Sunday, August 16, 2026

Pasadena Unified Superintendent Welcomes Students in Back-to-School Email

Pasadena Unified School District Superintendent Elizabeth Blanco welcomed the district community back to school in an Aug. 14 email, telling recipients the 2026-27 year begins with PUSD’s graduation rate risen to 91%, exceeding the state average.

Classes begin Monday, Aug. 17. Teachers and staff are already back at schools preparing classrooms and campuses, Blanco said.

Preliminary results also show promising increases in math and science achievement across the district, Blanco said, crediting the work of students and the educators and staff who support them.

The district’s theme for the year is “The Power of Us: Forward Together,” which Blanco said reflects what the district can achieve by moving forward with shared purpose, belief in its students and a clear vision for the future.

Over the past year, the community has continued recovering from the Eaton Fire while navigating significant change across PUSD, Blanco said. Summer work to prepare campuses included adding new fencing and playgrounds, extensive cleaning at all schools and environmental work at several sites,

Sunday, August 16, 2026

The County Comes to Altadena to Talk About Wires

A Los Angeles County Public Works official briefs the Town Council Tuesday, August 18, on undergrounding now under way

Since February, the Altadena Town Council’s meetings have circled the same subject: what happens to the utility lines running above and below the streets of a community still rebuilding.

On Tuesday, August 18, the council meets at 7 p.m. at the Altadena Community Center, and undergrounding is on the agenda again. Ciara Barnett, an assistant deputy director at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, will give a special presentation on the undergrounding work currently in progress.

The topic has generated sustained friction. Southern California Edison is prioritizing roughly 63 circuit miles of distribution lines for undergrounding in Altadena and surrounding areas affected by the 2025 Eaton Fire, part of a rebuilding effort the utility has valued at $860 million to $925 million across Altadena and Malibu. About 40 of those miles fall within the High Fire Risk Area.

Residents have pressed the council on what the program costs them.

Sunday, August 16, 2026

A Cello Learns to Sing in a Language Built for Other Instruments

Absolute Focus and Chris Votek bring a rare Hindustani pairing to Sierra Madre Playhouse

The cello does not belong in a Hindustani raga. It has no traditional seat there, no centuries of repertoire, no established vocabulary of ornament. On Sunday afternoon at Sierra Madre Playhouse, one will take that seat anyway — wedged between a santoor and a pair of tabla and asked to hold its own.

Cellist Chris Votek joins Absolute Focus, the husband-and-wife duo of santoor player Kamaljeet Ahluwalia and tabla player Jas Ahluwalia, at 4 p.m. for a program of traditional Hindustani raga. The presenter describes the instrumental combination as one rarely heard together in the form.

Kamaljeet Ahluwalia began training at seven under sitar maestro Dharambir Singh and later studied with santoor maestro Harjinderpal Singh. Her most formative period came under the late Pandit Shivkumar Sharma. The santoor is a hammered dulcimer whose shimmering resonance is central to the Hindustani tradition. Jas Ahluwalia studied tabla under Ustad Tari Khan.

Sunday, August 16, 2026

Rep. Chu Honors Local Leaders at 2026 Congressional Leadership of the Year Awards Ceremony

On Saturday, August 15, Congresswoman Judy Chu (CA-28) hosted her annual Congressional Leadership of the Year Awards Ceremony, honoring ten remarkable individuals and organizations from across California’s 28th Congressional District for their outstanding service and contributions to their communities.

“This year’s honorees are our everyday leaders, the educators, volunteers, activists, and small business owners who have made a real difference in the San Gabriel Valley,” said Rep. Chu. “I’m proud to recognize them all, not only for their accomplishments, but for the lasting impact they make every single day. Their service reminds us of the importance of community, showing up for others, and the difference one person can make.”

This year’s honorees include:

Otis Triplett – Volunteer of the Year (Pasadena & Altadena): Otis Triplett was recognized for his nearly three decades of serving the Pasadena community through volunteerism, mentorship, and civic leadership. An 88-year-old U.S. Army veteran and successful business owner, he continues to volunteer with the Pasadena Police Department’s Community Assisting Pasadena Police (CAPP) program,

Saturday, August 15, 2026

Pasadena Unified’s Scott Harden Says Recall Against Him Is Framed Around ‘Personal Vendettas’

Trustee calls allegations unproven a day after county ok’s recall petitions for circulation; proponents need 3,543 Trustee Area 4 signatures by Dec. 11

Pasadena Unified School District board member Scott Harden rejected the recall campaign against him Friday, calling the allegations behind it unproven, saying his words had been taken out of context, and describing the effort as a recall framed around personal vendettas and organized by outside special interests.

Harden said in a written statement that he is aware the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk has approved a recall petition against him for circulation. The county cleared petitions against Harden and Board of Education President Tina Fredericks on Aug. 13.

The recall campaigns trace to internal district emails and text messages obtained through public records requests by G. Warren Bleeker, a Pasadena Unified parent who lives in Trustee Area 2 and opposes closing public schools. Bleeker contends the records show Harden, Fredericks, and School Board members Kimberly Kenne and Dr. Yarma Velázquez deliberated privately about a school closure resolution and had a premeditated plan to close schools while publicly saying otherwise.

