Saturday, September 13, 2025

California Passes ICE Mask Ban In Closing Days Of Legislative Session

By Lynn La, CALMATTERS

After a summer characterized by masked federal agents detaining immigrants in Los Angeles, the California Legislature passed two measures Thursday that seek to force law enforcement officers to identify themselves.

Senate Bills 627 and 805 were among the most controversial to pass in the final days of this year’s legislative session. They would ban local, out-of-state and federal law enforcement officers from wearing face coverings, as well as require officers to be readily identifiable, respectively.

• State Sen. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat and lead author of SB 627: “As we go through this horrific era of mass deportation and a Supreme Court that allows this authoritarian regime to do whatever the heck it wants to do — including straight-up racial profiling of Latino people — California should lead and put a stop to the secret police.”

The measures passed along party lines,

Saturday, September 13, 2025

Lead Levels in Altadena Soil Exceed Health Thresholds in Wake of Eaton Fire, Final County Report Concludes

Elevated lead levels were detected in soil samples from parcels downwind of the Eaton Fire in Altadena, according to finalized findings released Friday by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. The report confirms that 10 of 23 sampling grids with intact homes in the Eaton Fire region exceeded California’s residential screening threshold for lead, set at 80 milligrams per kilogram.

The findings are based on soil and ash sampling conducted by Roux Associates, Inc., between Feb. 18 and March 26, 2025, following wildfires that burned through the Eaton and Palisades regions from Jan. 7 to Jan. 31.

Samples were analyzed for heavy metals, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and dioxins/furans, and compared against thresholds established by the California Department of Toxic Substances Control.

In the Eaton Fire region, 10 sampling grids with intact homes showed average lead concentrations ranging from 80.2 mg/kg to 167 mg/kg. The high frequency of lead exceedances is consistent with elevated air lead levels recorded immediately after the fire.

Friday, September 12, 2025

Altadena Town Council to Hear Assessor’s Update Amid Packed Agenda

When the Altadena Town Council meets Tuesday evening, its agenda will span topics ranging from upcoming election rules to wildfire recovery, with county officials and community leaders scheduled to deliver a wide array of reports.

The meeting is set for Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. at the Altadena Community Center, 730 East Altadena Drive. It will also be streamed live on Pasadena Media’s YouTube channel.

The meeting will open with a flag salute by student honoree Hayden Meadows.

Officers’ reports will follow from Chair Victoria Knapp, Vice Chair Nic Arnzen, Secretary Kim Yu — including approval of the Aug. 19 minutes — Treasurer Milissa Marona, and Corresponding Secretary Connor Cipolla.

Public safety updates will be next up for the evening, with presentations expected from Captain Ethan Marquez of the Altadena Sheriff’s Station, Officer Jeremy Keller of the California Highway Patrol, and Maria Grycan, community liaison for the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Forestry updates will follow from Ranger Raymond Kidd of Division 3.

Friday, September 12, 2025

Special Board Meeting Reviews – But Doesn’t Resolve – Pasadena Unified’s Financial Quagmire

Meeting highlights accounting practices, structural deficits and pressure to act

At a special meeting Thursday evening, Pasadena Unified School District officials delivered their most sobering financial report to date: without immediate corrective measures, the district could face annual operating deficits exceeding $30 million.

Chief Business Officer Saman Bravo-Karimi presented unaudited figures for 2024–25, as required by the Los Angeles County Office of Education. On paper, the district appeared to finish the fiscal year in strong shape, reporting a $38.2 million surplus and an unrestricted ending balance of $106.8 million.

But that apparent cushion, officials said, evaporates once insurance proceeds and fire-related expenses are stripped out. Without those extraordinary items, the district posted a $27.3 million operating deficit and closed the year with $41.2 million in unrestricted reserves — down sharply from prior years. The comparable deficit in 2023–24 was $7.4 million.

“It’s the latter numbers that exclude those fire revenues and expenditures that give the truest picture of our financial status,” Bravo-Karimi told the board.

Thursday, September 11, 2025

Eight Months After the Eaton Fire, a Call to ‘Listen Bravely’

Two-day summit in Pasadena presents a family-centered approach as suicide is the third-leading cause of death for ages 10–24

Eight months after the Eaton fire, Los Angeles County mental health experts are promoting a deceptively simple intervention to address rising youth suicide rates: “brave listening.”

The technique will be featured at the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health’s 15th Annual Suicide Prevention Summit at Pasadena City College on September 12–13, during National Suicide Prevention Week.

“I would recommend to ‘listen bravely,’ because so many people are probably holding inside feelings and thoughts that they’re scared to share or that maybe they’ve even tried to share and been met with minimization or fear,” said Stacey Freedenthal, keynote speaker and University of Denver associate professor.

