FREE SEPT.23.2020
COUNCIL GOP TRICKED DEMOCRATS | PAGE 4
LOUISVILLE’S LONG HISTORY OF PROTEST SONGS | PAGE 16
THE TAYLOR SETTLEMENT: WHAT WAS SAID | PAGE 7 PARLOUR PIZZA COMES TO LOUISVILLE | PAGE 18
LEOWEEKLY.COM //SEPTEMBER 23, 2020
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A LETTER TO THE COMMUNITY
LIKE LEO? HERE’S HOW TO HELP. BY LEO WEEKLY We at LEO offer our sincerest congratulations to The Courier Journal for winning its 11th Pulitzer Prize, this one for studiously and unrelentingly chronicling the avalanche of last-minute pardons and commutations handed out by the corrupt, craven and mercenary Gov.-reject Matt Bevin. We are fortunate as a city to have it as our paper. In a poignant tribute and plea, former CJ reporter Howard Fineman wrote in The Washington Post that the paper’s latest plaudit “should remind us (and surely was meant to remind us), that what we call ‘local’ journalism is profoundly essential to self-government as the Founders designed it, and to the American way of life.” He cited a study that found nearly 1,800 newspapers have closed since 2004, and he said, “Virtually all of the remaining 7,000 are thinner and weaker than ever.” He implored you to subscribe to the paper because, as the op-ed’s headline said: “My former newspaper is struggling — and is more important than ever.” This is all true, but there is more. What Fineman’s op-ed neglected to underscore is that the news media landscape extends far beyond daily newspapers and must include alternative weeklies. Alt-weeklies also provide “local journalism” and are “profoundly essential.” They are critically important because they work in the margins and areas where newspapers do not or cannot. They provide free-to-read accounts of a community’s culture, ethos and priorities. Good ones are not substitutes for daily newspapers, although their coverage and stories may overlap. At LEO, our goal since John Yarmuth founded it in 1990 has been to dive deeply into areas that The CJ and other mainstream news media have neglected, dismissed or overlooked. Accordingly, LEO is the authority on local music, theater and visual arts. We publish A&E guides twice a year. Every issue of LEO has (or had) at least two food and drink stories, including reviews, a beer column and insiders’ views on the service industry. We offer a range of commentary, which, admittedly, skews left but also has included conservative and right-leaning views (such as a column from, gasp — Mitch McConnell). We print op-eds that The CJ would not, such as from Black Lives Matter. We champion equality and provide a voice to the LGBTQ+ community. Our printed and online lists celebrate the best things to do in the region to help you plan your week and weekends. We also publish news stories that are written differently (we’d like to say, more interestingly) than a newspaper would run. They include primary source stories (first-person) and stories told through alternative (there is that word again) formats. Our core topics include those that the daily paper rarely touches, such as urban planning, race relations, labor and the environment (since The CJ’s ace enviro reporter moved on). And, they include media criticism (we are looking at you CJ, but we have given ourselves thorns) because who else is going to do it? In short, Louisville has at least six ways you can get your news, counting TV and radio. We try to not be like any of them. We try not to tell the same story. We try to be more interesting and less predictable. And the hundreds of thousands of people who read us and click on our stories tell us we are doing something right. Alas, LEO, as you might imagine, also has been crippled by this virus, as have alt-weeklies across the nation. LEO is free to pick up and relies almost entirely on advertising. No subscriptions. No grants. No membership drive for donations twice a year. The backbone of our advertising is entertainment (think: music, ballet, theater and visual art) and food and drink. Similarly, we distribute to places where people enjoy those activities and relax (think: bars, coffee shops, restaurants, etc.), and those have been closed. LEO already runs lean and has not had to furlough any editorial staff — yet — but our editorial budget has been cut by three-quarters. LEO has been online-only mostly since the epidemic began. Starting with this issue, our goal is to publish a print edition every other week. Fortunately, we have been an outlier among alt-weeklies, so far. A story from NiemanLab listed more than 40 alt-weeklies that had taken steps to survive within just days of us all realizing this pandemic was real. Many suspended print publication, others furloughed staff and, still, others asked for donations. They included Pittsburgh City Paper, which launched a membership program: “in order to help fight some of these losses, with the hope that readers who depend on our daily coverage of local news, arts, music, food, and entertainment recognize the importance in the work we do to keep the city informed and want us to continue.” We like that idea! Won’t you please consider helping to fund LEO’s mission by underwriting a reporter or providing financial support for more stories? You could sponsor a reporter to cover a specific topic or issue, such as visual arts or theater or labor… or poverty… or the environment or… you name it. Perhaps you want to sponsor a weekly column on dance or jazz, or you want to underwrite a series of stories on land use in The West End. You would not have a say in exactly what we write and what gets printed, but you would see more coverage in the area you have selected. If you are interested, please contact us at: leoweekly.com And, please, if you value LEO and want us to continue to survive and thrive, continue picking up the papers, continue sharing stories on social media and consider advertising if you do not already. As always but particularly now, thank you for reading LEO, and thanks to all of you who have emailed and called to ask when you would see another printed edition on the news stands.
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LEOWEEKLY.COM //SEPTEMBER 23, 2020
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leo@leoweekly.com Breonna Taylor’s mother Tamika Palmer spoke to protesters outside of the Attorney General’s office on Friday. | PHOTO BY KATHRYN HARRINGTON.
NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE
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Go to leoweekly.com to check our latest photo sets of the protests. Over the weekend, protesters made their way to state Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s office, as the city continues to wait on whether the police responsible for Breonna Taylor’s death will be charged. Also, on Saturday, protests stood in front of the home of U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, who has vowed to fill the seat of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg before the election.
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ON: UNDERCOVER COMMENTARY Maybe you need to study up on union contract law before demanding that. Unless you think unions are silly and should be abolished? —Kevin Hobstetter
Kevin Hobstetter, not all unions but this union is way overpowered. They have way too much leeway and their people should still be held accountable. —Juan Too Tree It is so simplistic to just say: fire them. The reality is that there are state laws, city laws and union contracts that govern many of the decisions that the mayor or the police commissioner might make. In fact, I believe the fired officer has filed a grievance and, if upheld, he will be reinstated with back pay. This happens all the time when the grievance process is initiated. Between Breonna’s Law and the steps agreed to with the settlement, that may be the best that can happen. I doubt very much that any laws were broken so the AG may not be able or willing to charge with a crime. If the process that was in place when Breonna was killed was followed, then there may also be no legal way to fire anyone. People say we should be following laws that are applied fairly, then want people to take unilateral actions that might be against the law. I understand that this was a very poor police effort and they should not have opened fire with so many shots, but the fact remains that they were fired upon first and a police officer was wounded. The no knock warrant was a legal and allowed procedure as was the lack of body cams. You can disagree that they should have had them on and no knock warrants are not fair, but not fair is not illegal. Breonna’s law fixes that. What needs to happen is the contract needs to be amended and the police need to agree. without that they will always file a grievance upon being fired and most of the time the process supports them. —John Maggio
ON: WEST OF NINTH, JUAN I hope he fulfills his dream. He sounds like a good father. All the best to this young man. —Dolita Murray Dohrman
Juan, Algonquin. | PHOTO BY WALT AND MARSHAE SMITH/WESTOFNINTH.COM
LEOWEEKLY.COM //SEPTEMBER 23, 2020
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EDITOR’S NOTE
DEMOCRATS TOOK REPUBLICANS’ BAIT By Aaron Yarmuth | ayarmuth@leoweekly.com LOUISVILLE Metro Council, the Democratic majority in particular, needs to shore up its own leadership and credibility before it is in any position to criticize — or express “no confidence” in — Mayor Greg Fischer. Last week, the Metro Council voted 22 to 4 on a resolution expressing no confidence in Fischer and outlining recommendations that would, in the members’ view, help restore public trust in local government. The final resolution may seem to be a reasonable action for the council to take. But, considering how the council reached this resolution, it’s apparent that it lacks the leadership, credibility and public confidence to make such a judgment of Mayor Fischer. “We are really kidding ourselves if we think the public is pleased with the way Metro Council is behaving,” said Councilman Bill Hollander, who voted no with fellow Democrats Brandon Coan and Nicole George. From the start, the concept of a noconfidence resolution was purely a partisan
UNDERCOVER
political move, launched by the Republican minority of the council in mid-August. For a group largely without legislative power (holding only seven of 26 seats), months of social and political unrest presented an opportunity to be relevant. They would exploit the protests; amplify tensions and backlash against Fischer; and, suddenly, they are the populist voice of dissent! Their efforts are, likewise, tangible evidence of the nationwide-Republican campaign strategy: Scare voters into believing Democrats are for chaos, burning buildings and destroying their suburban way of life. Make no mistake, these council Republicans are merely using this situation to their own political advantage. They were not and are not advocating for the reforms to policing or the solutions to racial and economic inequalities that protesters are demanding. Not that anyone should expect something different from the Republican Party (See: U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell hypocrisy and Justice RBG), but Democrats on the council
took the bait! Because Democrats abdicated their leadership, we end up with a confusing resolution that doesn’t advance – or even establish a plan to advance – the very reforms stated in the resolution, while it effectively blames Mayor Fischer for not having solved all of these problems retroactively. “I do think when we put out resolutions like this it is confusing,” said Councilman Pat Mulvihill, a Democrat who voted in favor of the resolution, despite recognizing the council’s past mistakes that may have contributed to the problems illustrated in the resolution. “This is a symbolic gesture. And as far as actions and items – they’re just words on paper. This is a resolution.” But that was always the Republicans’ intention — further smear the mayor and further divide the council and reap the electoral advantages from a divided city. Now, I can hear the voices of many frustrated with Fischer and who are echoing the calls for change listed in the resolution: “The city needs change. The council needed to speak up and hold Fischer accountable!” I agree, the council has a role to play in holding the mayor accountable. Even Fischer agreed that he made mistakes, which he explained in a video posted
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subsequent to the resolution passing. “With the benefit of hindsight, I see that given the choice of two difficult paths, I’ve sometimes By taken the wrong one,” he said. His apology and acknowledgment don’t exonerate council Democrats for failed BE leadership. Any resolution should have gif come from their leadership. Democrats Ca should have been the ones leading the Metro to Council to a formal resolution, declaring their concerns with Louisville Metro Police the Department and the mayor’s administrame tion, their policy recommendations and their Cru desire to work with the mayor. fro It’s the Democrats, after all, who repage resent many of the districts that are most Ge impacted by racial and economic inequalities and injustices, which underlie the calls onl for reform. Democrats, holding 19 of 26 see seats on the council, have the clear mandate pol and power to lead on these efforts and not is n just by resolution, but by action. ney And it all should have come from them cha weeks, if not months ago. Instead, Demo- deg crats followed Republicans in the back door wa on the way to this resolution. par They, along with the city, would have been better off letting Republicans scream at wh the wind, rather than expose the Democratic but caucus’ own ineptitude. • of file the wo com
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MANOFMETTLE.COM
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LEOWEEKLY.COM //SEPTEMBER 23, 2020
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CAN DANIEL CAMERON TAKE A HINT? By Kurt Metzmeier | leo@leoweekly.com BEN CRUMP gave Daniel Cameron a gift last Tuesday. Time will tell whether Cameron is smart enough or brave enough to take it. During the press conference announcing the city of Louisville’s $12 million settlement with the family of Breonna Taylor, Crump, the Taylor family’s lawyer, turned from discussion of the deal and the package of police reforms to address Attorney General Cameron. Crump noted that the settlement was only the first step, and the family wanted to see criminal charges filed against the three police officers who killed Taylor. “But it is now on Daniel Cameron and the attorney general of Kentucky’s office to bring charges, and at the very minimum seconddegree manslaughter charges, because we want full justice for Breonna Taylor, not just partial justice.” Second-degree manslaughter is less than what the protesters had originally called for but could be a provable charge in the hands of a skilled prosecutor. If such charges were filed against one or more of the defendants, they could reduce the anxiety that Louisville would, in the words of the most fevered commentators, “explode” into violence. This was the second gift that Cameron has received in this case. When Officer Brett Hankison was fired for violating LMPD use of force regulations, the firing letter by the department’s interim chief, Robert Schroeder, accused him of “wantonly and blindly” firing an allegedly 10 rounds Taylor’s apartment, an act that gave rise to a “substantial danger of death and serious injury. “I find your conduct a shock to the conscience,” Schroeder wrote. “I am alarmed and stunned you used deadly force in this fashion.” The language clearly hinted at a violation of Kentucky’s wanton homicide statutes. “Wanton” and “shock the conscience” are words lawyers use to describe actions that are so dangerously reckless that they go beyond civil negligence into criminal behavior. Sort of like firing off 10 rounds into a dark apartment and killing an innocent bystander. Kentucky law has two crimes that try to reach this kind of hard-to-tightlydefine criminal conduct: wanton murder and wanton manslaughter (the second-degree manslaughter to which Crump presumably referred).
