Saturday, July 18, 2026

UNIQLO Puts Its First U.S. Community Hub on Lake Avenue in Altadena

By THERESE EDU

A free soccer park and learning center at St. Elizabeth Parish School opens with limited hours as fire recovery continues

When UNIQLO opened what it calls its first permanent community hub anywhere in the United States last Thursday, the global retailer didn’t choose Manhattan or downtown Los Angeles. It chose a schoolyard on Lake Avenue in Altadena, adjacent the Eaton Fire burn area.

The UNIQLO Street Soccer Park & Learning Center, built with nonprofit Street Soccer USA at St. Elizabeth Parish School, offers two turf soccer fields and a classroom converted from a shipping container — all of it free. Organizers say they expect to reach 1,000 young people in the first year with soccer programming, homework help, mentorship, and financial and digital literacy support, according to the companies’ July 9 announcement.

The park grew out of a pledge UNIQLO and its parent company, Fast Retailing, made in January 2025: up to $2 million in funds and clothing for communities affected by the Los Angeles wildfires,

Saturday, July 18, 2026

Taylor Farms Recall Prompts Attention for Southern California Shoppers

CITY NEWS SERVICE

Southern California consumers were reminded Saturday that Salinas-based Taylor Farms, whose products are sold throughout Southern California, has removed iceberg lettuce sourced from a farm in central Mexico and tied to a multistate outbreak of cyclosporiasis from the U.S. market.

The company’s products are sold at retailers including Target, Whole Foods and Walmart, according to Taylor Farms’ website. There is no indication that shredded iceberg lettuce believed to be linked to the outbreak was distributed to those retailers.

“While the FDA traceback is indicating a specific independent farm, which represents less than 1% of the U.S.’ iceberg lettuce supply, as the potential source of the outbreak, we have removed all iceberg lettuce from the region indefinitely,” the company said in a statement.

Company officials said no other products are affected and that none of its Taylor Farms-branded salad kits contain iceberg lettuce.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration,

Friday, July 17, 2026

Southern California Approves Plan to Keep Enough Water in Lake Mead for 600,000 Homes

By ANDRÈ COLEMAN, Managing Editor

As Lake Mead nears another historic low, Southern California water officials approved an agreement Tuesday to leave enough Colorado River water in the reservoir to supply about 600,000 homes, calling it a critical step in protecting the Southwest’s water future.

The Metropolitan Water District (MWD) voted Tuesday to approve an agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation that will pay the agency up to $65 million to leave as much as 200,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water in Lake Mead through the end of the year.

Metropolitan supplies imported water to agencies serving nearly 19 million people across Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties.

Pasadena receives a portion of its imported water through Metropolitan while continuing to expand local water supplies through conservation, groundwater management and improvements to the Raymond Basin.

“The Colorado River basin is facing unprecedented climate pressures, and protecting it is a shared responsibility that demands innovative,

Friday, July 17, 2026

Candidates Begin Pulling Papers for Pasadena Unified School Board Election

By ANDRÈ COLEMAN, Managing Editor

Editor’s Note:  This article originally contained a serious error, which has been removed. The original version stated that the “district has acknowledged violating the Brown Act after discussing potential school closures,” which is not true. The district was accused of violating the Brown Act, nothing more. We sincerely regret this mistake.

The nomination period for candidates seeking seats on the Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education is underway, with several prospective candidates already pulling nomination papers for the Nov. 3 general election.

Nomination papers became available Monday at the Pasadena City Clerk’s Office for four Board of Education seats representing Districts 1, 3, 5 and 7. Candidates have until 5 p.m. Aug. 7 to circulate nomination petitions and file the required paperwork.

According to the City Clerk’s Office, as of Tuesday afternoon, incumbents Kimberly Kenne and Patrice Marshall McKenzie pulled papers in Districts 1 and 5 respectively.

Friday, July 17, 2026

PUSD Board Authorizes Litigation, Exempts Itself From City Tree Protection Ordinance Rules

Trustees voted unanimously behind closed doors to initiate litigation over “interference” with the district’s campuses and the soil remediation project, then voted in open session to place district property beyond the reach of city zoning ordinances

The Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education voted 7-0 in closed session Thursday to initiate litigation to shield its campuses and its contaminated soil removal project from “interference,” then voted in open session to render City of Pasadena zoning ordinances inapplicable to district property — a move district counsel told the board would allow tree removals now affected by the city’s stop-work notices to proceed. 

The board did not identify the target of the litigation. 

The legal action was announced on the board’s return from closed session, before the evening session convened. 

The board “approved initiating litigation to protect against interference on the district’s all campuses and property and the approved and ongoing contaminated soil removal and remediation project,” board President Tina Fredericks said,

Friday, July 17, 2026

First United Methodist Church to Host Organizer Katy Hickman for Talk on Voters of Color

Pasadena’s First United Methodist Church will host Los Angeles organizer Katy Hickman for a discussion on empowering and protecting voters of color, according to an announcement from the church. The church’s Church and Society group has scheduled the talk for Sunday, July 26, 2026, at 11:30 a.m. in the Church Lounge.

