Thorn: Protect and serve its own

So, two city cops fatally shot a mostly deaf man 14 times while he stood 16 or so feet away from them. They shot him seconds after telling him to drop a tree saw. The LMPD exonerated both cops, except to ding one for not turning on his body camera until after the shooting. Prosecutors declined to charge the cops. Now, the city has settled a federal lawsuit with the man’s family for $1.25 million, The Courier Journal reported. Who is the city protecting by settling?

Thorn + Rose: WFPL, +1; Arthur, -1

A good offense is not a good defense (even if you are tRump). Jecorey Arthur, who is a well-regarded musician known as “1200” and is running for Metro Council in District 4, might take this as an important lesson in his nascent political career. WFPL, in a solidly reported story, explored whether a nonprofit Bible college, Simmons College of Kentucky, ran “afoul of tax and campaign finance laws” because of its relationship with Arthur’s candidacy announcement. Read the story at wfpl.org. Arthur declined to talk with WFPL for the story. But, then, he tweeted: “In honor of being wrongly accused in an article on Ali’s birthday here’s a quote from him along with my statement. ‘YOU my opposer when I want freedom. YOU my opposer when I want justice. YOU my opposer when I want equality.’” In his statement, he decried “careless reporting by WFPL” and said Simmons provided no in-kind campaign donations or special help. (For its part, a Simmons lawyer denied the school endorsed Arthur, which would be an IRS no-no, and said: “We also haven’t provided him property use, staff time, equipment use, or any other in-kind support.” WFPL gets a rose for the story about Arthur, who also happens to teach at Simmons and is music education manager at WFPL sister station WUOL.

Thorn: Calipari should be fired

The highest-paid college basketball coach in the nation, UK’s John Calipari, got ejected from a game for bad sportsmanship (arguing with a ref despite being warned). He should be fired. The CJ wondered whether he tried to get ejected. Even worse. He should be fired. And… he should surrender his annual salary, reported in 2019 to be $9.2 million, to pay off the debts of thousands of UK students who must shoulder usurious loans to get the degrees, while “student athletes” on full-ride scholarships hope to be one and done.