one wormy piece of fruit. Wanton murder, KRS 507. 020(1)(b), The ballistics evidence the FBI lab took occurs when a person engages in behavior so long to analyze likely sought to deterthat creates a “grave risk” of death and in mine which of the spray of bullets could be doing so kills another person. Such acts are traced to him and each of his colleagues, undertaken with a “conscious disregard of a Officer Myles Cosgrove and Sgt. Jonathan substantial and unjustifiable risk of killMattingly, all of whom discharged their ing others.” While much of the case law weapons. involves vehicular homicide, Kentucky’s It is now up to Cameron to see the case high court found this charge appropriate in a in front of his face and decide whether to case in which a man, apparently thinking he seek justice for Breonna, even if the case is was in a spaghetti Western, fired a shotgun from his hip in the general direction of three a difficult one, or to take the seeming “safe” men, killing one of them. political decision to stand with the River Second-degree City Fraternal Order manslaughter, of Police. commonly known The latter choice During the press as wanton manwould certainly slaughter, KRS cause anger and proconference 570.040(1), doesn’t tests, but the fears of announcing the city widespread rioting require the consciousness that one’s have probably been of Louisville’s $12 acts create a “grave overblown. risk” of death. It Despite the million settlement requires only that a LMPD claims that with the family of wanton act results in they were attacked a death. Moreover, by “medieval weapBreonna Taylor, wanton manslaughons” (I saw no treter can occur in buchets or archers, Crump, the Taylor circumstances in but whatever, dude), family’s lawyer, which the defendant recent Metro Counis allegedly acting cil hearings suggest turned from disin self-defense, just the chaos in the highly recklessly. early protests was cussion of the deal It goes without at least as much the and the package of saying, that none of fault of the LMPD’s these charges have aggressive tactics as police reforms to been applied in Kenany acts by actual tucky to a policeprotesters. (Boogaaddress Attorney involved shooting, loo Boys and ThreeGeneral Cameron. but that’s because pers excepted). This even attempting to theory has been hold police officers borne out by the accountable is an relative calm since extremely novel development in American Mayor Greg Fischer ordered the LMPD to law. ease off from firing pepper balls and tear gas Looking at the facts of the case as we at protesters — especially as the livestreams know it, if Cameron decides to prefer of citizen-reporters gave lie to the LMPD charges, officer Hankison is the obvious PR team’s daily inaccuracies. target. Hankison has been disciplined for But that doesn’t mean there won’t be reckless conduct, accused at least three times consequences if Cameron blows this. Peaceof sexual assault including complaints pendful protesters won’t rest. Well-organized ing from 2020 and sued for planting drugs demonstrations of nonviolent civil dison a man, and police records note that he has obedience like those Until Freedom have run up unusually high amounts of overtime organized will continue in Louisville well in a police department. into the future. In the clichéd metaphor of the barrel of The attorney general might have to get good apples with one bad apple, Hankison is used to visitors in his front yard. • LEOWEEKLY.COM //SEPTEMBER 23, 2020
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MCCONNELL SHOULD GET TRUMP TO ‘SHUT UP’ ABOUT SCIENCE By Al Cross | leo@leoweekly.com
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LEOWEEKLY.COM //SEPTEMBER 23, 2020
them, then more parents claimed exempWHEN I WAS A CHILD growing up in one tions, fewer children got vaccinated (this of the poorest counties in the nation, with happened in Kentucky), and outbreaks of one of the smallest percentages of college disease followed. graduates of any county, I was lucky. I had Public health has been called the interparents who had been to college and knew section of science and politics. In a normal something about public health and had even world, that means scientists deliver factual worked in it. Even the less fortunate folks information to government officials, who in our community had respect for the local enact policies in the public interest — somehealth department. We all knew that it was a times tempering the hard facts of science trusted place with people who were working with their own political consideration for the to keep us safe and healthy. soft and malleable When I covopinions of the ered politics and public. Ideally, they government for The help shape those Courier Journal, the Times have opinions to fit the controversial health science. issues were mainly changed, and not Today, the presiabout insurance, not about protection of for the good. Health dent of the United States confronts scithe public’s health. boards that want ence and contradicts A few county health it, almost on a daily boards didn’t want to start syringe basis, and doesn’t to dispense birthseem to suffer politicontrol pills, but exchanges — for cally for it. How did their reasons were public safety, that happen? more religious than One reason is the political. guidance to treatdeath of expertise, Times have which was the title changed, and not ment and prevenof a book pubfor the good. Health tion of disease lished the year after boards that want Donald Trump was to start syringe outbreaks among elected. Its author, exchanges — for Tom Nichols, wrote, public safety, guidintravenous “To reject the advice ance to treatment drug users — are of experts is to and prevention of autonomy, disease outbreaks thwarted by elected assert a way for Ameriamong intravenous cans to insulate drug users — are officials who think their increasingly thwarted by elected they encourage fragile egos from officials who think ever being told they encourage drug drug use. they’re wrong about use. That belief is anything.” contradicted by Too many people scientific research, want confirmation, but those two words not contrary information. That’s easy to command much less respect today. do when you get your news from sources For the first time ever, research — but that entertain them with opinion, more than not the scientific kind — is at the fingertips of anyone who knows how to use an internet inform them with facts, or use algorithms that create echo chambers. News media that search engine. The research often stops practice a discipline of verification, and are when the searcher finds information that more about facts than opinion, now have confirms their suspicions and fits their belief less influence than social media, which are system. mainly about opinion and have no discipline That’s human nature, but it’s not in the and no verification. best interest of humanity. One example: Social media are a democratizing influWidespread skepticism about vaccinations ence, a good thing in concept but with led to relaxed government mandates for
pitfalls in practice. Ill-informed or extreme views once moderated by news media filters find fertile ground on Facebook, which may have been more important to Trump’s election than any other media platform; Russia seems to have known how to use it, as described in the Mueller Report and the recent report of the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee. Trump’s election was fundamentally a rejection of elites — societal, governmental, media and academic. Now, his presidency is a rejection of the scientific elite, starkly displayed by his public disagreements Wednesday with the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about masks and vaccines. Trump’s administration had already damaged the CDC’s credibility by watering down its scientific publications, and a former campaign aide, in a chief health-spokesman job for which he wasn’t qualified, made ridiculous statements about CDC scientists conspiring to keep people sick so Trump will lose the election. It’s no wonder some Trump followers think a virus that has killed nearly 200,000 Americans is a hoax that will end on Nov. 3. It’s dismaying to many Republicans, including former national GOP chair Michael Steele, who asked Wednesday night, “We have to literally beg people to wear a mask to keep their own dumb ass from getting sick?” The CDC is sort of a national health department. Like that health department where I got childhood vaccinations, it has enjoyed a level of public trust that is in the public interest; people need to have faith that scientists and their government are looking out for their interests. Now, they need to understand that Trump is looking out only for his own interests. And it would be a great thing for the country and its health if elected Republicans, starting with Mitch McConnell, could make Trump shut up about science. • Al Cross, a former Courier Journal political writer, is professor and director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at the University of Kentucky. He writes this column for the Kentucky Center for Public Service Journalism. Reach him on Twitter @ruralj.
NEWS & ANALYSIS
AFTER THE BREONNA TAYLOR SETTLEMENT ‘OUR PEOPLE DEMAND REST, JOY, SOLIDARITY, INTERDEPENDENCE AND FREEDOM’ THE CITY OF LOUISVILLE made a record, $12 million settlement with the family of Breonna Taylor. The agreement includes police reforms but does not indicate the city admits wrongdoing when police officers broke down her door ostensibly looking for drug money or drugs and found none. The state attorney general is deciding whether charges will be brought against the officers. Under the settlement, policing changes include: — Creating a system to identify early at-risk officers. — Requiring a commanding officer to review all search warrants. — Asking officers to undertake at least two paid hours a week of community service where they serve. — Giving officers credits to live in certain low-income areas of the city. — Creating a social worker team to help on runs. — Committing to bargain for increased drug and alcohol testing in the next FOP contract. — And requiring the presence of EMS/paramedic during the execution of all search warrants. From the press conference announcing the settlement, here are the words of Tamika Palmer, who is Breonna Taylor’s mother; Lonita Baker, one of the Taylor family lawyers; Tamika Mallory, a leader of Until Freedom, a New York-based social justice group that has organized protests in Louisville; and Keturah Herron, policy strategist with the ACLU of Kentucky.
