Atheist sues Bald Knob Cross landmark over state grant
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[A Chicago-area atheist is making good on his pledge to sue administrators of a towering southern Illinois cross about $20,000 the landmark received from the state.
Rob Sherman filed the lawsuit Thursday in federal court in Springfield after officials behind the Bald Knob Cross of Peace rebuffed his insistence to return the money.
Sherman had objected to the grant as a bit of unconstitutional pork, and in May he threatened to sue if the money wasn't given back.
The cross' caretakers have argued that the 11-story landmark is a tourist attraction, not specifically a religious icon. They note the $20,000 already in question has been spent on ongoing efforts to restore the landmark near Alto Pass, about 130 miles southeast of St. Louis.