The summit comes as nearly 900 Los Angeles County residents died by suicide in 2022, with suicide ranking as the third-leading cause of death for youth aged 10–24 locally.

Freedenthal, who attempted suicide twice in her twenties,

Thursday, September 11, 2025

California Uber and Lyft Drivers Closer To Being Able To Unionize After Crucial Vote

By Levi Sumagaysay, CALMATTERS

California ride-hailing drivers just won a crucial round in their pursuit of the right to unionize, but the political drama around the process and among the state’s drivers groups raises plenty of questions about what comes next.

Lawmakers sent Assembly Bill 1340 to Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday, but it’s merely a formality. The governor had already expressed support for the legislation in a deal he announced with Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas at the end of August.

The state’s top politicians tied the unionization bill to Senate Bill 371, which is backed by Uber and Lyft and which the Legislature passed today. It drastically lowers the amount of uninsured and underinsured insurance coverage Uber and Lyft are required to provide, which they argue inflates costs for both drivers and passengers. In exchange, the ride-hailing giants dropped their opposition to the unionization bill.

Critics of the deal say it mostly benefits the ride-hailing companies,

Thursday, September 11, 2025

Four Honored With Courage Awards From District Attorney’s Office at Pasadena Rotary Event

CITY NEWS SERVICE

Two men who came to the aid of a fellow passenger who had been set on fire aboard a train in Pasadena were among four people honored with Courage Awards by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

The awards were handed out at a ceremony hosted by the Rotary Club of Pasadena on Wednesday.

Jonathan Leyva, 37, of Pomona, and Kenneth Hwang, 35, of La Verne, were lauded for running toward the victim and using their jackets to extinguish the flames aboard the Metro Gold Line train as others ran from the flames on May 7, 2022, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

Christine Nicole Ciaccio, 41, pleaded no contest in June to one count of arson causing great bodily injury with use of an accelerant and was sentenced to 14 years in state prison, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Also honored were:

• Alanna Russell, 22, of Pomona,

Wednesday, September 10, 2025

Four to Be Honored at Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Courage Awards in Pasadena Today

Recognition event in Pasadena spotlights those who intervened in public attacks and domestic violence

Four Los Angeles County residents who acted with exceptional courage during violent crimes will be honored at the District Attorney’s Courage Awards in Pasadena on Wednesday. The awards celebrate those who stepped in during moments of crisis, risking their own safety to help others, and aim to inspire more members of the community to do the right thing when needed.

Among this year’s honorees, who have not yet been named publicly, are two passengers who stopped a woman from setting another passenger on fire aboard a train in Pasadena, a woman who helped save the life of a domestic violence shooting victim in Azusa and a worker who intervened when a woman was being attacked in Hollywood.

“It is the hope of the District Attorney’s Office that this kind of public recognition inspires others to do the right thing when the time calls,” the District Attorney’s office said.

Wednesday, September 10, 2025

California Leaders Negotiate Major Policy Changes In Secret As Legislative Session Ends

By Yue Stella Yu, CALMATTERS

Those deals — often unveiled at the 11th hour — will likely become law as is, because there is little to no room for changes by the time they are announced. And there’s rarely any appetite or momentum among the Democratic supermajority to tinker with the final product of the top Democrats’ negotiations.

This year, as talks stall, the future of California’s environmental policies hangs in the balance. Still up in the air are proposals to reauthorize cap and trade, the state’s signature climate program that charges polluters to emit greenhouse gas, until 2045; create a regional electricity market with other western states; replenish the state’s wildfire funds and boost in-state oil production.

To accomplish that before session ends on Friday, lawmakers must finalize the language of those proposals and put it in print by early Wednesday morning, as required by a 2016 voter-approved law designed to give the public at least 72 hours to review bills before they are voted on.

Wednesday, September 10, 2025

Pasadena Unified School District Launches Third Round of Student Assembly Elections

District welcomes all high school grades to apply for Assembly and Council roles, highlighting student leadership and representation

Pasadena Unified School District has opened the District’s third round of student elections, inviting all currently enrolled high school students to apply to run for seats in the Student Assembly and Council. This initiative seeks to ensure student voices shape District-level decisions and provide a platform for peer representation and leadership development.

“This is your chance to make an impact, grow as a leader, and represent your peers,” Pasadena Unified School District announced in its call for applications.

Currently enrolled Pasadena Unified School District high school students can apply to run in the elections to be representatives in the Student Assembly and Council. Each grade in all six high schools will elect one representative to the Student Assembly, making a total of 24 students. The six junior year Assembly members will also serve on the Council and will rotate in attending Pasadena Unified School District Board meetings.