TAMIKA PALMER, BREONNA TAYLOR’S MOTHER
“As significant as today is, it’s only the beginning of getting full justice for Breonna. We must not lose focus on what the real drive is, and with that being said, it’s time to move forward with the criminal charges, because she deserves that and much more. Her beautiful spirit and personality are
THORNS & ROSES THE WORST, BEST & MOST ABSURD THORN: DID THE BULLET HIT HIS BRAIN?
Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, the cop injured in the Breonna Taylor shooting, sent an email to coworkers, saying: “I know we did the legal, moral and ethical thing that night,” FBI agents aren’t cops and “would piss their pants”... and more bullshit. No remorse for his part in killing an innocent person in her own damn home.
THORN: MCCONNELL’S LIES NO SURPRISE
U.S. Bitch, er Mitch McConnell, will try to push through a nomination for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s replacement because... oh, never mind. We all knew he would and not acknowledge or care about the hypocrisy.
THORN: CITY VIOLENCE ALSO NO SURPRISE
Breonna Taylor’s mother Tamika Palmer spoke to protesters at the rally outside of the Kentucky Attorney General’s office last Friday. | PHOTO BY KATHRYN HARRINGTON.
working through all of us on the ground so please continue to say her name — Breonna Taylor.”
LONITA BAKER, A TAYLOR FAMILY LAWYER:
“Justice for Breonna is multilayered. What we were able to accomplish today through the, through the civil settlement against the officers is tremendous, but it’s only a portion of a single layer. When officers cause the death of an individual, it is imperative that we seek justice not only in the criminal system but also in our civil system. That’s when we hold people financially responsible, but it’s important to know here that a financial settlement was non-negotiable without significant police reform, and that’s what we were able to do today. We sought forth, as we went through negotiating the terms of the settlement and the reform, to engage police officers within the community not just when they’re dispatched to runs but to get out to volunteer in those communities in which they serve, to get to know their communities and other settings, to live within their communities, to dispatch social workers when they’re needed
for mental health crises, to recognize at-risk behavior by officers implementing the early warning system and to overhaul the system by which we execute search warrants that caused the death of Breonna Taylor on March 13. It’s important for her family that they minimize the risk of what happened to Breonna Taylor happening to any other family in Louisville, Kentucky. And we are going to continue that fight beyond the city of Louisville, Kentucky and throughout this country to protect and reform police departments across America. We recognize that this reform is not all-encompassing, and there’s still work to be done, and we commit our time, our talent and our resources to continue to work with the community to fight the systemic racism plaguing our city. We will continue to work on behalf and with the protesters who have put their freedom on the line to bring awareness to not just Breonna Taylor but to the systemic problems facing our city, for we know that without their voice we would not be here today. Attorneys will ensure that prosecutors handling the case of protesters truly are administers of justice and not being punitive simply because those individuals chose to use their voice to shine a
Louisville surpassed its 2016 homicide record of 117 with four more killings bringing the total to 121 (not including the killings of Breonna Taylor and David McAtee.) And we still have more than three months to go. There are many reasons for the violence, but the council’s decision to cut budgets for anti-violence programs did not help. Monique Williams, incoming director of the city Office for Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods, told The Courier Journal: “Understanding how patterns of violence are connected to social systems and social customs is really key to the equation,” she said. The paper noted that the office’s budget has been cut significantly for three consecutive years.
THORN: NOW, THAT IS FAKE NEWS!
The New York Times’ coverage of the Breonna Taylor civil suit settlement included that the protests “have ravaged the downtown of Kentucky’s largest city, where businesses and government offices are boarded up.” “Ravaged” was later removed, but you can still find the original story floating around the interwebs.
ROSE: STEPHEN KING FEELS OUR ‘MISERY’
You’ve hit the big time when Stephen King tweets about you. “Kentucky, please don’t vote for Mitch. I can’t stand to look at those jowls and round eyeglasses for another six years.”
ABSURD: MARINE PILOT LOSES AN AIR WAR?! “Mitch McConnell winning TV air war over Amy McGrath, thanks to PAC spending,” reads a CJ headline.
ROSE: METAL GOES MOBILE
Belushi Speed Ball gets a loud rose for playing mobile sets at local bars: “What we did, Belushi played a drivein movie theater from a moving van dressed up as ‘Mad Max.’ We then drove out of the theater and straight to Kaiju, Monnik, Barret Bar, Taproom and Drakes.” LEOWEEKLY.COM //SEPTEMBER 23, 2020
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NEWS & ANALYSIS
light on what was going on in Louisville, Kentucky. We look forward to being a bridge from this community to our elected leaders, to continue to push for change. We will continue to push for the mayor’s office and our other elected leaders to implement policies put forth in A Path Forward, which calls for community investment, the support for small businesses, affordable housing, closing the education achievement gap, jobs and workforce development and as an overhaul to the criminal justice system. That document was produced and signed by over 50 organizations in the city, and it needs to be taken seriously. We look forward to working with all the grassroots organizations to ensure that we continue to hold our elected leaders accountable but also to ensure that we continue to work with our elected leaders, because we would not get the policy changes that we need, we would not get to the legal changes we need, if we don’t hold all of you elected leaders accountable. But, in that same vein, we have to work with our elected leaders. The beauty of what happened here today, the reform and the settlement, and again it’s just a civil suit, happens when we work together. So we do thank Mayor Fisher and his team for committing to the reform. This is unheard of in one of these cases where you get a financial settlement and police reform, but, again, it was important to us, to Breonna’s family, to the lawyers involved, and it was important for us to give that back to the community which has been fighting so hard to say Breonna Taylor’s name, Lastly, as I stated when I started: Justice for Breonna Taylor is multilayered. We are not going to stop calls to hold the officers responsible for Breonna’s death accountable. We’re going to continue to put pressure on the Attorney General’s office to present a fair case to the grand jury, and we know that indictment is coming from the grand jury. We have faith that an indictment is coming from the grand jury in addition to the Attorney General’s office. We must remember that the FBI is also doing an investigation into whether there were criminal civil rights violations leading to and after Breonna Taylor’s death, so we’re going to be looking for the federal indictment to come from the Department of Justice as well, but it’s important that people know that the city of Louisville — they’re not the ones that can bring the charges. So today, what we did here was to do what we could do to bring a little bit of police reform, and it’s just a start, but we’ve finished the first mile and a marathon, and we have a lot more miles to go until we achieve and cross that finish line.”
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LEOWEEKLY.COM //SEPTEMBER 23, 2020
TAMIKA MALLORY, A LEADER OF UNTIL FREEDOM, A NEW YORK-BASED SOCIAL JUSTICE GROUP ORGANIZING PROTESTS IN LOUISVILLE:
“Justice for Breonna Taylor. And if there ain’t going to be no justice, there ain’t going to be no peace. A settlement is restitution, but it’s not arresting the cops, and we want to say today that the police officers responsible for killing Breonna Taylor must be arrested in order for the community to feel calm. We understand that this is an acknowledgment and a great acknowledgment of the wrongdoing that had happened, and it is important that our community understands what happened here today is very significant. It is significant because, again, there is an acknowledgment of Breonna Taylor’s life and the fact that those officers in this city murdered her. Breonna Taylor has shifted the atmosphere. She shifted it not just here in Kentucky but across the country. The ban on no-knock warrants was where we begin in terms of great reform, and to know that attorney Lonita Baker and attorney Sam Aguiar continue to push for reform in this particular settlement is extremely important, and it cannot be denied we must acknowledge it. The reforms are evidence that the city — unfortunately its police department — has been exposed for some corruption that exists within the department. The significance of this settlement is a small price to pay for our sister’s life, a very small price to pay. They deserve all the money that we can muster up in the world just to help a little bit with the feeling of pain and turmoil that I know exist within this beautiful family, but let us not lose sight on the main focus, as Tamika Palmer has said: The officers Brett Hankison, Myles Cosgrove, John Mattingly and Joshua Jaynes must be arrested. We cannot forget about Joshua Jaynes, the man who [allegedly] lied on a no-knock warrant application that set police officers charging into the home of Breonna Taylor and Kenny Walker. We cannot forget about any of those officers, and if this police department is to do right by this community, if you know of other officers who were involved, they should be arrested and indicted immediately. Again, the restitution portion is one part, but arresting the officers is what will make this city do right by its citizens and not just Breonna Taylor but all the Breonna Taylors across the city who are afraid sitting in their homes. Because to not have an indictment
Keturah Herron, policy strategist for the ACLU of Kentucky. | PHOTO BY KATHRYN HARRINGTON.
happen in this city is to say that no matter how much we pay, no matter how much reform we do, we’d rather pay, we’d rather cover it, than to deal with the issue. And so I have to say to you Mayor Fischer — we want to thank you for your leadership, but we want to say that if for any reason these officers are not indicted, that you must instruct your police department to fire every single one of them on the spot. That is called getting justice for Breonna Taylor. Thank you very much.”
KETURAH HERRON, POLICY STRATEGIST WITH THE ACLU OF KENTUCKY:
“Good afternoon. My name is Keturah Herron. I’m a policy strategist at the ACLU of Kentucky and member of Black Lives Matter Louisville. I was honored when Breonna Taylor’s family asked me to be here today. I am grateful to Aja Holston-Barber and other members of the movement who helped me prepare my comments for today. To Breonna’s family, you deserve better than having to fight for six months after officers from Louisville Metro Police Department — some of whom remain nameless — killed your beloved family member. You deserve closure. You deserve rest. You deserve to be cared for and loved on and supported for the rest of your days.
I’m grateful you have reached this point of some closure in some of the ways you have B asked for. To Breonna, to her family, to the families of every person who has been violated, abused and killed by Louisville Metro Police Department — I hope enough of us are joining this movement for Black lives to support you and give you a moment to rest, grieve and find routines that fortify you. We promise you that we will keep this fight going and win. We know we are not only fighting against the deadly violence that is integral to policing; we are fighting for a completely different vision of being in community together. We are creating something different. We are creating a community that no longer invests our tax dollars in people who kill our neighbors. One that no longer needs to spend our tax dollars on settlements that should never have to be paid in the first place. No more. Instead, we are creating a community that invests our tax dollars in our basic needs as human beings, in our joy, in our wellness. In protecting each other. We are going to create a community where all people are supported by our investments and given the chance to reach their full potential, rather than redlined into disinvested, distant neighborhoods that remain out of sight and out of mind to those on the other side. No more.
NEWS & ANALYSIS
Pets OF THE Week Charley and June!
Tamika Mallory, of Until Freedom, speaking at a recent rally. | PHOTO BY KATHRYN HARRINGTON.
