Saturday, January 17, 2026

PUSD Academy Showcase Offers Families Final Look at Career Pathways Before Enrollment Deadline

Event on January 21 highlights nine-plus programs with paid internships; lottery applications close January 28

A week before the enrollment lottery closes, Pasadena Unified School District will open the doors of McKinley School Gymnasium so families can see what its career academies actually look like from the inside.

The Academy Showcase on Wednesday, January 21, at 4:30 p.m. gives families a chance to meet representatives from more than nine specialized programs—health careers, engineering, law, storytelling, arts and media—before they decide where to submit their lottery applications. Many of the academies, according to the district, offer paid summer internships for students between their junior and senior years.

The timing matters. PUSD’s open enrollment lottery window runs from January 14 through January 28 at 4 p.m., with results posted online February 11. Families who attend the showcase will have one week to apply for the academies they’ve just explored.

PUSD’s College & Career Academies are four-year programs housed at the district’s four comprehensive high schools.

Saturday, January 17, 2026

Landlords Have Less Than a Week to Apply for County Rent Relief Tied to Eaton Fire

County program offers grants up to $15,000 per unit; deadline is 4:59 p.m. Thursday

The January 2025 Eaton Fire destroyed more than 9,000 structures in this foothill community. Now, with fewer than seven days remaining, landlords and displaced homeowners affected by that devastation have a shrinking window in which to apply for County rent relief.

Los Angeles County’s Emergency Rent Relief Program, which provides grants of up to $15,000 per rental unit to cover unpaid rent, closes its application portal at 4:59 p.m. on Thursday, January 23. The program specifically targets property owners dealing with rent arrears tied to the Eaton Fire, the Palisades Fire, and other emergency financial hardships.

Tenants cannot apply directly. Landlords must submit applications, and all grant funds are paid to property owners to clear eligible rental debt. Tenants who are behind on rent can refer their landlords to the program through an online interest form at lacountyrentrelief.com.

The program prioritizes small landlords who own four or fewer rental units and those whose household income is at or below 80 percent of the Los Angeles County Area Median Income.

Saturday, January 17, 2026

ArtCenter Will Open Hillside Campus for Poppy Planting to Honor Eaton Fire Anniversary

The free community event connects the college to Altadena’s grassroots effort to restore the state flower to fire-scarred land

A Pasadena art institution is inviting the community to help spread a blanket of bright poppies throughout the foothills of West Pasadena.

ArtCenter College of Design will host a free poppy-planting event on Saturday, January 24, where attendees will scatter California poppy seeds across the college’s Hillside Campus in the San Rafael hills. The gathering, called “Planting Seeds: Remembering the LA Fires,” will remember the first anniversaries of the massively destructive Eaton and Palisades wildfires.

It’s part of the Great Altadena Poppy Project, a grassroots effort led by longtime Altadena resident René Amy to sow 250 million poppy seeds across fire-impacted properties.

Amy, who lost his home and his wildflower seed business in the fire, launched the project in November.

“Folks need hope these days; I know that I do,” Amy said in an earlier interview. “California poppies exemplify beauty,

Saturday, January 17, 2026

Kaiser Workers Set Open-Ended Strike Starting Jan. 26

Union representing 31,000 nurses and health professionals says negotiations have stalled for over a month

Kaiser Permanente healthcare workers are likely heading back to the picket lines, and this time they haven’t set an end date.

The union representing 31,000 nurses, pharmacists, and other health professionals issued a strike notice Wednesday, with an open-ended walkout scheduled to begin January 26 at Kaiser hospitals and clinics across California and Hawaii.

Kaiser Permanente’s Southern California regional headquarters is located in Pasadena.

The action follows a five-day strike in October that ended without a new contract—and negotiations that have remained stalled since mid-December.

Pasadena-area Kaiser members who need hospital services typically use the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center or Baldwin Park Medical Center. Both are on the list of picket locations.

“We’re not going on strike to make noise,” said Charmaine S. Morales, a registered nurse and president of the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals.

Saturday, January 17, 2026

Forum to Address Fire Safety, Recovery as Altadena Marks Year Since Eaton Fire

Councilmember Rick Cole’s January 20 Issue Forum offers residents chance to discuss lessons learned and resilience

District 2 Pasadena City Councilmember Rick Cole will host a community forum focused on fire prevention and disaster recovery.

The Issue Forum, scheduled for Tuesday, January 20, at 7 p.m. at the Jefferson School Auditorium, will give residents an opportunity to discuss what the Eaton Fire revealed about the region’s vulnerabilities, examine ongoing recovery efforts, and explore ways to strengthen community resilience.

The event is free and open to all. It is one of Cole’s monthly Issue Forum series, held on the third Tuesday of each month at Jefferson School Auditorium.

“Preparedness continues to be the best way to stay safe,” Fire Chief Chad Augustin said in a statement last year about the city’s emergency readiness initiatives.

