Friday, May 1, 2026

Congresswoman Chu Leads Push for Federal Board to Enforce Language Access Standards

The bill responds to the Trump administration’s rollback of multilingual services that affect an estimated 25.7 million people nationwide, including tens of thousands in the San Gabriel Valley

For Rep. Judy Chu, the fight over who gets to speak what language in America is personal — and four decades old.

As a young professor in the 1980s, Chu watched her adopted hometown of Monterey Park pass a city council resolution declaring that only English should be spoken in the city. She organized neighbors, gathered signatures, overturned the ordinance and ran for city council herself. Now the congresswoman who represents Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley is waging that fight on a national scale.

Chu (CA-28), Chair Emerita of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, joined by Rep. Grace Meng (NY-06), Chair of CAPAC, and Rep. Juan Vargas (CA-52), introduced the Language Access Board Act of 2026, a bill that would create an independent federal board composed of community leaders and federal agency officials to develop,

Friday, May 1, 2026

Campbell Family’s Home Rises as Nonprofit Launches 100-Home Altadena Rebuild

Hope Crisis Response Network breaks ground for uninsured and underinsured households displaced by the Eaton Fire

The house that the Campbell family had built their life in stood on an Altadena lot for more than 50 years. The Eaton Fire took it in a single night. On Wednesday, construction began to bring it back as a new, beautiful home.

Hope Crisis Response Network, a nonprofit that describes itself as California’s leading disaster homebuilder, broke ground April 23 on the Campbell residence — the first of 100 homes it has committed to rebuilding at no cost over five years for uninsured and underinsured families who lost their homes in the January 2025 fire. The effort is supported by the American Red Cross, the California Fire Foundation and FireAid.

The Eaton Fire, which ignited on January 7, 2025, in the foothills above this unincorporated Los Angeles County community, burned 14,021 acres, killed 19 people and destroyed 9,414 structures, according to Cal Fire and Los Angeles County data.

Friday, May 1, 2026

LA County Launches CalFresh Awareness Campaign

CITY NEWS SERVICE

Los Angeles County officials will launch a month- long outreach campaign Friday to raise awareness about CalFresh benefits and upcoming federal policy changes that could affect eligibility and participation in the program.

The effort by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services coincides with CalFresh Awareness Month and is aimed at helping residents understand how provisions in U.S. House Resolution 1 could impact enrollment, reporting and renewal requirements, officials said.

CalFresh, California’s version of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, provides food assistance to low-income individuals and households. County officials said about 1.5 million residents are currently enrolled, though an estimated 320,000 more may be eligible but are not receiving benefits.

The campaign will focus on providing information to help residents apply for CalFresh and maintain their benefits, including reminders to respond promptly to department requests and complete renewal requirements on time.

Officials said the outreach will also include information about changes affecting certain non-citizens,

Friday, May 1, 2026

Gas Prices Still Spiking in Southland, Across U.S.

CITY NEWS SERVICE

The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Los Angeles County rose 3.7 cents Friday to $6.141, its highest amount since Oct. 5, 2023.

The average price has risen nine consecutive days, increasing 22.1 cents, including 2 cents Thursday, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service. The streak of increases follows a 14-day streak of decreases totaling 12.8 cents.

The average price is 15.3 cents more than one week ago, 13.4 cents more than one month ago and $1.373 more than one year ago. It has risen $1.447 since the joint U.S./Israel attack on Iran Feb. 28, moving within 35.3 cents of the record $6.494 set on Oct. 5, 2022.

The national average price rose 9.2 cents to $4.392, its highest amount since July 22, 2022. It has risen nine consecutive days, increasing 37.2 cents, including 7.1 cents Thursday.

The national average price is 33.3 cents more than one week ago,

Thursday, April 30, 2026

County Mental Health Team Brings Free Paperwork Help to Altadena’s Neighborhood Library

Eaton Fire survivors can get one-on-one tech help with online applications and appeals — by appointment on weekdays, or walk-in this Saturday

More than a year after the Eaton Fire, the forms are still coming.

FEMA appeals, insurance claim submissions, disaster assistance applications — the bureaucratic aftermath of the January 2025 disaster remains unfinished business for many Altadena survivors. To help them through it, the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health has stationed an outreach team at the Altadena Library at Loma Alta Park, offering free, one-on-one, in-person tech support for anyone still struggling to navigate those online systems.

Sessions are available Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., by appointment. Saturday, May 9 — from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. — is a walk-in day: no appointment needed.

The library is at 3330 N. Lincoln Ave. in Loma Alta Park, housed in the park’s Social Hall.

To schedule a weekday appointment, visit https://forms.office.com/g/tTu38ihSxS.

Thursday, April 30, 2026

Parents Say School Closures Have Not Helped District in the Past

By ANDRÈ COLEMAN, Managing Editor

Parents, students and community members raised concerns about transparency, financial impact and student well-being during a Pasadena Unified School District town hall Tuesday on potential school consolidations.