Saturday, August 15, 2026

Altadena’s Walk Club Returns Sunday for Its Monthly Neighborhood Stroll

A free, unhurried walk born after the Eaton Fire gathers again at a Lincoln Avenue café

On the third Sunday of each month, a crowd forms outside a coffee roaster on Lincoln Avenue, laces up, and sets off at an easy pace through the neighborhood. No entry fee, no sign-up, no one keeping time.

That gathering is the Altadena Walk Club, and its organizers say the next walk is set for Sunday, Aug. 16, at 9:30 a.m., meeting at Unincorporated Coffee, 3045 Lincoln Avenue. The club was founded earlier this year by Mathew Rahban, a former crisis counselor who worked with Los Angeles fire survivors, and it grew directly out of the recovery that followed the Eaton Fire. It leans more toward conversation than exercise.

The fire began Jan. 7, 2025, destroying more than 9,000 structures and killing 19 people, according to Pasadena Weekly. Altadena — an unincorporated community just north of Pasadena — has spent the months since rebuilding under financial and emotional strain.

Saturday, August 15, 2026

Back-to-School Giveaway Returns Saturday to a Rebuilding Altadena

The Woodbury Road storefront that took on smoke and water when the Eaton Fire tore through Altadena will spend Saturday handing out free backpacks and school supplies instead. 

The distribution is the Altadena date of the sixth annual Back to School Giveaway, run by Darden Leadership & Career Academy and Simply Divine Academy. The academies held a first date in 

Monrovia on Aug. 8, at 301 West Huntington Drive, Monrovia, and set a second date on Aug. 15 at Simply Divine’s Altadena location at 421 East Woodbury Road.

Registration is required and limited to one day per family, and is available online, the city said. On their event flyer, the organizers name Altadena Rising as giving out free laptops, with students required to register and apply while supplies last, and say food will be provided. Which organization of that name is involved was not independently confirmed, and the laptop, hours and food details appear on the organizers’ promotional materials rather than the city’s.

Saturday, August 15, 2026

Los Angeles Children’s Chorus Receives $2.04 Million Grant, Largest in Its History

The Pasadena-based, GRAMMY-winning Los Angeles Children’s Chorus announced Friday it has received a 2026 General Operating Support Grant from the Perenchio Foundation. The $2,040,000 grant, which will be distributed over three years, is the largest in LACC’s history. It reflects the strength of LACC’s programs and governance practices, and the significant role the chorus plays in the community. LACC is currently celebrating its 40th Anniversary.

Perenchio Foundation’s General Operating Support Grants provide unrestricted, multi-year funding to arts organizations across Los Angeles County. These grants are designed to strengthen organizational infrastructure, support long-term planning, and build the financial resilience that allows arts organizations to grow with stability — and to endure.

“Los Angeles Children’s Chorus is deeply grateful to receive this extraordinary support from the Perenchio Foundation,” said Susan Miller Kotses, LACC Executive Director. “The fact that the Foundation expressed its confidence and trust in LACC through a gift of this size is monumental and a well-deserved honor for our LACC community, and especially for our Board of Directors and staff team.

Saturday, August 15, 2026

LA Sheriff’s Department Settles Justice Department Suit Over Concealed Weapon Permits

CITY NEWS SERVICE

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has settled a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice alleging the agency was deliberately delaying law-abiding Californians from exercising their constitutional right to carry concealed handguns in public for self-defense.

The DOJ sued the department last year, claiming eligible citizens were having extreme difficulty obtaining Concealed Carry Weapons permits from the sheriff’s department, not through outright refusal, “but through a deliberate pattern of unconscionable delay.”

Quoting data provided by the sheriff’s department about more than 8,000 concealed carry permit applications and renewal applications received between January 2024 and March 2025, the DOJ claimed in the lawsuit that it took an average of nearly a year for the LASD to schedule interviews to approve or advance the applications.

As a result, the department issued only two CCW permits during the period, according to the DOJ.

“The Justice Department supports our law enforcement partners,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K.

Friday, August 14, 2026

Sources: Recall Petitions Against Two Pasadena Unified Trustees Cleared for Signature Gathering

Los Angeles County election officials have cleared petitions seeking the recall of two Pasadena Unified School District board members, giving organizers until Dec. 11 to gather signatures that could force a special election, sources familiar with the situation said.

The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk approved both petitions Aug. 13, the sources indicated. One targets Board of Education President Tina Fredericks, who represents Trustee Area 6. The other targets Trustee Scott Harden of Trustee Area 4. Proponents have 120 days to circulate them.

Approval clears the petitions to circulate. It does not place either recall on a ballot. Organizers must collect valid signatures from a share of the registered voters within each trustee area, and the county must verify them. If a petition falls short by Dec. 11, it expires and no election is held.

Neither trustee is up for re-election this year, so recall is the only way to remove either from office before their term ends, said G. Warren Bleeker, the Pasadena Unified parent whose public records requests produced the documents at the center of the recall campaigns.