We want to end the so-called ‘compassionate community’ that was never actually compassionate. Where people were forced to compete against each other for scarce essential resources, policed for the consequences of what it means to live in scarcity and then killed for our connections to each other. No more. We are creating a community that finally sees the fruits of our collective labor and invests our tax dollars in ways that nourish us, nurture us, heal us, challenge us and love us. In ways that house us, feed us and make us laugh. This is the community investment that values Black life and that will heal Louisville. To Louisville Metro Government and all of the complicit decision-makers throughout this horrifying experience, understand that this is not over. We are demanding full individual accountability and institutional accountability. While the culture of white supremacy has lied to you about what accountability means — let me tell you: Accountability includes
self-reflection, repair, apology and changed behavior. Changed behavior means people are no longer incentivized to violate, abuse and kill our people. Accountability means an end to transactions that tinker around the edges. For years, we have watched as you linger around the edges with our freedom while you go all in with dangerous and wasteful programs that you call investments — from the police budget to the gentrification of our neighborhoods, you have used our own tax dollars to harm us. Our people demand transformation. Our people demand rest, joy, solidarity, interdependence and freedom. Change is here. And it’s the peoples’ to change. And it’s the peoples’ to change. To my people who are giving so much of themselves to this moment, striving for a better today and better tomorrow; I offer you these words of Harriet Tubman: ‘If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If there’s shouting after you, keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.’ Thank you.” •
Meet our adorable and hilarious duo, Charley and June! These two ladies returned to the Kentucky Humane Society after being adopted for several years. Their owners could no longer take care of them and needed to find a home that would love Charley and June as much as they did. Charley (pup with the grayer face) appears to be eight years old and weighs nearly 60 pounds - a true gentle giant! Being a Shepherd/Hound mix, she loves to play with her sister June whether in rain or shine. June (red furry face) appears to be almost 10 years old and weighs 43 pounds. Being a Shepherd mix, she is a loyal friend to her people and adores playing with her sister Charley! Their previous family says both girls are house trained and have lived with a young child. These girls have been with each other for so long and need to start this new journey like they always have: together. Won’t you consider taking these two sisters’ home? They are both spayed, micro-chipped and up-to-date on their shots. Head over to kyhumane.org/dogs to schedule an adoption appointment to meet them at our Main Campus, 241 Steedly Drive!
Spice
Is your latte of life missing some... spice? Then this kitten is the gal for you! Spice is a five-month-old Shorthair with striking orange markings that remind us of fall. She came to the Kentucky Humane Society when a rural shelter ran out of room. She’s a fairly independent lady but does enjoy a good snuggle! Spice has also lived with other kitties and seems well-adjusted, curious and active. Is this spicy kitty the one for you? Spice is spayed, microchipped, and up-to-date on her shots. Head over to kyhumane.org/cats to schedule an adoption appointment to meet Spice at our East Campus, 1000 Lyndon Lane! LEOWEEKLY.COM //SEPTEMBER 23, 2020
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BUILDING THEWHATMOVEMENT HAS BEEN DONE, THE LONG LIST OF WHAT IS LEFT TO DO By Danielle Grady | dgrady@leoweekly.com IN ANTICIPATION of whether protesters will get what they have long asked for — charges in Breonna Taylor’s death — Sadiqa Reynolds went Monday night to Jefferson Square Park, where the protests have been concentrated. Reynolds, president and CEO of the Louisville Urban League, said she visited the Square and reminded people there that they already had achieved many significant changes during the more than 100 days of protest: Policing reforms. A fired police chief and the first Black woman chief. Philanthropic gifts from corporations to build up Louisville’s Black community... and more. “So, if the city burns down it won’t be on us, we are the ones who’ve been fighting to save it,” she wrote in a Facebook post. Earlier, Reynolds told LEO that any charges brought against the officers involved in Taylor’s death and all of the other accomplishments are just a start. Taylor’s killing has brought attention to the racial disparities in policing in Louisville, but it also has highlighted continuing inequities in housing, employment, access to food, and on and on. “That’s what I want people to pay more attention to,” said Reynolds in the interview. “If we can do the hard work, long term we’ll be much better off.” Three other Black leaders interviewed for this story also said the protests have brought change, but it won’t be enough to just arrest and charge the officers who fired their weapons in the Taylor apartment raid. The ultimate prize would be reconstruction of a system they say keeps Black Louisvil-
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LEOWEEKLY.COM //SEPTEMBER 23, 2020
lians poorer and less healthy than their white neighbors. In this piece, they talk about responses from the city and corporations that have meant the most to them, and they discuss what reforms they think would make the biggest difference moving forward.
BREONNA’S LAW WAS PASSED
In June, Louisville Metro City Council passed Breonna’s Law, banning no-knock search warrants in the city. The law was created in response to the search warrant that led to Taylor’s death. The ordinance also requires Louisville police officers to activate their body cameras while carrying out warrants. The Rev. Timothy Findley, an organizer of the Louisville Justice and Freedom Coalition, called the ordinance “a monumental step in the right direction” for policing in Louisville. “Just at its root, you talk about policing as problematic in so many different ways,” he said. “In terms of the way that communities of color and especially Black communities are policed, you’re never going to in one fell swoop change everything.” What makes this ordinance even more significant is that it’s being used as a model for police reform throughout Kentucky and the rest of the country, said Findley. State Rep. Attica Scott has introduced a version for the next state legislative session, and U.S. Sen. Rand Paul has proposed his own bill, the Justice for Breonna Taylor Act, that would stop the use of no-knock warrants throughout the United States.
THE SETTLEMENT, POLICE REFORMS
day in her life,” he said. The police reforms that the city has committed to are monumental for Louisville, as well, he said, although not necessarily the ones contained within the settlement. The most important ones, to him, are subpoena power for the civilian review board and Breonna’s Law. Still, he said he is skeptical that they will change the department’s culture, which he said has always been about protecting white people at Black people’s expense. Reynolds, the Louisville Urban League president and CEO is most enthused about social workers helping police. “The more we can invest in things like that, the better off our community will be,” she said.
Last week, Metro government and Taylor’s family reached a $12 million settlement agreement (the largest Louisville Metro Police Department payout ever), featuring several police reforms requested by the family, including: • Social workers to assist on dispatched runs • Body camera activation required throughout the money seizure process • An early warning system that tracks all use of force incidents, citizen complaints, investigations and “other key factors” • Expanded, random drug testing for officers every year (to be included in union contract negotiations) • Working with the police union on expanding the kinds POLICE CHIEF TURNOVER of records maintained in officer personnel files In June, the mayor fired Louisville police Chief Steve • Commanding officer review and approval of search Conrad after the National Guard killed restaurant owner warrants, affidavits in support of search warrants and risk David McAtee while members tried to break up a gathering matrixes before judicial approval at a West End convenience store • During the simultaneous execuwith Louisville police. The local tion of multiple search warrants, the officers weren’t wearing body camcommanding officer will act as an One of Taylor’s eras as required. Incident Commander with a separate Findley said Conrad’s firing on-scene Commanding Officer for family lawyers, should have happened long ago as each warrant location a result of other misconduct under • EMS and/or paramedics Lonita Baker, said his watch, specifically the Explorer on-scene for forced entry search that while the civil Scout sexual abuse case and overwarrants time theft by officers. • Housing credits for officers settlement was “It showed a lack of leadership in to live in low-income areas of LMPD,” he said. Louisville important, it was He is also happy about the • Encouragement for officers to “non-negotiable” incoming interim police chief. volunteer two hours during their Yvette Gentry will be Louisville’s shift for every pay period without police first Black, woman police chief • A letter in a police officers’ when she starts in October. file if they “separate” from LMPD reforms. “Obviously, there will never be during a Professional Standards a perfect candidate, there will never Unit investigation. If the officer be a perfect person,” he said. “But, could have been suspended, the I think for the times that we’re in now and what is most PSU will continue gathering evidence for possible further needed in this city in this very moment, I think that Yvette investigation. Gentry is the best person for the job, male or female.” These reforms add onto others that the city is working on. A working group formed by the mayor and Council President David James has created a draft ordinance for CORPORATE DONATIONS a civilian review board and inspector general to oversee Reynolds is looking outside the city budget for fundpolice investigations, complete with subpoena power (if the ing of things she wants to accomplish. So far, some of that state General Assembly allows it.) And, this year’s councilapproved budget contained funding for behavioral health co- money has already been flowing in, she said. Humana announced in June that it would commit $11.5 responders to work alongside police, as well as use of force, million to “rebuilding, relief, equity, and inclusion efforts in de-escalation and implicit bias training for officers. Louisville.” One of Taylor’s family lawyers, Lonita Baker, said that Norton Healthcare followed soon after with an investwhile the civil settlement was important, it was “non-negoment of $20 million over five years for permanent facilities tiable” without police reforms. and equipment in under-served areas. “It’s important for the family that they minimize the And, earlier this month Yum Brands and KFC U.S. risk of what happened to Breonna Taylor happening to any announced that they would devote $6 million over five years other family in Louisville, Kentucky,” she said. “And we are to “tackle inequality and uplift Black students, educators, going to continue that fight beyond the city of Louisville, entrepreneurs, and social change agents.” Kentucky and throughout this country to protect and reform Both Humana and Norton Healthcare have also given police departments across America.” millions of dollars to Simmons College of Kentucky Councilman-elect Jecorey Arthur said that Taylor’s recently. Arthur is a professor at the historically Black family deserves the settlement money. college. “I’m hoping that Breonna’s mother never has to work a
“People are being more generous towards Black institutions and making sure that they are aware of the pain, acknowledging the pain, helping them by sharing resources,” he said. “And this is so important because our HBCU shouldn’t have to beg for philanthropic dollars.”
