Two attempts to block the Nov. 8 referendum on whether or not to keep the Peoria County Auditor office failed in the last month as Judge James Mack denied requests by Peoria County Auditor Jessica Thomas and community advocate Karrie…
Author Archive for Bill Knight
Arts Alerts: Mars, Keith Urban, Oak Ridge Boys, Bill Burr, Holiday Inn, Regifters
by Bill Knight • • Comments Off on Arts Alerts: Mars, Keith Urban, Oak Ridge Boys, Bill Burr, Holiday Inn, Regifters
ART The 10-foot artwork “Mars,” by U.K. artist Luke Jerram, is a highlight of “Mars: The Exhibition,” continuing in November at the Riverfront Museum. The interative display will be here through Spring. MUSIC Keith Urban is set to play…
Who’s dissing you? Be sure you’re not missing out because lawmakers are lying about the SAFE-T Act
by Bill Knight • • Comments Off on Who’s dissing you? Be sure you’re not missing out because lawmakers are lying about the SAFE-T Act
Information is power, it’s said, but increasingly — especially with today’s sophisticated, speedy technology — so is disinformation. In elections, maybe such fearmongering was always powerful. Commentator H.L. Mencken in 1918 wrote, “Democracy tends to degenerate into a mere combat…
SAFE SPACE: Jim and Laura Sniff provide special kind of fun on their farm
by Bill Knight • • Comments Off on SAFE SPACE: Jim and Laura Sniff provide special kind of fun on their farm
At press time, a few shows remain in the Blue Ridge Community Farm’s fall concert series, but there’s no end in sight for Jim and Laura Sniff’s activities — or the love behind it in Chillicothe. A self-described “farm kid”…
New wedge issue from Darren Bailey a non-issue wedgie
by Bill Knight • • Comments Off on New wedge issue from Darren Bailey a non-issue wedgie
Campaigning for Illinois governor, Republican State Sen. Darren Bailey has core issues: For education, agriculture, lower taxes and term limits; against crime, abortion, gun restrictions and pandemic mandates. Now he wants his own mandate: University enrollments. “Bailey’s recent ‘kitchen table’…
City of Peoria launches program focused on housing rehab
by Bill Knight • • Comments Off on City of Peoria launches program focused on housing rehab
Applications are now available for the 2022 Housing Rehabilitation Program, which provides a 50/50 matching grant of up to $15,000 of assistance to property owners of single-family residential properties within Qualified Census Tracts (QCT). Developed by the Community Development Department…
Time to act: Newspapers are under attack
by Bill Knight • • Comments Off on Time to act: Newspapers are under attack
In news, it’s said, “if it bleeds, it leads.” That means the hemorrhaging of daily newspaper circulation should be uppermost in people’s minds — to stay informed, if not remain in a democratic society. The U.S. daily newspaper circulation is…
What are the odds this is COVID-iocy? New BA.5 variant may be most contagious as diligence in fight wanes
by Bill Knight • • Comments Off on What are the odds this is COVID-iocy? New BA.5 variant may be most contagious as diligence in fight wanes
What’s worse than being sick and tired is being dead. It’s OK to be curious or concerned about monkeypox, an emergency. But it’s far less contagious than COVID-19 (only about 12,000 monkeypox cases have been reported, and no deaths). And…
Have a beer, and a smile
by Bill Knight • • Comments Off on Have a beer, and a smile
No matter the job, sometimes you know: “I want a beer.” Beer’s not therapeutic or medicinal, of course (although maybe there’s some study that Ivermectin taken daily with a case of beer reduces awareness of strokes). I’m no expert (you’re…
Magic of brewing = alchemy of beer
by Bill Knight • • Comments Off on Magic of brewing = alchemy of beer
Novelist Arthur C. Clarke wrote, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,” and at a time when we marvel at images from the James Webb space telescope, much less cryptocurrency, it’s understandable to take for granted how beer is…