C.J.: NAACP chief lauds Uber-nice move for Philando

Uber provided free rides to Philando Castile's funeral.

NAACP President Nekima Levy-Pounds had a hunch the online transportation company was doing this because when she got her Uber tab it said she didn't owe anything. There was also no charge from Uber when her kids attended the funeral, arriving from a different location in the metro.

"I can confirm for you that we did do that," Uber spokesman Leor Reef said last week.

"We did it to some vigils around the country that were happening at other times as well. It wasn't something we [publicized] but we wanted to do for the people attending."

Levy-Pounds was certain of this before I got confirmation and she said, "I think that was very noble of Uber."

Rob Murphy's cellphone had people at S.R. Harris jumping out of their skin near the checkout counter when it started loudly playing a song from "Grease."

A South St. Paul school behavioral specialist, Murphy was apparently not responsible for any of the calls that frightened staffers and customers.

Recovering his phone was not a discreet endeavor.

Sid Harris, owner of the enormous fabric outlet in Brooklyn Park, was there. Harris was razzing Murphy mercilessly about the ring tone scaring the devil out of everybody who heard it.

What song is that? "Ahhhh," said Murphy. "I don't even know. I just know it as the 'Grease' theme song."

Murphy said that after he purchased cushion material, batting and vinyl for a bench project, he drove back 45 minutes home to White Bear Lake. That's when he noticed his phone was missing.

How law-abiding of the former police officer not to have used that phone in his car. He was a cop for eight years before changing careers.

When a cop pulls you over on a traffic stop, how do you reach for your wallet so it does not look as if you're going for the gun you've admitted you are carrying?

"If somebody tells me, I'm going to be more cautious but I'm also going to watch their hands," said Murphy. "There's a different between grabbing my hip and grabbing my butt where my wallet is. I've been pulled over and I've told the police officer 'I'm licensed to carry a firearm.' "

When he was a police officer dealing with a motorist licensed to carry, Murphy said, "The thing that I've done is move around to the passenger-side window. Then I can see where they are grabbing. Then you can see a gun coming out."

Murphy said that when he has been pulled over he does not disclose his status as an ex-cop.

"Nope," said Murphy. "I don't want to sway people. I could use that to get out of tickets but I don't."

Tony Kornheiser, of ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption," noted that Minneapolis is "colder than every other city in the league, including Toronto and Milwaukee. It's very nice that Towns right now is eager to play in Minnesota. I don't know what's going to happen [during] a February road trip to Los Angeles."

Rachel Nichols, making a guest appearance on "PTI," said she thinks it "unlikely" Towns' career will end here. "Careers are long, 15-18 years. Who knows and Kevin Garnett himself agreed to be traded from Minnesota. He said at the time that loyalty is overrated; you cannot get your youth back. He has advised other players to leave."

Very nice, KG, but most are more loyal than you.

I asked Kenny King, half of the clothiers known on Twitter as @king_bros, for an opinion on this since he and his brother Danny King have spent more time with the KAT than Kornheiser or Nichols.

"He claims to really like it here. I saw on Snapchat yesterday that he was itching to get back. We spoke via text a couple weeks ago and he told me the same thing," said Kenny.

C.J. can be reached at cj@startribune.com and seen on Fox 9's "Jason Show." E-mailers, please state a subject; "Hello" does not count. Attachments are not opened.