THE LOT THAT’S LEFT, IN THEIR OWN WORDS
Comparing Louisville’s recent reckoning with racial inequality to his favorite Malcolm X quote, Arthur said that the city residents have realized that a knife has been thrust into the back of Black citizens. But, they haven’t begun to pull it out or heal the wound for the Black community. “What I need people to realize in this moment, that even though people are writing grants and people are talking about equity more than they’ve ever talked about it and they’re seeing it and realizing the pain, we will never truly have liberation without reparations,” he said. Here are what the Black leaders we talked to want to see the city address moving forward:
COUNCILMAN-ELECT JECOREY ARTHUR
Police reform: “There’s plenty of reform ideas that weren’t included in what was just announced that I’ve actually talked with Breonna’s legal team about. And, I’m hoping that those can get pushed through, if not now, especially when I take office and beyond… So, they included zero tolerance policies that were going to be baked into the FOP, LMPD contract. And those policies, there was a long list of them: They involved zero tolerance for racism or racist posts online, zero tolerance for destruction of evidence, zero tolerance for perjury, zero tolerance for failure to report a fellow officer. I know, this isn’t actually on the list they sent me, but there’s a law up in Buffalo, New York, called Cariol’s Law, that’s currently being lobbied that makes it a requirement for officers to intervene if their partners or another officer on the scene is using an illegal chokehold, similar to the one that killed Eric Garner…
Metro Councilman-elect Jecorey Arthur prefaced his remarks during the Louisville Forum by recommending this book, ‘Two Centuries of Black Louisville.’ LEOWEEKLY.COM //SEPTEMBER 23, 2020
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‘So, instead of us meeting when something quote, unquote, happens, we need to be meeting frequently, because we can’t serve the Black community, we can’t meet the Black community’s needs, unless we meet as a Black caucus.’ ~ Jecorey Arthur
Something else very important that we need to make sure is a zero tolerance policy is sexual activity while on duty. Because, as we know, one of these officers, at least one involved in the killing of Breonna Taylor, has been accused of sexual misconduct before. And, if that was addressed, if he was already disciplined or removed from the force preferably, he wouldn’t be there shooting recklessly into Breonna’s apartment that night.” Improving the Black caucus: “One starts with the council itself and our Black caucus meeting on a regular basis and being proactive instead of reactive to the issues in our community. We are a quarter of the city’s population, but over three-quarters of homelessness, almost three-quarters of incarceration, almost three-quarters of school suspensions, have less than a tenth of the city’s wealth. So, instead of us meeting when something quote, unquote, happens, we need to be meeting frequently, because we can’t serve the Black community, we can’t meet the Black community’s needs, unless we meet as a Black caucus.” [Arthur said he also wants to take a leadership position within the caucus.] Passing a Black agenda: “No. 2, as a caucus, adopting and passing a Black agenda that is microscopically, laser beamed-focused on Black needs, Black descendants of slavery, what has been broken within us and what needs to be fixed within us, from housing to education to healthcare, to employment and otherwise. And making sure that we use these tools of measurement like the disparities I just shared with you about the three-quarters, making sure we use those as a tool of measurement to track our success. Because the Urban League created this Path Forward document that so many people from Black organizations signed onto, but the city hasn’t adopted it yet.” Evaluating current ordinances and council practices: “And then [No. 3], not thinking so much, I know you mentioned policy, I’m not super focused on writing policy, with a W, as I am righting policy, with an R… And looking at every single ordinance that we have passed and every single ordinance we will pass and putting it through what JCPS calls a racial equity [analysis] protocol, REAP, and what that will do is ensure that we won’t redline or gentrify this place, bottom caste any group of people in this city. And that they won’t be impacted negatively by anything happening… And on the same note as far as righting policy, with the R, you can look at our non-discretionary fund. We get the same amount of money across all 26 districts. That doesn’t make any sense. We don’t need to be equal, we need to be equitable. So the districts that are the most impoverished and lack the most resources, they need to be weighed and have more NDS than the other districts.”
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LEOWEEKLY.COM //SEPTEMBER 23, 2020
The Rev. Tim Findley. | PHOTO BY KATHRYN HARRINGTON.
I’d love to see them get funding. I’d love to see culturally competent mental health counselors working in our community. And I want JCPS to make sure that every child that needs it is getting some regular check-ins.”
Sadiqa Reynolds, CEO of the Louisville Urban League, speaks to protesters on Derby day. | PHOTO BY KATHRYN HARRINGTON.
LOUISVILLE URBAN LEAGUE PRESIDENT AND CEO, SADIQA REYNOLDS
Beyond police reform: “We put together a document called The Path Forward. And it was more than 50 organizations that came together to work, to talk about what we think this community needs in order to be successful…I mean, part of it is, we’re marching and stuff about police reform, but it’s beyond that. Real justice will require affordable housing, real justice will require our real attention to the school system and closing the achievement gap.” Affordable housing: “In my perfect world, and obviously I’m not in charge of the world, but I’d love to see us within 24 months, create 100 new pathways to homeownership and maybe use those vacant and abandoned properties. So, we’re working on that. It is moving forward. What we also need to do is create more units across the city for very low, affordable housing. Because the housing authority wait is too long for section 8 housing; the wait is just too long. People are, we have people who are homeless because they’re just poor. We’ve got to fix that. So, there’s motion. But there’s not enough motion yet. And there’s not enough money behind the work yet either.” Mental health: “I think this is the real time for us to ensure that JCPS and all others in the city, that we have really, we’re able to respond to mental health needs. Because there’s a lot of trauma in our city. There’s a lot of trauma. People are suffering. And, we need to make sure we’re in a position to address that. It’s in the Path Forward, but it’s worth highlighting. Because I think sometimes we take it for granted and there’s so much stigma. And so I think it’s really in our interest to try to, and this is where organizations like Wellspring ... and Bridgehaven do those wraparound services for folks who are having mental health challenges. ...
JUSTICE AND FREEDOM COALITION ORGANIZER, THE REV. TIMOTHY FINDLEY
Police union reform: “I think there’s going to have to be some legislation, there’s going to have to be some pressure put on the FOP. Because they continue to be an impediment to progress and healing in this community. I believe that they are one of, if not the most, obstructionist organizations in the country… The fact that the FOP has negotiated with the mayor, these kinds of stipulations and contracts and now he’s afraid to fire people that he knows he should fire, is a major issue, and it’s absolutely evidence that the FOP is too powerful, that they’re not interested in justice, and they are protecting bad officers. And until somebody has the courage to take them on, we’re going to see these kinds of issues continue to happen even with these incremental changes in progress that we have.” More resources: “…No. 1, more resources in these distressed communities, more initiatives that are powered by finances in these communities that are distressed. And we’ve got to remove all the red tape and all the blockage that hinders those things from happening. Any time you’ve got to fight so hard just to have a fresh food grocery in The West End, that’s a problem, that is a problem. When there’s that much red tape, when there’s that much city resistance — those are the kind of things that we can’t simply concentrate on police reform and even defunding police and yet continue to allow these obstacles that won’t allow resources to come into The West End, or in my home neighborhood, Newburg. Where, it’s almost as if we’re starved out of the kind of justice, economic benefits that other communities benefit from. ... I think there’s several different things from inadequate healthcare and healthcare facilities. I think that there’s a reason why that’s not in many of these distressed communities. ... But I think one of the obstacles for Black people, again, has to do with bank [lending practices]. But even
when you talk about the ZIP code in which you live, that affects what kind of loan you can get. The ZIP code in which you live, it affects how long you live. And it’s not just violence, it’s just in terms of just your overall health. All of these things, I view as obstacles. Just even when it comes to the way in which, when Muhammad Ali passed away, who is Louisville’s hero, it was interesting to me that when he died and it was known that NBC and CBS were all Chanelle Helm, a core organizer of Black Lives Matter Louisville, speakcoming to — it seemed that ing during a night of protest downtown. | PHOTO BY KATHRYN HARRINGTON. the city put this major push to clean up the West End and gun violence. It is to stop that funding for to patch up holes on the road and to do all police communities in receiving more weapthese different things because they knew that ons and more tools of destruction against our guests were coming to town. And to me, that communities. That has to stop. They’re willjust shows that they know what to do, and ing to give more money to the police than they have the ability and the resources to do actually take that money and give it to where it, but they don’t do anything unless they’re it is actually needed in the community: more pushed to do it.” housing, more food, more healthcare. A good, permanent police chief: “I think Fire the officers, revoke their pensions: the permanent police chief, that’s going to “The other thing is we’re asking for the be very, very critical. I’m excited about the firing of officers and to pull their pensions, next six months with Yvette Gentry, but nowhere else in any other business are you I’m fearful because she’s only doing it for allowed to do a really fucked up, piss poor six months. So I would hate for her to do job… and then reap benefits from it.” a fantastic job of laying a foundation that Citizen control of the civilian review we can build on and someone come in and board: “And then we’re also demanding that not be the person for the job. And I think citizens have control of the review board. I that if there’s going to be a police chief, the think it is a really shitty observation that the mayor and all other decision-makers need to city decided to open up the citizens review bring in people who can represent different board under them when that is something voices and different places and have input that collectively the citizens should have. on this very, very important decision on this And the city does this every time communiposition.” ties decide to create something, they want to take it. The land bank, the fucking affordable housing trust fund, all those things that BLACK LIVES MATTER CORE they do not intend to automatically motherORGANIZER CHANELLE HELM: fucking fix. And then we also have open and Defunding the police: “I think, what transparent investigations. Like, all of those needs to be addressed is the demands things need to sit with that citizens review that we set down. When we say that we board, and that’s where it takes place. But, are demanding for cities and administrawe’re not only talking about the police, tions, elected officials to acknowledge, to we’re talking about all these hos in governacknowledge that police violence includes ment.” •
‘The other thing is we’re asking for the firing of officers and to pull their pensions, nowhere else in any other business are you allowed to do a really fucked up, piss poor job… and then reap benefits from it.’