Hickman is described in the announcement as a Los Angeles–based organizer and volunteer working in electoral empowerment, immigrant rights, and climate legislation. The church says she serves as a regional organizer for the Reclaim Our Vote campaign of the Center for Common Ground, which the announcement characterizes as a Black-woman-led voting rights organization. In that role, according to the church, she helps mobilize voters of color in states the campaign identifies as having prevalent voter-suppression tactics.

The Center for Common Ground, founded in 2018, describes itself as a nonpartisan, Black- and women-led voting rights organization. According to the organization, it runs Reclaim Our Vote — a grassroots, largely volunteer campaign to increase turnout among voters of color — through postcarding,

Friday, July 17, 2026

Pasadena Assemblymember Highlights Wildfire Mortgage Laws as Newsom Presses Lenders

Assemblymember John Harabedian, a Pasadena Democrat whose district includes fire-scarred Altadena, is highlighting state laws and pending legislation he authored to protect wildfire survivors, after Gov. Gavin Newsom on July 14 warned mortgage lenders not to deny or delay survivors’ access to the insurance proceeds they need to rebuild.

The response links a Sacramento policy fight to the heart of the San Gabriel Valley: Harabedian’s 41st District covers Altadena, where the Eaton Fire destroyed 9,418 structures, and neighboring Pasadena. More than 18 months after the January 2025 firestorms, financial barriers remain the most-cited obstacle to rebuilding, with 39% of surveyed survivors citing high out-of-pocket costs and 30% pointing to delayed or insufficient insurance payouts, according to state figures.

In a July 16 press release, Harabedian’s office said the Governor’s announcement reinforces the need for lenders to ensure homeowners have fair and timely access to insurance proceeds. Among the measures it cited is AB 493, which since taking effect August 29, 2025 requires financial institutions that make or purchase loans secured by one-to-four-unit homes,

Friday, July 17, 2026

At Villa Parke, Demonstrators Mourn Two Men Killed in ICE Shootings Across the Country

Organizers say about 100 people gathered within 12 hours of the call — and local groups will join a national day of action on July 25

The two men mourned at Villa Parke on Wednesday night were strangers here — one lived in Houston, Texas and the other in Biddeford, Maine. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo died July 7, and Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero died six days later. Within 12 hours of a call going out, organizers said, about 100 people came to the park to grieve for them.

Both men were fatally shot by federal immigration officers. The vigil, called by the Pasadena-headquartered National Day Laborer Organizing Network and the Pasadena Community Job Center, honored the two men and their families — and organizers said Pasadena will join a national day of vigils and coordinated actions on July 25. The local location still to be announced.

Wednesday’s local gathering came the same day President Trump reversed a one-day federal suspension of most ICE vehicle stops imposed after the two shootings.

Friday, July 17, 2026

The Huntington Adds a Twilight Craft: Clay Pendants From the Garden’s Own Leaves

A new drop-in activity joins the after-hours summer strolls, now open to the public

On Sunday evening, July 26, children and adults wandering The Huntington’s gardens after hours can make clay pendants using leaves and flowers gathered from the grounds they just walked.

The craft is new this summer, added to the institution’s Twilight Garden Strolls — after-hours garden evenings that were once reserved for members and are now open to the public. The stroll runs from 4:30 to 8:00 p.m., with the drop-in pendant-making offered from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m.

The gardens sit at 1151 Oxford Road in San Marino, near Pasadena; The Huntington describes itself as “just minutes from Pasadena.” For local families, it is a familiar place seen at an unfamiliar hour.

According to The Huntington’s event listing, the pendants are shaped from leaves, flowers, and other bits of greenery collected on site. The institution’s listing describes the activity as family-friendly, and it shows no registration beyond a stroll reservation.

Friday, July 17, 2026

Author Michael Elias to Discuss, Sign ‘Bender’s L.A.’ at Vroman’s

Novelist and screenwriter Michael Elias will discuss and sign his new novel “Bender’s L.A.” at Vroman’s Bookstore at 7 p.m. Friday, July 17, in conversation with Howard Franklin.

The evening appearance brings the co-writer of “The Jerk” and creator of the ABC sitcom “Head of the Class” to Vroman’s, which calls itself Southern California’s oldest independent bookstore, for a talk and signing of a book set in the 1970s Los Angeles film world.

The event takes place at the store at 695 E. Colorado Blvd. and is listed as an adult event and book signing. Vroman’s says a purchase of the book from the store is greatly appreciated and helps make such events possible. The store can be reached at (626) 449-5320. “Bender’s L.A.” is available in paperback for $19.95.

The novel follows writer David Bender as he sets out to remake his life — romantically, professionally and spiritually — after his wife walks out on him. Set against the shadow of the Vietnam War,