Another Sacramento mass shooting + More on Richaun Holmes + Editorial endorsement season
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Hello and welcome back to The Sacramento Bee’s opinion newsletter, Bee Opinionated!
(If it’s an opinion newsletter, does that make it an opinionletter? I call dibs.)
Robin Epley again here, bringing you this week’s latest in Sacramento opinion journalism. I hope you enjoyed our inaugural newsletter last week! We’d love it if you’d forward it to your friends and colleagues and help us get the word out. The more people who read it, the better I look to my bosses, and I’m a big fan of that. Help a lady out.
I spent most of my week following up on the allegations surrounding Kings star Richaun Holmes that we highlighted in our last newsletter. On Wednesday, a Sacramento Superior Court judge denied a petition from Allexis Holmes, Richaun’s ex-wife, seeking a restraining order on behalf of their 6-year-old son. The case has been returned to the LA County Superior Court it’s been in for the past two years, which inspired me to write about the complexities of going to court for domestic violence victims.
Additionally, the editorial board criticized the Sacramento Kings’ pitiful response to the allegations, which was at odds with promises the franchise made to the public: “While the legal process unfolds, the Sacramento community would be right to question a franchise that prioritized the reputation of its brand and its financial interests over acknowledging the truth about Holmes’ hiatus.”
Tragedy, again
The K Street mall in downtown Sacramento transformed into sprawling crime scene early Sunday morning after a mass shooting left six dead and at least 12 people injured. By Sunday afternoon, police had not made any arrests. It was the city’s second mass shooting in five weeks.
As the investigation unfolds, the editorial board noted the one consistency in every mass shooting: guns, and our inability to pass reforms that can address this senseless epidemic.
Body Politic
Election season is in full swing for The Bee’s editorial board, with our first slate of endorsement interviews and candidate forums beginning this week. We’re meeting with Sacramento City Council candidates for the District 1 and 3 races, as well as the contenders for District Attorney and Sacramento County Sheriff.
In fact, The Bee is hosting a virtual debate for the Sheriff’s race on Wednesday at 4 p.m., with Elk Grove Assemblyman Jim Cooper and Sacramento County undersheriff Jim Barnes making their respective cases for the top law enforcement job in our region. California Opinion Editor Marcos Bretón will be moderating the live debate, which is an exclusive for subscribers. You can RSVP here.
Striking A Deal
Yousef Baig wrote a strong editorial for the team last week, encouraging all parties involved in the Sacramento City Unified School District strike to step aside and let new negotiators come to the table, arguing that: “Years of deep-seated vitriol has created a negotiating atmosphere so toxic that this strike seems less about COVID protocols or the unconscionable staffing issues at hand, and more about which side wins and which side loses.”
Tried And Tested
The Bee’s cartoonist/columnist Jack Ohman gave us his thoughts on the California State University system ending its SAT score requirements. Apparently Jack once met Stanley Kaplan, the dynamic businessman whose courses prepared generations of high schoolers for the SAT and Pre-SAT tests — including myself. Kaplan thought that if there were objective metrics for students, the admissions process would be less influenced by ancestry or wealth. Too bad it didn’t quite work out that way.
Opinion of the Week
“We overconsumed. We’ve taken a lot, and now we’re leaving a depauperate future for our kids.” — Laurie Litman, 69, co-chair of the Sacramento chapter of Third Act, an activism organization for people over 60 years old who want to do something about climate change.
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Keep those takes hot,