UPCOMING EVENTS Weekly Psychic & Mediumship Development Group
SEP
Jessica Tanselle: Medium SEP
Getting All Thai’d Up In Kentucky All Thai’d Up Online
SEP 23
Private Cocktail Tasting Event or Virtual Spirits Tasting Make & Muddle
KMAC Museum General Admission
Gift Ticket - Winter Woods Spectacular
NOV 28
Iroquois Park Entrance
Macaron Class
SEP 24
Cooking At Millie’s
Giving the Devil His Due: Building Multidimensional Bad Guys
SEP 24
Louisville Literary Arts SEP 28
SEP 23
KMAC Museum SEP 23
Infused Spirits Make & Muddle
OCT 1
Gift Ticket Jack O’Lantern Spectacular
The Intuitive Witch Circle Jessica Tanselle: Medium
SEP 30
Full Moon Ceremony Jessica Tanselle: Medium
redpintix.com
Iroquois Park Entrance
~ Chanelle Helm LEOWEEKLY.COM //SEPTEMBER 23, 2020
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STAFF PICKS FRIDAY, SEPT. 25
Logan Street Market Monthly Art Bazaar! Logan Street Market | 1001 Logan St. | Search Facebook No cover | 4-7 p.m. Get your local art on. This is another in a continuing LOCAL series of art bazaars at Louisville’s indoor market, featuring the work of local artists and craftspeople. And, if looking at (and buying) art makes you hungry and thirsty, you would be in the right place (with a happy hour at both bars from 3 p.m.-6 p.m.) Don’t forget to social distance and wear your mask. —LEO
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FRIDAY, SEPT. 25
‘Celebrate 60: The Kentucky Shakespeare Festival Ex Joe Anniversary Production’ Ou
Online | Kentucky Shakespeare | KY Shakes Facebook and YouTube | Free | 8 p.m. Fre Not to be hushed by the lockdown, Be Kentucky ShakeTHEATER speare is premiering B a virtual production celebrating the ou 60th anniversary of the free Kentucky rac Shakespeare Festival in Central Park ga – “Celebrate 60: the Kentucky Shakeag speare Festival Anniversary Producthe tion.” Filmed live in Central Park with pa its 2020 summer company, the show los can be seen on Kentucky Shakespeare’s Facebook page and YouTube channel. Lo “The production features never-beforeAn seen and heard remembrances from Tak seasons past. It also features many new en performances of Shakespeare celebratow ing what makes our festival so special,” Co said Matt Wallace, producing artistic sup director. And Kentucky Shakespeare commissioned Louisville singer/songAngelica Santiago. | PHOTO BY ABBY SAGE. writer Aaron Bibelhauser to write a song celebrating the Festival. —LEO SU
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FRIDAY, SEPT. 25-27
Brouhaha Fest At Floyd County Brewing Co. Floyd County Brewing Co. | 129 W. Main St., New Albany, Indiana Search Facebook | $5 | Times vary
We’ve been waiting a long time for music festivals to return and our favorite craft breweries to reopen. Brouhaha Fest brings both together, with 20 local Indie rock bands MUSIC jamming out all weekend in Floyd County Brewing Co.’s Enchanted Forest. With decent fall weather, the outside entertainment venue in the shadow of the Sherman Minton Bridge provides ample space to safely rock out, try a plethora of craft beers and delicious eats. The small cover charge will go to local animal rescue shelters. —Aaron Yarmuth
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LEOWEEKLY.COM //SEPTEMBER 23, 2020
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SATURDAY, SEPT. 26
Big Talkers: Lucy Azubuike Zoom | ruckuslouisville.com | Free | 6 p.m.
Pig
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in O Incredibly versatile multimedia artist Lucy Azubuike uses her work to highlight the many art connections between people and nature, which she will discuss live at BIG TALK Ruckus Louisville’s latest online art talk. Through abstract paintings, power- req ful sculpture work, poignant photography and many other formats, Azubuike, the current regional artist in residence at Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest, takes extremely interesting and diverse approaches in her work, making her the ideal candidate for a deep discussion. The talk will be held on Zoom, and you can find the entry code via Ruckus Louisville’s Facebook page or on its website. —LEO
STAFF PICKS
ANY TIME
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 30
Joe Creason (not)Parkrun (Any time) Outside | Search Facebook Free | Any time
Planet of the Tapes | 640 Barret Ave. | planetofthetapes.biz | No cover | 8-9:30 p.m.
Exercise With Purpose! Before COVID-19, the Joe Creason Parkrun was a chance to meet up with others to BE ACTIVE test your 5k running prowess without having to pay $30-plus to participate in a formal race. During the pandemic, participants are no longer gathering to run together, but you can still compete against fellow cardio hounds by tracking your 5k runs and submitting your best time (find the link on the Joe Creason parkrun Facebook page). Your time will be ranked next to other participants each week. And, by the time regular races are back in full force, you won’t have lost any of your progress.—Danielle Grady
Big Howell & Possum Live!
The (unusual) comedy team, Big Howell & Possum, is breaking comedy barriers, with Trashy Trashpile hosting the duo’s revamped live show. You can join the COMEDY live studio audience every Wednesday through October, and enjoy drinks, comedy and (what organizers promise will be) hilariously bad movies, with an abundance of consideration given to safety protocols. Not ready to venture out for indoor gatherings? The show will also streamed live on Twitch, according to organizers, so you can stream the absurdity from the safety of your home. —LEO
Louisville Pride Stride (Through Oct. 31) Anywhere | pridestride.org | $40 | Any time Take part in the first nationwide, virtual LGBTQ+ run, or walk… or whatever. Organizers encourage anyone to “choose 5k or 10k and then run, walk, dance, prance, or roll at your own pace.” And while you have over a month to participate, one suggested date is National Coming Out Day on Sunday, Oct. 11. Some proceeds from the registration fee will go to support Louisville Pride, and you get an official race bib and Pride swag bag. —LEO
SUNDAY, SEPT. 27
Drag Queen Storytime-Kentucky Halloween Edition
Pigeon’s Roost | 6106 Price Lane | Search Facebook | $5-$6 | Noon A night of family fun that promotes inclusion and diversity, Drag Queen Storytime is once again back in person, this time with a Halloween theme. (The group is SPOOKY celebrating Halloween a bit earlier because of a planned HalloQueen Fest in October. Stay tuned for details on that.) The Halloween edition of Storytime includes arts and crafts, story readings, a drag show, a costume dance party and more. A mask is required when inside. —LEO
THROUGH JANUARY
‘BallotBox’
21c Museum Hotel | 700 W. Main St. | 21cmuseumhotels.com/louisville | Free Voting rights were hard won in America. Women finally received the right in ART 1920, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 made it easier for African Americans to cast a ballot. Curator Skylar Smith organized a celebration of these events with the exhibition “BallotBox” featuring artists Sandra Charles, Brianna Harlan, Jennifer Maravillas, Taylor Sanders and James Robert Southard. If “BallotBox” sounds familiar, it’s because it was set to open at Louisville Metro Hall when the pandemic quarantine hit. As a result, no one was able to see it in person (although it could be viewed virtually). 21c’s exhibition, while open to the public, is by appointment only with masks required. There will be a virtual tour of the show with Smith and the artists on Thursday, Sept. 24 at 6 p.m. Check the 21c website and Facebook for more details. —Jo Anne Triplett
‘Grandma’s Vote’ by Sandra Charles. Oil on canvas painting.
LEOWEEKLY.COM //SEPTEMBER 23, 2020
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MUSIC
LOUISVILLE’S RICH MUSICAL HISTORY OF SAYING: FUCK THE SYSTEM By Syd Bishop | leo@leoweekly.com
Jecory ‘1200’ Arthur. | PHOTO BY NIK VECHERY.
IN LEO last week, Scott Recker wrote about local music that has come out this year in response to the socio-political upheaval in Louisville and across the nation. As that article mentioned, the Louisville DIY music scene has a long and storied history of standing against oppression of all varieties, including music ranging from punk to country to hip-hop and beyond. Here is a chronological list of songs culled from the last two-and-a-half decades, each confronting injustice head on. BY THE GRACE OF GOD - ‘NOVEMBER’S LIE’ (1996) Following the breakup of the seminal hardcore outfit Endpoint, singer Rob Pennington and Duncan Barlow wanted to return to their punk roots and a more direct message. By the Grace of God was the answer to this prompt, with a finger-pointing, 1-2-3-GO!-style sound designed to fire up an audience. “November’s Lie” is an anti-capitalist anthem, particularly scathing to the use of corporate money in politics, and how elections and media are bought and sold. Search YouTube.
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LEOWEEKLY.COM //SEPTEMBER 23, 2020
THREE NAILS FOR A FALSE PROPHET - ‘CAPITALIST CONSEQUENCE’ (2001) With another warning against the dangers of unfettered capitalism, early-aughts hardcore combo Three Nails For A False Prophet combined imminently moshable moments with a politically intense message. On “Capitalist Consequence,” singer Mike “Bigtime” Lewis skewers “the haves” continued and ceaseless exploitation of “the have-nots.” In this fictional narrative though, the consequence for this profiteering is violence and property destruction as a comeuppance. Search Bandcamp. COLISEUM - ‘YEAR OF THE PIG’ (2010) The lead to the excellent Goddamage, Year of the Pig is as much about apathy as it is about political avarice. Singer/guitarist Ryan Patterson snarls about misinformation to create the “American illusion,” all for the sake of undermining any real revolution, a particularly salient and unfortunately prescient commentary on political theater. Patterson turns that rage inward, screaming, “I need to find a safe place because I’m feeling lost in this world,” a feeling that resonates still today. Search Bandcamp.
MUSIC
Anwar Sadat. | PHOTO BY NIK VECHERY.
SHIPPING NEWS - ‘ANTEBELLUM’ (2010) A skewering of political incompetence and cruelty set in an apparently post-apocalyptic landscape, “Antebellum” features the Shipping News at their most powerful. The lead from their final album, One Less Heartless to Fear, singer/guitarist Jason Noble pictures George W. as a figure of rank horror and cowardice, a figure that hides in a bunker with the justification that “great men make sacrifices.” Backed by a plodding rhythm section, “Antebellum” is a tonal shift in the band’s style, not only instrumentally, but in the unflinching confrontation in the lyrics. Search Bandcamp. CHIME HOURS - ‘HELD FOR RANSOM OLDS’ (2010) Released post-financial market bailout, “Held For Ransom Olds” by Chime Hours is a powerful response to fiscal irresponsibility. Prefacing rhetorical attacks on millennials to save and avoid spending on things such as avocado toast or coffee, singer Duncan Cherry points the finger first at the rich receiving bottomless handouts at the expense of the poor. When he sings, “more than the shirt off your back, but the skin right off your bones,” he’s doing so as a direct response to the influence of Wall Street on your street. Search Bandcamp. ANWAR SADAT - ‘OBEDIENCE’ (2014) Brutality is part and parcel to the music of Anwar Sadat that paints a poignant, if visceral picture of the very real specter of fascism. On the 2014 release, singer Shane Simms rails against blind capitulation and tribalistic servility in the political spectrum, ruminating on complacency as a disease. Simms argues that binary politics are flip sides of the same coin, used to command, well, obedience. Search Bandcamp. RMLLW2LLZ - ‘SO AMERIKKKAN’ (2017) From the brilliant Concerto No. 9, Movement II, “So Amerikkkan” is a fiery attack on nationalism disguised as patriotism. Rapper Rmllw2llz examines the history of America as one built on the backs of Black and brown people, exploited and discarded by white, privileged society. His politics here are nonpartisan, skewering Donald Trump and Hillary
Clinton equally as representatives of two parties that have continued to fail his community for centuries. Search Spotify. TYLER LANCE WALKER GILL - ‘SO CALLED CHRISTIAN POLITICIANS’ (2016) In 2016, Louisville country luminary Tyler Lance Walker Gill came out swinging with “So Called Christian Politicians,” a throwback Western jam in the classic genre tradition of taking shots at authority. This is a working class anthem that deftly balances personal faith with scripture by examining the story of Jesus as a literal social justice warrior, an advocate for everyone, not just the people who look and believe like you. Gill punctuates his chorus with, “Oh god I hope you’re up there, so you can send them all to hell,” a leering sendup of faith as political theater. Search Bandcamp. PRONOUN - ‘LAW OF AVERAGES’ (2018) New York ex-pat, rapper Pronoun’s “Law of Averages” scrutinizes racial inequities through the lens of systemic racism. With each verse, Pronoun addresses the various injustices that he and his community face every day, from the use of “patriotism” to other political protests, to the vicious reality of slavery. Released in 2018, one situation he covers about a police officer invading an apartment and shooting the occupant dead is tragically reminiscent of the death of Breonna Taylor. On the chorus, he raps “everywhere we go we’re randomly treated savagely,” a world-weary plea to just get through. Search Bandcamp. 1200 - ‘DECADES’ (2019) With Decades, 1200 balances systemic racism with personal responsibility. Here, the narrative is about a dealer who gets pinched, a target of racist policies. Regret informs the song’s protagonist, as he’s missed out on his life due to prison, while causing harm in his community. This is juxtaposed against both the character’s need to trap due to the dearth of opportunities in his life and a racist and classist war on drugs that disproportionately imprisons black people every year. Search Bandcamp. •
LEOWEEKLY.COM //SEPTEMBER 23, 2020
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FOOD & DRINK
RECOMMENDED
PARLOUR’S PIZZAS HOLD UP ALL THE WAY HOME By Robin Garr | LouisvilleHotBytes.com Parlour’s veggie pizza boasts fresh, quality toppings, a good, thin, bread-like crust, and a spicy fresh tomato sauce topped with mozzerella and grated parmesan. | PHOTOS BY ROBIN GARR.