District officials and consultants stressed declining enrollment and financial pressures as key drivers behind the discussion, while repeatedly acknowledging the emotional weight of possible school closures.

“This is an extremely difficult topic to talk about,” consultant Joseph Pandolfo told attendees, noting that schools are deeply tied to community identity and history.

Pandolfo said enrollment across the state has dropped significantly, with Pasadena Unified School District losing roughly 23% of its students over the past decade, a trend mirrored across Los Angeles County. The decline, he said, has left districts with more school capacity than students, forcing difficult decisions about how to allocate resources.

“If closures were the solution, why are we still here? Again,” said Shana Villalobos. “The district’s own survey reflects nearly a third of respondents do not believe consolidation will deliver the promised benefits.

Thursday, April 30, 2026

Two Crime Fiction Heavyweights Bring LA Noir to Vroman’s Tonight

The Los Angeles that Jordan Harper writes about is not the one on the postcards. It is a city of nightcrawlers and fixers, of billionaires without boundaries and crimes that never make the papers. On Thursday night, Harper brings that city to Pasadena.

Harper, the Edgar Award-winning crime novelist and television producer, will discuss and sign his new novel, “A Violent Masterpiece,” at Vroman’s Bookstore at 7 p.m. He will be joined in conversation by S.A. Cosby, the New York Times bestselling author of “King of Ashes” and “Razorblade Tears.” The ticketed event includes a copy of the book, published April 28 by Mulholland Books.

“A Violent Masterpiece” follows three characters — a gonzo live-streaming nightcrawler, a street lawyer, and a young woman searching for a missing friend — as their paths converge around a serial killer and a web of crimes reaching into the highest levels of Los Angeles power. The New York Times called the 384-page novel “the noir novel for our times,”

Thursday, April 30, 2026

Woman Convicted in 2007 Altadena Killing Returns to Court Under Reformed Murder Laws

Mesha Dean, serving 49 years to life for shooting a man during a custody confrontation, seeks resentencing in a proceeding scheduled for Thursday morning

Nineteen years after a man was shot and killed on a cul-de-sac in Altadena while trying to stop two women from taking his 4-year-old nephew, the woman convicted of pulling the trigger is back in a Los Angeles courtroom, asking a judge to reconsider her sentence under laws that did not exist when she was convicted.

A status conference in the case of Mesha Arshaz Dean is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Thursday in Department 110 of the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center at 210 W. Temple St. in Los Angeles. The hearing, before Judge Lisa B. Lench, is a procedural step in a multi-stage process under California Penal Code Section 1172.6 that could result in Dean’s murder conviction being vacated or her sentence reduced — or, if prosecutors prove she remains guilty under current legal standards, the petition being denied.

Thursday, April 30, 2026

Fire Survivors Face Property Tax Deadline Thursday as Altadena Rebuilds

County says those who can’t pay by today may apply for penalty relief through 2030

Sixteen months after the Eaton Fire leveled more than 9,400 structures across Altadena and parts of Pasadena, property owners in the burn zone face a different kind of reckoning: a property tax bill — and a deadline that expires today.

The Los Angeles County Treasurer and Tax Collector is reminding fire-impacted property owners that Thursday, April 30, 2026, is the deadline to make property tax payments, according to a notice posted by the department. Those who cannot pay on time because of wildfire impacts may submit a Penalty Cancellation Request beginning May 1 to avoid penalties and interest. Approved requests could extend the payment window through June 30, 2030, the department said in a press release.

The deadline applies countywide to properties affected by both the Eaton and Palisades fires, but its weight falls heavily on Altadena and Pasadena. Zip codes 91001, 91104, 91106, and 91107 — covering Altadena and fire-affected areas of Pasadena — are among those designated under Governor Gavin Newsom’s January 2025 executive order that suspended property tax penalties through April 10,

Thursday, April 30, 2026

How Tariffs and War are Hurting California Small Businesses

By Levi Sumagaysay, CALMATTERS

Small businesses already navigating the costs and chaos of tariffs must now also contend  with the effects of the war in Iran.

“It just feels like things keep getting piled on top,” said Nichole MacDonald, owner of a San Diego business that sells women’s bags. “Not just for businesses, but for consumers. And what is a business without consumers?”

Since her customers are feeling financial pain just like her, they’re spending less money on discretionary items, she said. If they are still buying, they’re choosing denim bags over leather because they’re cheaper.

“Each level of pressure, economic uncertainty and tightening of the purse strings impacts people’s decisions on spending,” the Sash Bag owner said.

Other small retailers in the area tell similar stories of increased costs and having to adjust to continued tariff uncertainty in the wake of the Supreme Court decision that invalidated the bulk  of President Donald Trump’s wide-ranging tariffs.