Saturday, August 22, 2026

LA County Superior Court Warns Against Recent Jury Duty Scam

CITY NEWS SERVICE

The Los Angeles County Superior Court warned residents Friday about a jury duty scam involving callers falsely claiming that people missed jury service and could face arrest.

The scam involves callers claiming that a person failed to report for jury duty and has an outstanding warrant, according to the court.

Court officials urged residents to be cautious of unsolicited phone calls, emails or text messages regarding jury service, particularly communications that threaten arrest, claim a warrant has been issued, demand immediate action or seek personal or financial information.

The court does not call, text or email residents to threaten them with arrest, demand that they immediately report to a courthouse or request personal or financial information, officials said.

“The Court will never ask for Social Security numbers, credit card details, or bank information by phone or email,” according to a court statement.

Residents who receive suspicious jury-related communications were advised not to provide personal, 

Saturday, August 22, 2026

Registrar Mails Voter Outreach Materials to Millions Ahead of Nov. 3 Election

Postcards translated into 18 languages, plus a Language Access mailer to approximately 1 million newer registrants

Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean C. Logan announced Friday the mailing of voter outreach materials to millions of registered voters across the county as part of voter education efforts for the Nov. 3 General Election.

Approximately 4.8 million registered voters will receive a voter outreach postcard providing key information about voting options and important election dates, according to a news release from the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office.

The postcard is translated into 18 languages and serves as an early reminder for voters to begin planning how they will participate in the upcoming election.

The office is also sending a Language Access mailer to approximately 1 million voters who are newer registrants and are currently receiving election materials in English. The expanded mailer includes the same election information as the postcard, along with a Language Request Form that allows voters to request their ballot and election materials in their preferred language.

Saturday, August 22, 2026

A Noise Within Opens Pasadena Previews of ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’ Sunday

A Noise Within begins previews of August Wilson’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” at 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 23, at its theatre at 3352 E. Foothill Blvd. in Pasadena. The theatre lists that first performance as sold out.

The production opens the Pasadena company’s 35th anniversary season and is its seventh staging of a play from Wilson’s American Century Cycle. Three more previews follow before the Aug. 29 opening, and two of them are priced by the patron.

The Aug. 26 and Aug. 27 previews, both at 7:30 p.m., are Pay What You Choose performances. Tickets are $10 or $20 online from noon on the Monday before, and at the box office after 2 p.m. on the day of the performance. A third preview follows at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 28.

Regular tickets start at $41.75 including fees, and student tickets start at $20.

Wilson set the play in a Chicago recording studio in 1927, where a blues singer and her band contend over money,

Friday, August 21, 2026

Altadena-Born Fire Survivor Network to Hold Pickleball Fundraiser Saturday in Arcadia

A pickleball group chat that turned into an evacuation network when the Eaton Fire reached Altadena in January 2025 will take over a public park in Arcadia on Saturday, this time to raise money.

The Every Fire Survivor’s Network will hold a Rally for Recovery at iPickle, a benefit for Eaton, Palisades and Malibu fire survivors still working through insurance claims and rebuilding in the second year after the fires.

Money raised supports the network’s survivor rebuilding work and its insurance reform advocacy, organizers said.

Festival and tournament play begins at 11 a.m., with friendly tournament finals at noon and an award ceremony with remarks from state Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez at 12:40 p.m., organizers said. Pérez and Miguel Santana, president and chief executive of the California Community Foundation, are to take center court at 11 a.m. and will play in the festival’s exhibition match.

The tournament is open to all skill levels and includes a friendly bracket and a competitive bracket.

Friday, August 21, 2026

Historic-Site Bill by Pasadena’s Harabedian Clears Legislature, Awaits Newsom Decision

The California Legislature has given final approval to AB 2576, a measure by Assemblymember John Harabedian (D-Pasadena) that would widen the historic-site exclusions cities may claim under SB 79 (Wiener), the state’s transit-oriented housing law.

The Senate passed it 38-0 on Aug. 19 and the Assembly concurred in the Senate’s amendments 76-0 the next day, sending the bill to engrossing and enrolling. Six Metro A Line stations sit among more than 100 designated local landmarks and roughly 130 National Register properties in Pasadena.

AB 2576 amends Section 65912.161 of the Government Code. Existing law lets a city adopt an ordinance excluding sites with a historic resource on a local register designated before Jan. 1, 2025.

As amended June 15, the bill adds contributing sites within historic districts on the State Historic Resources Inventory and parcels individually listed there, designated before that same date. It was amended again Aug. 10. The separate limit capping historic exclusions at 10 percent of a transit-oriented development zone under a local alternative plan is unchanged.