I’VE BEEN DOING MY SMALL part to keep local restaurants alive during the pandemic by giving them my takeout business, but there’s a problem with that: I really hate eating lunch on my lap in the car. I want to take the food home, dammit! I want to plate it nicely and enjoy it in a relaxed setting. But I can’t keep hot food hot and the cold food cold for very long. I’m still trying to figure this out. The best I’ve come up with so far is either to order dishes that are good at room temperature or fare that takes well to reheating. Then it hit me: Pizza! Pizza is that rare dish that’s delicious sizzling, melting hot but also tastes perfectly good at room temperature and offers its own special charms when you pull a slice out of the refrigerator, ice-cold! Happily, Jeffersonville’s popular Parlour, an excellent pizzeria at the north end of the Big Four Bridge, just opened a second branch, on Frankfort Avenue, quickly taking over from the recently closed Craft House. Apparently undeterred by the pandemic and its social-distancing limitations, Craft Culture Concepts, the new corporate owner of both Parlours, not only turned around the Frankfort Avenue space in less than two weeks, it also plans to open two more restaurants soon — Smoked on Second and One Thirty Three Bar + Bites – in the space formerly occupied by Griff’s at 133 W.
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LEOWEEKLY.COM //SEPTEMBER 23, 2020
Liberty St. The move from Craft House’s broad international menu to a simple pizzeria offering makes sense to me in these troubled times. Pizza has always been a popular takeout dish, fast, convenient and good warm or cold. On the other hand, pandemic or not, management is happy to welcome us for pizza and a pint from their many beer taps. “We’re all about bringing people together in a laid-back atmosphere,” the restaurant’s Facebook page assures us. That’s nice of them, but we went with takeout anyway. Curbside pickup didn’t seem to be available, but I didn’t mind, as this gave me a chance to run in without getting close to anyone and, of course, to take a quick look around. Yep, same place, although the wall now bears “Parlour — Pizza and Pints” in white paint on gray. The menu is primarily about pizza, of course, and it is very good pizza indeed. I’ve rated pizza highly at the Jeffersonville shop, and I think our pie from Frankfort Avenue may even be a step or two ahead. A dozen pizzas come in two sizes, 10- and 13-inch and range in price from $10.99/$13.99 (for the OG pizza with red sauce and mozzarella only) to $15.99/$18.99 (for the Alfredo, which adds minced garlic, bacon, diced tomatoes, chicken and spinach to the traditional Alfredo blend of mozzarella and shredded
An aromatic dry rub with a whiff of anise and a shattering crisp skin with sweet charred spots makes Parlour’s wings worth coming back for more.
FOOD & DRINK
GET YOUR
PICK-UP LOCATIONS Even the small Caesar salad at Parlour on Frankfort is large enough for two, and it’s a good one.
Parmesan.) Not everyone loves pizza, though, so there’s also a choice among 10 starters and salads (from $6.99 for an order of bruschetta or most of the salads to $11.99 for loaded parlor nachos). That’s not counting the party-size order of 50 wings for $46.99! Four seasonal sandwiches, all $8.99, are chicken bacon ranch, meatball, BBQ and buffalo chicken. Wings are priced from $7.49 for six, $10.99 for 10, $18.99 for 20 and, as mentioned, $46.99 for a giant plate. We started with a small order of wings and were quite impressed. We went with the traditional blue cheese from a choice of sweet BBQ, tropical habanero, Sriracha bourbon or buffalo sauce, casually assuming that the wings would be buffalo-style, but nope. They’re different and really good. Six wings — three flats and three drumettes — were large and meaty and stayed hot all the way home in their white, plastic-foam box. Unbreaded, they had been dusted with an intriguing spice mix before grilling. We picked out distinct cayenne and an appetizing subtle hint of something like anise. The meat was juicy and the skin crisp and delicious, and we wished we had gone for a larger order. The Caesar salad ($6.99) was basic but contained the necessities, and it was large enough to feed two. Fresh, crisp romaine
had been cut into bite-size squares and tossed with shredded Parmesan and a lot of tiny, herbed croutons. Creamy, garlicky, white Caesar dressing came in a separate tub. We mixed it with the dressing and served it right out of its carry-out box. A small veggie pizza ($12.99/10-inch, $15.99/13-inch) got home still warm and delicious and earned Parlour a place among my top rank of local pizzerias. The crust is thin and bread-like, with slightly puffed edges nicely tanned from the pizza oven; sweet black charred spots on the bottom signaled that it had been fired with proper heat. Tangy-sweet red sauce was applied with a gentle hand and boasted a pleasant kick of red-pepper heat. Molten mozzarella was also in proportion too, ample but not an excessive blanket. A grocer’s mix of mushroom slices, red onions, chopped fresh tomatoes, green peppers, black olives and crisp banana peppers made a delicious and abundant topping. A hefty dinner, ample enough for leftovers, came to $29.12, plus a $7 tip. •
PARLOUR ON FRANKFORT 2636 Frankfort Ave. 895-9400 eatparlourpizza.com
Third Street Dive • 442 S 3rd St
Boone Shell • 2912 Brownsboro Rd
Jeffersonville Public Library • 211 E Court Ave
Ntaba Coffee Haus • 2407 Brownsboro Rd
TAJ Louisville • 807 E Market St
Beverage World • 2332 Brownsboro Rd
Climb Nulu • 1000 E Market St
Kremer’s Smoke Shoppe • 1839 Brownsboro Rd
Come Back Inn • 909 Swan St
Big Al’s Beeritaville • 1743, 1715 Mellwood Ave
Stopline Bar • 991 Logan St
Mellwood Arts Center • 1860 Mellwood Ave
Logan Street Market • 1001 Logan St
KingFish - River Rd Carry Out • 3021 River Rd
Metro Station Adult Store • 4948 Poplar Level Rd
Party Mart - Rudy Ln • 4808 Brownsboro Center
Liquor Barn - Okolona • 3420 W Fern Valley Rd
Shiraz - Holiday Manor • 2226 Holiday Manor Center #1
ClassAct FCU - Fern Valley • 3620 Fern Valley Rd
Crossroads IGA • 13124 W Highway 42
Hi-View Discount Liquors & Wines • 7916 Fegenbush Ln
Party Center - Prospect • 9521 US-42
Happy Liquors • 7813 Beulah Church Rd #104
Captains Quarter’s • 5700 Captains Quarters Rd
Bungalow Joe’s • 7813 Beulah Church Rd
Fitness 19 • 2400 Lime Kiln Ln
Republic Bank Bus Stop • 10100 Brookridge Village Blvd
Bungalow Joe’s • 7813 Beulah Church Rd
Party Center - Fern Creek • 5623 Bardstown Rd
Street Box @ Republic Bank Bus Stop • 10100 Brookridge Village Blvd
Street Box @ Piccadilly Square • 5318 Bardstown Rd
Party Center - Fern Creek • 5623 Bardstown Rd
Jay “Lucky” Food Mart #1 • 5050 Billtown Rd
Street Box @ Piccadilly Square • 5318 Bardstown Rd
Cox’s - J-Town • 3920 Ruckriegel Pkwy
Jay “Lucky” Food Mart #1 • 5050 Billtown Rd
Bearno’s Pizza - Taylorsville • 10212 Taylorsville Rd
Cox’s - J-Town • 3920 Ruckriegel Pkwy
Louisville Athletic Club - J-Town • 9565 Taylorsville Rd
Bearno’s Pizza - Taylorsville • 10212 Taylorsville Rd
Cox’s - Patti Ln • 2803 Patti Ln
Louisville Athletic Club - J-Town • 9565 Taylorsville Rd
L.A. Fitness • 4620 Taylorsville Rd
Cox’s - Patti Ln • 2803 Patti Ln
Habitat ReStore - Taylorsville • 4044 Taylorsville Rd
L.A. Fitness • 4620 Taylorsville Rd
Feeders Supply - Hikes Point • 3079 Breckenridge Ln
Habitat ReStore - Taylorsville • 4044 Taylorsville Rd
Street Box @ Heine Bros • 3965 Taylorsville Rd
Feeders Supply - Hikes Point • 3079 Breckenridge Ln
Paul’s Fruit Market - Bon Air • 3704 Taylorsville Rd
Street Box @ Heine Bros • 3965 Taylorsville Rd
Jewish Community Center • 3600 Dutchmans Ln
Paul’s Fruit Market - Bon Air • 3704 Taylorsville Rd
Street Box @ Marathon Frankfort Ave • 3320 Frankfort Ave
Full list at LEOWEEKLY.COM/DISTRIBUTION LEOWEEKLY.COM //SEPTEMBER 23, 2020
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A L V E E D E A V A G C T U O A S T E S C E A N N E
T A R I O R E N R A F T A B S O N I T I E D I O S E N T S A M T S O T W O M A I L A R M A L L P H T E S T R A S A L H N O A U G H R S A T A S
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52 Classic muscle cars 53 Cards with the most pips 57 Bread 59 Map section 60 Irascible 62 Some Hollywood up-and-comers 65 Responded in court 67 Cowardly sort 69 Turn down 70 Units of distance in physics 71 Sticks a fork in 73 Piece of news 75 Drinks usually drunk with straws 76 Compos mentis 77 Stark who was crowned king in the ‘‘Game of Thrones’’ finale 78 Eight-year member of Clinton’s cabinet 79 State 80 Glance at, as headlines 82 Animal for which the Canary Islands are named 86 Opposite of WSW 87 -s or -ed 88 Modern prefix 90 Practices lexicography 93 One vain about his looks 94 ‘‘You ____?’’ 95 Greetings to some mainlanders 97 Ground-dwelling songbird 98 Bit attachments
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Down 1 Labor-regulating org. 2 ‘‘Such a pity!’’ 3 Bugs 4 Doc’s needle 5 Without reserve 6 Yucatán natives 7 Fancifully worded 8 Drink rarely drunk with a straw 9 ____ Bora, area of Afghanistan 10 ____ American Heritage Month (April) 11 Foul rulers 12 Says without feeling 13 Start of a magician’s phrase 14 Send over the moon 15 Waited at a red light, say 16 FedEx, maybe 17 Order by the border 18 ‘‘Please ____ your tray tables’’ (plane request) 24 World-renowned 25 Sanskrit scripture 29 Part of many California place names 31 Get out of Dodge, so to speak 33 Caustic compound 34 Needing a passcode, maybe 35 Even one 37 Latin clarifier 38 Easy-to-bend metal 39 Greek vowel 40 Lead-in to rail 41 Computer menu with Undo and Redo 42 Dash gauge 43 Word with freeze or fixing 44 Choice word 45 ‘‘Don’t just ____ there!’’ 47 Digital passcodes 48 Viewed optimistically 49 ____ snake 51 Japanese city where Lexus is headquartered
