Knight Watch

September was the month in 1789 when the nation’s first Congress proposed to state legislatures the Bill of Rights, including the First Amendment, guaranteeing freedom of religion. September also marks the end of Islam’s holy month of Ramadan, which on Sept. 9 wraps up a month of fasting for Muslims,...
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A May 2009 column by Bill Knight was named one of a “Golden Dozen” recognized by the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors (ISWNE) at its annual conference in Richmond, Ky. The opinion piece, “Illinois can handle detainees,” was on moving 240 Guantanamo Bay terror suspects to Illinois. It was...
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Seventy-five years ago this month, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act, which said that collective bargaining was in the national interest of the United States. FDR is just one in a long line of patriots whose actions today would get them attacked as liberals, socialists, heathens or worse. As greater Peoria...
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Most nonprofit outfits are exempt from paying property taxes, but with budget crises at the city, county and schools, Peoria could use assistance from those nonprofits able to help. Contributing to city or county services would make a positive difference beyond nonprofits’ good works. So local government should ask OSF...
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A new list of the top corporate air polluters in the United States includes two companies based in Peoria and a third Illinois firm with a key operation here, according to researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The “Toxic 100 Air Polluters” include Caterpillar (#96), Ameren (#99) and Archer-Daniels-Midland (#7), say the findings...
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To a lot of people, S.P. and T.P. means “standard play” and “toilet paper” – fun with VCRs or neighborhood trees – but to those who deny that Medicare and the Veterans Administration health care are successful government programs, the initials can only mean Sarah Palin and Tea Party.Palin...
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As Peorians anticipate School District 150 interim superintendent Norm Durflinger’s formal recommendation to the board on changes in staffing, the thought of other changes comes to mind. If administrations in business, government or any human institution sometimes deflect criticism by blaming the victims, District 150 administrators and board have plenty of targets in trying...
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As the February primary approaches, one wonders whether candidates who decide to identify with a party research its platform and claims made by its current champions. For instance, GOP apologist Rush Limbaugh praised U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as “a man who escaped the bonds of poverty” without using methods contributing to “the dependency...
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In a month where “Joy to the World” is a welcome refrain, it’s appropriate to think of people across the globe dealing with HIV/AIDS and to thank progressives and conservatives alike who’ve worked toward preventing or treating HIV/AIDS… Annually, December 1 is World AIDS Day, kicking off HIV/AIDS Awareness Month. HIV, of course, stands for...
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Caring for others is basic in the Gospels, but too many Right-wingers dismiss that as liberal, foolish or somehow contributing to a “cycle of dependency.” Despite criticism or doubt, some are called. And some even answer. “A few people sort of shake their head and say, ‘Those people need to get a job’,” says Holly Schmitt, who...
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