The Pasadena Fire Department has expanded its preparedness programs, conducting approximately 4,000 residential inspections in high-fire hazard zones and launching training programs to help residents respond to emergencies.

Friday, January 16, 2026

California State Parks to Offer Free Vehicle Entry on MLK Day with Support from California State Parks Foundation

STAFF REPORT

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that California residents and visitors will receive free vehicle day-use entry to participating California state parks on Monday, January 19, with support from California State Parks Foundation.

The free-admission day is made possible by California State Parks Foundation, a key proponent of the California State Library Parks Pass, which provides free vehicle access to more than 200 state parks for library cardholders across the state. The parks participating in the MLK Day free-entry program are the same parks that accept the Library Parks Pass year-round.

“Free entry days like MLK Day and programs like the Library Parks Pass help ensure that cost is never a barrier to experiencing California’s state parks, and the California State Parks Foundation will continue to support and advocate for access so all Californians can enjoy these places,” said Rachel Norton, Executive Director of the California State Parks Foundation.

Friday, January 16, 2026

Altadena Library Director Asked to Join Statewide Board After Leading Fire Recovery

Nikki Winslow appointed to California Special Districts Association board, a year after guiding her institution through the Eaton Fire aftermath

A year after the Eaton Fire tore through Altadena, the library director who kept her doors open—and her community connected—has been appointed to a statewide leadership post.

Nikki Winslow, who has led the Altadena Library District since 2019, is now serving on the California Special Districts Association’s 18-member Board of Directors, representing the Southern Network. She and the board convened their first meeting of 2026 on Thursday, according to an announcement from CSDA.

The appointment comes just days after the one-year anniversary of the January 7, 2025, fire that destroyed more than 9,000 structures in Altadena. Winslow’s library emerged from that disaster as a lifeline: the Main Library reopened March 4, 2025—less than two months after the fire—serving not only as a place to borrow books but as a hub for federal assistance, recovery resources, and community connection.

“Special districts truly are special,

Friday, January 16, 2026

A 50K Relay Returns to Raise Funds for Altadena and Palisades Recovery

Silver Lake Track Club’s second annual run raised over $50,000 last year

The run that raised $50,000 for wildfire relief last May is back. 

Silver Lake Track Club hosts its second annual Altadena to the Palisades Ultra-Marathon Relay on February 7, a 50-kilometer course connecting the two communities hit hardest by the January 2025 fires. Participants can run the full 31 miles, bike the route, form five-person relay teams, or complete any segment they choose. 

One year after the Eaton and Palisades fires destroyed more than 16,000 structures and killed 31 people, the relay serves as both a fundraiser and a physical link between neighborhoods still recovering. The route begins at Good Neighbor Bar in Altadena, passes through Eagle Rock, Silver Lake, Hollywood, and Santa Monica, and ends at Will Rogers Beach.

All proceeds will benefit four organizations working in fire-affected areas, according to organizers: My Tribe Rise, Greenline Housing Foundation, Altadena Mountain Rescue, and Malibu Search &

Friday, January 16, 2026

How Altadena Businesses are Trying to Recover from the Eaton Fire

By Levi Sumagaysay, CALMATTERS

A year after the Eaton Fire, some small business owners in Altadena are striving to rebuild, in some cases while also grappling with being displaced from homes that burned down or were severely damaged.

For others, such as Steve’s Pets Store owner Carrie Meyers, it’s just too much.

“People want me back,” Meyers said. “But I don’t know if we can survive up there. No one lives there … mentally I’m not there.”

Meyers said she had just received a delivery before the fire last January, so about 65 animals perished, including cats, rats, birds and a 40-year-old parrot. The store is now permanently closed, and its website shows a message from former employee Michael Mersola, who said he would miss it because “people would just (hang out) here, I swear it was Starbucks for animal lovers lol.”

Meanwhile, Carrie’s husband Ed is dealing with trying to rebuild their home, which burned down. He has dealt with a long insurance process with State Farm that has,

Friday, January 16, 2026

Pasadena Rep. Judy Chu Joins Effort to Impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem

Congresswoman cites deadly ICE shooting and cases involving her constituents

Rep. Judy Chu has joined more than 70 House Democrats in cosponsoring articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, according to a statement released Wednesday by the Pasadena congresswoman’s office.

The impeachment effort, led by Rep. Robin Kelly of Illinois, accuses Noem of obstruction of Congress, violation of public trust, and self-dealing. The articles were filed one week after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen, in Minneapolis on Jan. 7.

Chu, who represents California’s 28th Congressional District including Pasadena and Altadena, said in the statement that under Noem’s leadership ICE has operated without accountability. The congresswoman has been directly involved in immigration cases affecting her constituents, including successful interventions for residents detained by federal agents.

Last month, Chu intervened to help secure the release of Masuma Khan, a 64-year-old Altadena resident who was detained during a routine immigration check-in despite nearly 30 years in the United States.