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1 Curse 5 Unit of current 8 Developer of 1982’s E.T., a video game so bad that hundreds of thousands of unsold cartridges were secretly buried in a New Mexico landfill 13 Stealing attempts on the diamond? 19 Look extremely stylish, slangily 20 ____ People’s Democratic Republic 21 Classic actress Sophia 22 Lacking freshness 23 Always glad to be seated in the back of the boat? 26 Printed cotton fabric 27 Think of together 28 Perfectly placed ‘‘Batman’’ punch? 30 Behind the line of scrimmage 32 Pried, with ‘‘in’’ 33 Look ahead 36 Unfilled spaces 40 Part of New York City’s Museum Mile, with ‘‘the’’ 43 Charlatans 46 ‘‘Catch you later!’’ 47 Buddhist temple structure 50 Penny going through the wash once again? 53 Subject of Walter Lord’s ‘‘A Night to Remember’’ 54 Epson product 55 Facebook profile feature 56 Soup served at the church social? 58 Persuade by force 61 Sheep’s kin 63 Commencement 64 Church officer 65 Grape-Nuts maker 66 Ark groupings 68 Feudal workers 72 In a lively manner 74 What a pointless meeting probably should have been handled by 76 California in San Francisco, e.g. 77 Afternoon gatherings of Mensa? 81 Force at sea 83 Monk’s title 84 Withdrew 85 Having no feeling in one’s texting hand? 89 Assumed name 90 One of the so-called ‘‘Three Crowns of Florence,’’ along with Petrarch and Boccaccio 91 Source of the idioms ‘‘fat of the land’’ and ‘‘fire and brimstone’’
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92 As we speak 93 Small anatomical opening, as in a bone 96 These can go for a lot of bucks 97 Check for mistakes 100 Party tray meat 103 Ad for heartburn medication? 109 Puts forward 114 State you’ll never get to 115 ‘‘Quit your snickering, Damon!’’? 117 Hitting the floppy disk icon, say 118 Islamic rulers 119 Hill resident 120 Soup pod 121 Dangerous fly 122 Dividing membranes 123 ____ flour 124 ‘‘No man hath ____ God …’’
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The New York Times Magazine Crossword
PHOTO BY RACHEL ROBINSON
ETC.
SAVAGE LOVE
By Dan Savage | mail@savagelove.net @fakedansavage
MISSED CONNECTIONS
Q: Married guy here. I’m 33, the wife is 31. Our fi fth anniversary is next month, but we’ve been together for almost eight years. We’ve recently both come out to each other as bi. She tried to tell me a long time ago, whereas I came to the realization only recently. We’re both interested in new sexual encounters, and this weekend we met up with a male escort. It was my first sexual experience with a man, and the first sexual encounter between my wife and another man in eight years… and we found it lacking. It was too short and too impersonal. Is this how it usually goes with escorts? Should we have been more upfront with our interests ahead of time? We don’t want to keep spending the money if we’re not getting the experience we want. We need to stay fairly discreet for most of these encounters due to our careers. Appreciate any input. Basking In Confusion Over Underwhelming, Pitifully Lackluster Experience P.S. A shoutout to my amazing wife for going from learning I’m bi to fucking another dude with me three months later! A: Some sex workers love their jobs, some don’t; some sex workers are good at their jobs, some aren’t. Sometimes a sex worker doesn’t click with a particular client for some ephemeral, hard-to-define reason; sometimes a client gives off a bad vibe — or a bad odor — and the sex worker bails or hurries things along not because they’re a shitty sex worker, BICOUPLE, but because their client is shitty or smells shitty. But here’s the thing, BICOUPLE: No sex worker can read minds. You tell me you’re wondering if you should’ve been “more upfront with (your) interests ahead of time.” If you left something important out when you made the booking, well, that could’ve been the problem. No sex worker likes having things sprung on them. A sex worker who doesn’t do kink is going to feel very uncomfortable if there’s a bunch of bondage gear laid out when they arrive; even a sex worker who does kink is going to feel uncomfortable if kink wasn’t discussed in advance. Similarly, BICOUPLE, if you didn’t explain to your sex worker that there were two of you, your sex worker might’ve felt uncomfortable when they arrived. If you weren’t clear about your wants, and your sex worker didn’t ask or you couldn’t articulate them after he asked, you put your sex worker in the position of having to guess. And your sex worker may have guessed wrong — some clients prefer sex that’s athletic, impersonal or aggressive. And if your sex worker had a bad experience with a husband who got upset when his
wife seemed a little too into him, he may have erred on the side of maintaining some emotional distance even as you got physically close. If what you wanted — if what you were most interested in — was a more intimate and connected experience, then you weren’t just expecting sexual labor from the sex worker you hired, BICOUPLE, but his emotional labor too. While affection and intimacy can certainly be faked, we don’t typically expect a strong emotional connection when we’re hooking up with a stranger. Being sexually intimate can build that connection, BICOUPLE, but it can take time and a few meetings to get there. To avoid winding up in bed with another sex worker you don’t click with, I would advise you to take the time — and spend the money — to make a real connection. By which I mean: Go on a date. Find a sex worker you’re interested in and make a date — for dinner. Pay them for their time, pay for their meal, and if you click, BICOUPLE, if you feel like you could connect, book them for a sex date. Q: Straight male here, divorced four years ago, just entering my 50s. I recently expanded my dating app parameters to see everyone in my area. I wanted to check out the competition and possibly give myself a little ego boost. I have a gay male friend who is in his 40s. Mr. Forties has a boyfriend of two years who is in his 20s. They are great together — they vacation together, they quarantined together, Mr. Twenties and Mr. Forties worked on redecorating a home together, etc. The problem is I spotted Mr. Forties on several dating apps. It would have been perfectly acceptable for him to say, “None of your business,” when I asked him why. Instead, he told me they were old profiles, implying they pre-dated Mr. Twenties. He lists pets on his profiles that he adopted a few months ago. I have a sore spot about this behavior because my ex-wife started “auditioning” my replacement before we filed divorce papers. I really don’t like being lied to. What do I do? Confront Mr. Forties? Mind my own business and hope Mr. Forties doesn’t crush Mr. Twenties by cheating? Help! Fumbled Into Fraught Terrain Involving Expanded Search A: Maybe Mr. Forties and Mr. Twenties have an open relationship. Maybe they have a closed relationship but both regard flirting on dating apps as harmless. Maybe Mr. Forties was charged with finding a very special guest star for a threesome. Or maybe Mr. Forties has profiles on dating apps for the exact same reason you expanded the parameters on your profiles, FIFTIES: for the ego boost.
If it was any of the above — if there was an innocent explanation —w hy did Mr. Forties go with, “Those were old profiles,” instead of, “We sometimes have threesomes”? Well, in my experience, FIFTIES, some straight people have a hard time wrapping their heads around the kind of non-monogamy practiced by most gay male couples. Hell, some closed-minded gay people have a hard time with it. I can imagine a scenario where Mr. Forties was honest with people in the past and got a bad reaction and consequently no longer feels safe — much less obligated — to share the details of his sex life with straight or gay friends. So he gave you the answer a lot of straight people and some gay people prefer to hear when they ask pointed questions of partnered friends they assumed to be monogamous: “Of course I’m not sleeping around! Those were old profiles! My monogamous boyfriend would never want me to shove my monogamous dick down his throat while some other dude nonmonogamously rearranges his guts! Heavens! We’re far too busy redecorating our lovely home to arrange threesomes! Which we’re totally not interested in having!” Look, FIFTIES, you put a question to Mr. Forties that he wasn’t obligated to answer at all, much less answer truthfully. So what do you do now? What you should’ve done when you first stumbled over Mr. Forties’ dating profiles: You do nothing. You drop it. The issue you shouldn’t have brought it up in the first place? You don’t bring it up again. Even if Mr. Forties is auditioning replacements for Mr. Twenties — even if he lied to you for a selfish, self-serving reason — it’s still none of your business. Q: My boyfriend and I first heard the terms “sexual monogamy” and “social monogamy” on your podcast. They describe us: not sexually monogamous, but we present that way socially and most people in our lives assume we are. Including my mother. We’re both from very Republican families that struggled to accept us. My attitude is that if my brothers don’t have to tell our parents about their kinks, I don’t have to tell them about my threesomes. (Both of my older brothers have confi ded in me about their kinks, which I wish that hadn’t.) But it got back to me via my sister that my Trump-worshipping, Obama-despising mother only accepts me and my boyfriend because we are “good” gays. Good because we’re monogamous, like good straight people, and not promiscuous, like bad gay people. Now I feel like I should say something. But what? They Really Underestimate My Proclivities A: “Good people can be ‘promiscuous,’ Mom, and awful people can be monogamous. Take Donald Trump. That asshole has been married three times and cheated on every one of his wives. Barack Obama, whom you despise, has been married once and has never been caught cheating. Which means Obama either doesn’t cheat or, like everything else he’s ever, from
being someone’s husband to being our president, he’s better at it than Donald Trump.” mail@savagelove.net. Follow Dan on Twitter @FakeDanSavage On the Savage Lovecast, learn a thing or two from power sub Lina Dune. www.savagelovecast.com
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