Friday, August 21, 2026

Lawmakers Gut Major DUI Reform Through ‘Hostile Amendments’

By Lauren Hepler and Robert Lewis, CALMATTERS

A California Senate committee just gutted one of the state’s most substantial DUI reform bills in years, despite widespread support from other lawmakers and families of drunk driving victims.

The bill would have required in-car breathalyzers for anyone convicted of a DUI, bringing California in line with most states. State law currently only requires the devices, called ignition interlock devices, after repeat offenses or injury crashes.

Sabrina Cervantes, a Democrat from the Inland Empire and chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, provided a hint of changes last week when she said there were amendments to the bill that had been approved unanimously by the committee. This week, an updated version of the legislation emerged, and it effectively killed a key provision to start requiring the devices for thousands of first-time offenders. Such changes are commonly referred to as “hostile amendments” because they are made without the involvement or support of the bill’s author.

Friday, August 21, 2026

Volunteer ‘854’ Draws Congressional Honor After Three Decades on Patrol

Otis Triplett, 88, was one of the original members of the police department’s civilian patrol

Otis Triplett, an 88-year-old Army veteran who has spent nearly three decades patrolling Pasadena streets as a police volunteer, was named Congressional Volunteer of the Year for Pasadena and Altadena at Representative Judy Chu’s annual Congressional Leadership of the Year Awards.

Chu presented the award on Saturday, Aug. 15, at a ceremony in Arcadia that honored 10 individuals and organizations from California’s 28th Congressional District. Triplett is one of the original members of Community Assisting Pasadena Police, the department’s uniformed civilian patrol, and is known across the department by his call sign, “854.”

The patrol began in 1996, growing out of an earlier Citizens on Patrol effort when volunteers wanted more active roles, and its members serve as extra eyes for the department on residential and commercial streets. Recruits complete an eight- to 10-week course in radio procedure, driver training, report writing, penal and vehicle codes and traffic control before they may drive a city volunteer unit,

Friday, August 21, 2026

LA County Releases Maps to Help Navigate Homeless Services

CITY NEWS SERVICE

Los Angeles County officials announced Thursday the release of a series of resource maps designed to help service providers navigate the county’s homeless response system and connect people with housing and supportive services.

The Department of Homeless Services and Housing developed separate System Resource Maps for single adults, families with children, and youth and young adults, with input from community members, service providers, public agencies and other partners.

“Our goal is simple: to make a complex system easier to understand and help those assisting people experiencing homelessness connect them to the resources that best meet their needs,” HSH Chief Program Officer Leepi Shimkhada said in a message announcing the maps.

County officials described the maps as visual guides to housing and supportive services available throughout Los Angeles County.

Officials said the initial maps are a first step and will be updated based on feedback about their content, design and usability.

“These maps are a first step,

Friday, August 21, 2026

Officials Urge Families to Raise Awareness About Fentanyl

CITY NEWS SERVICE

Federal drug enforcement officials in Los Angeles were urging parents and families Friday to help educate young people about the dangers of fentanyl as the nation marks the fifth National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day.

This year’s observance carries the theme “Power of the Parent,” highlighting the role parents and families can play in raising awareness and protecting loved ones from fentanyl, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

“We commend parents who have taken up the torch, leading the fight against fentanyl,” David Olesky, special agent in charge of the DEA’s Los Angeles Field Division, said in a statement. “Through their work and outreach in the community, at schools, and through various pathways, they have catalyzed change.”

Olesky said parents who have lost loved ones to fentanyl have “valiantly harnessed their grief into purpose.”

Fentanyl-related deaths have declined over the past several years, but the synthetic opioid remains the leading cause of death among Americans ages 18 to 45,

Friday, August 21, 2026

Altadena’s 29th Free Concert Season Closes Saturday With a Fleetwood Mac Tribute at Loma Alta Park

The Rotary Club of Altadena closes its 29th season of free summer concerts Saturday, Aug. 22, when the Fleetwood Mac tribute act Stevie Nicks Illusion plays the lower lawn at Loma Alta Park. 

The band performs at 7 p.m. at the park, 3330 N. Lincoln Ave. Admission is free. It is the last of seven Saturday concerts that began July 11, and the second season the series has run at Loma Alta. 

Stevie Nicks Illusion draws on Fleetwood Mac’s catalog and Stevie Nicks’ solo work, with Diana Grace on the Nicks vocals, Monty Sommer on Lindsey Buckingham’s guitar parts and Laurie Richardson covering Christine McVie. The Rotary Club lists the act as presented by Gigroster.com. 

The 2026 season opened July 11 with the Taylor Swift tribute Dream Like Taylor. It continued with Past Action Heroes, the all-female salsa band Las Chikas and the Beatles tribute Britain’s Finest, then the steel drum reggae and soca band Upstream and the Blue Breeze Band. 

The concerts are staged in partnership with the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation.