for peanuts (sans Crackerjacks). One of 16 teams in the Class-A Midwest League, the team is one of 244 clubs in 19 minor…
Bill Knight | Less is more? Sometimes, less is just less.
by Community Word Staff • • 0 Comments
It was the eve of “Sunshine Week” – a few days in March when government transparency and accountability are celebrated – when a glance at the Peoria City/County Health Department’s online “Food Inspection Scores” found a list of inspections but…
Bill Knight: Don’t politicize from the pulpit
by Bill Knight • • 0 Comments
A year ago this winter, President Trump at the 2017 National Prayer Breakfast repeated his campaign promise to dismantle the Johnson Amendment, the federal law prohibiting nonprofits, including churches from getting involved in partisan electoral politics. “I will get rid…
Bill Knight: Agriculture seems to have become agri-vulture
by Bill Knight • • 1 Comment
The 2016 harvest ended months ago, with truckloads of grain shipped to elevators, and now – weeks before spring work is expected to start – farmers are busy fixing fences, researching effective systems and taking soil samples, meeting with seed…
by Bill Knight • • 2 Comments
As Americans get excited or annoyed by the latest Oval Office tweets or other outrages from President Trump, a dozen troublesome issues bubble through Capitol Hill like an attack of irritable bowel syndrome. Maybe we need a “National Narrator” to…