Three to read

I’ve been editing alternative newsweeklies for many years, but I still get a thrill every time I pick up a new issue of the SN&R, or as we sometimes call it, “the Weekly Miracle.”

I’m especially thrilled by this issue. It has three strong news features that readers will find intriguing, beginning with Scott Anderson’s terrific investigation into the incredible case of a couple whose encounter with Bank of America was like a nightmare out of Kafka.

Their story of being bullied and abused by a corporate giant is hardly unique. During the recession, the bank and its affiliates sold toxic mortgages like hot dogs—so many that they ended up forced into a $16.65 billion settlement with the government.

The second feature I want to mention is Raheem Hosseini’s close-up look at what happened to Nandi Cain, whose story of being accused of jaywalking and beaten by a Sacramento police officer has dominated local news for days. It turns out the beating was only the beginning. If Cain and his attorneys are to be believed, the abuse continued at full force in the jailhouse. Raheem brings you the inside story.

Then there’s Sasha Abramsky’s beautifully wrought portrait of Kevin de León, the Democratic leader in the state Senate. The story describes how de León grew up in a poor family in San Diego, became friends with former Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez in high school, and went on to become one of the most powerful politicians in California.

The story’s title is “Point man,” in reference to de León’s leadership in the state’s fierce resistance to the diktats of the Trump administration. They say the times find the man (or woman), and this is definitely de León’s time.