Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Eaton Fire Survivors To Leave Pasadena for Sacramento Seeking $25 Million Rebuilding Fund

A coalition of Eaton Fire survivors is scheduled to hold a news conference and bus send-off at the Pasadena Community Job Center on Tuesday morning before traveling to Sacramento to press state leaders for $25 million for a proposed rebuilding fund.

The Dena Rise Up Coalition said in an announcement released Monday that more than 100 survivors, residents, workers, faith leaders and community advocates would make the trip. The send-off is set for 9 a.m. at 500 N. Lake Ave.

The coalition is seeking the money for the proposed Community Aid for Rebuilding Equity Fund, known as the CARE Fund. The coalition says the fund would provide rebuilding assistance for lower-income homeowners and preserve affordable housing opportunities for displaced renters and working families.

“Recovery cannot be measured by promises. It must be measured by whether families can come home,” said Florence Annang, a coalition spokesperson.

Five fire survivors are expected to speak at the Pasadena event, along with Heavenly Hughes,

Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Altadena Couple to Break Ground on Eaton Fire Rebuild With Lakers Champion A.C. Green

HPP Cares says the family’s insurance had lapsed before the January 2025 fire, leaving them without coverage

An Altadena couple who lost their Taos Road home of more than five decades during the Eaton Fire are scheduled to break ground on a rebuilt house Tuesday, August 18, according to HPP Cares, the nonprofit housing counseling agency supporting the project.

HPP Cares announced the ceremony for 10:00 a.m. and said former Los Angeles Lakers forward A.C. Green will attend. Green played key roles in three NBA championships with the Lakers, in 1987, 1988 and 2000.

Emmanuel and Emma Alvarado have been married 65 years and raised five children in the Altadena house, according to the organization. HPP Cares said the couple married at 19 and 20, and that their family now includes grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

The organization said the Alvarados’ insurance policy had been canceled before the fire over a roofing repair they were saving to complete, leaving them without coverage when the house burned.

Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Altadena Sheriff’s Station Urges Residents to Prepare for the Next Earthquake

A preparedness flyer points households to Los Angeles County resources as Altadena rebuilds near the Sierra Madre fault zone

The Altadena Sheriff’s Station is asking residents to build an earthquake plan before the next quake, issuing a preparedness flyer that lays out five basic steps for households and directs people to Los Angeles County’s readiness resources.

The flyer, headed “Altadena, Let’s Be Ready,” urges residents to make an emergency plan, assemble a supply kit with water, food, medications and other essentials, secure heavy items and identify safe spots in each room, sign up for emergency alerts, and check on neighbors — particularly seniors and people with access and functional needs. According to the flyer, residents should “drop, cover and hold on” during strong shaking and can find guides, checklists and family tips at the county’s earthquake page, ready.lacounty.gov/earthquakes.

The station’s message aligns with broader guidance from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. In a June 25 statement, the department reminded residents across the county that earthquakes can strike without warning and pointed them to the county’s preparedness resources at ready.lacounty.gov.

Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Guest Opinion | Calmatters’ Dan Walters: Interested In How California Pays For State Government? Here’s Where To Find The Data

By Dan Walters, CALMATTERS

The state budget is an obvious source for anyone interested in how California finances its programs.

However the budget, including the latest version enacted in June, is only a rough outline, a collection of suppositions and guesses, some educated, others politically motivated.

An obvious example is what happened four years ago when Gov. Gavin Newsom declared that California had a $97.5 billion surplus, bragging “no other state in American history has ever experienced a surplus as large as this.”

That number never appeared in the budget, but legislators immediately pumped up spending. The surplus turned out to be a mirage based on what officials later acknowledged was a $165 billion error in revenue estimates.

However, the spending increases were already in effect, leading to chronic, multibillion-dollar deficits ever since. Moreover, one piece of increased spending, the extension of health care coverage to undocumented immigrants, cost $6.2 billion more than assumed in the budget,

Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Altadena Reservoir Damaged in Eaton Fire Returns to Full Service

CITY NEWS SERVICE

A 4.1-million-gallon reservoir in Altadena that was damaged during the Eaton Fire has been repaired and returned to full service, Pasadena officials announced Monday.

The Allen Reservoir, a concrete-lined, partially buried storage facility built in the 1930s, was restored to full functionality following repairs to structural components damaged during the fire, according to Pasadena Water and Power.

The utility kept half of the reservoir operating while repairs were underway to maintain water service.

Crews replaced structural members and rebuilt portions of the reservoir’s interior catwalk and handrail. Aging drain valves were also replaced.

Following construction, the reservoir was cleaned and disinfected before being returned to full service, officials said.

PWP operates 14 reservoirs across its service area and is the largest water provider in Altadena. The utility serves more than 165,000 residents across a 26-square-mile service area.

The Allen Reservoir restoration was among several water infrastructure projects highlighted Monday by the city.

Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Home Prices, Sales Decline in LA, Orange Counties

CITY NEWS SERVICE

Home prices declined in Los Angeles and Orange counties last month, while sales also pulled back from June levels, according to figures released Monday by the California Association of Realtors.

In Los Angeles County, the median price of an existing single-family home fell to $888,120 in July, down 2.4% from $910,370 in June and 2.6% from $911,360 in July 2025. Sales declined 8.7% from June and 0.9% from a year earlier.

Orange County’s median home price fell to $1.475 million in July, down 1% from $1.490 million in June but 5.4% higher than the $1.4 million median recorded in July 2025. Sales dropped 4.1% from June but edged up 0.6% from a year ago.

The Los Angeles metro area’s median price was $849,450 in July, virtually unchanged from $850,000 in June and up 0.5% from $845,500 a year earlier. Sales in the metro area fell 8.8% from June and 0.8% from July 2025.

Statewide,

Monday, August 17, 2026

Pasadena Unified Opens School Year After Difficult Summer

Students return Monday to campuses where Eaton Fire soil remediation is still under way at some sites

About 13,800 Pasadena Unified School District students return to classrooms Monday for the first day of the 2026-27 school year, as Eaton Fire-related soil remediation remains unfinished at several affected campuses.

The district spent the summer removing fire-related contaminated soil from 11 campuses and district properties across Pasadena and Altadena. In a community email issued the week before classes began, PUSD told families that work would still be underway at some schools when students walked in.

“We have made significant progress, but some campuses will still have outdoor areas under remediation or restoration when school begins,” the district said in the email.

In a message to families dated Aug. 14, Superintendent Elizabeth Blanco said summer crews added new fencing and playgrounds, cleaned all schools and carried out “environmental work at several of our sites.” She wrote that the district’s theme for the year is “The Power of Us: Forward Together.”

“Through every challenge,

Monday, August 17, 2026

PUSD Kicks Off the 2026-27 School Year With Guidance on Free Transit, Free Meals and Expanded Learning

Free rides, no-cost breakfast and lunch, and after-school programs greet students in Pasadena, Altadena and Sierra Madre as classes begin.

As students and families across Pasadena and Altadena head into the 2026-27 academic year on Monday, the Pasadena Unified School District is offering updated guidance to ensure a more successful start. The district serves Pasadena, Altadena and Sierra Madre. 

To ensure punctuality and a smooth start to the day, the district recommends families carefully plan routes to school, whether walking, driving or using Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority public transit.

For students who ride public transit, Metro continues to offer free rides through its Student GoPass program — no longer a temporary pilot. In April 2024, the Metro Board of Directors voted to make the Student GoPass program permanent, expanding on what had originally launched as the fareless system initiative referenced in years past.

All eligible K-12 and community college students across participating districts,

Monday, August 17, 2026

County Supervisors Go Dark for Two Weeks Beginning Tuesday

The Board of Supervisors has cancelled its August 18 and August 25 meetings, pushing county business into September

Anyone planning to address the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday should stay home. There is no meeting.

The Board has cancelled both its August 18 and August 25 sessions, leaving a two-week gap in the county’s legislative calendar before supervisors reconvene in September.

The Board normally meets Tuesdays at 9:30 a.m. in Hearing Room 381B at the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration. The last regular meeting of each month is reserved largely for legally required public hearings on zoning matters, fee increases, special district proceedings and property transactions. Both cancelled sessions fall inside that pattern; August 25 would have been the month’s hearing date.

The gap carries particular weight for Altadena, which is unincorporated and has no city council of its own. The five-member Board is its governing body, and county departments are the agencies rebuilding it after the January 2025 Eaton Fire.

Monday, August 17, 2026

A Fleetwood Mac Tribute Closes Altadena’s 29th Summer of Free Concerts

Stevie Nicks Illusion plays the lower lawn at Loma Alta Park on Saturday, the season’s last night

The Rotary Club of Altadena has put free music in a park on summer Saturdays since 1997. It has missed exactly one season — 2020, when the pandemic canceled it. It did not miss the summer after the Eaton Fire.

The 29th season, staged in partnership with Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation, ends Saturday at 7 p.m. with Stevie Nicks Illusion, a Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks tribute act presented by GigRoster.com, on the lower lawn at Loma Alta Park, 3330 N. Lincoln Ave. Admission is free. The Rotary Club sells beer and wine.

Where the concerts happen is itself part of the story. The series spent years at Farnsworth Park, which the January 2025 fire damaged. Loma Alta Park also closed after the fire and reopened on May 17, 2025, following a $3.4 million renovation — the first county park to reopen after the Eaton Fire,