Monday, June 29, 2026

County Seeks Artist to Turn Altadena’s Fire Memories Into a Living Archive

Applications for the two-year, Mellon-funded residency close Monday at 5 p.m.

A Los Angeles County arts residency that will guide Altadena residents in transforming their memories of the Eaton Fire into community artwork and a permanent digital archive is accepting applications from artists through 5 p.m. on Monday, June 29.

The two-year Artist-in-Residence position is the public-facing center of a county initiative called the LA County Cultural Climate Commons: Community Memory Lab and Living Archive, funded by a $1.2 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. It is aimed at a community where the January 2025 fire destroyed thousands of homes — and where, the project’s organizers say, cultural memory was also at risk.

The open call was issued and managed by the county’s Department of Arts and Culture. It is part of the broader Cultural Climate Commons initiative, led by the LA County Library in partnership with the department, the Altadena Library District, the Los Angeles Public Library and their foundations.

Monday, June 29, 2026

Pasadena’s Rep. Chu Presses Home Depot, Lowe’s for Answers on Immigration Enforcement at Stores

Twenty-six Democratic lawmakers cite a death in Monrovia and other incidents in a letter requesting information from the retailers by June 29

The Home Depot on Mountain Avenue in Monrovia sits about six miles from Rep. Judy Chu’s district office on South Lake Avenue. Both are in her 28th Congressional District. So is the Pasadena Community Job Center on North Lake Avenue, where day laborers line up each morning for work.

Last week, Chu and 25 Democratic colleagues sent a letter to Home Depot CEO Ted Decker and Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison requesting information about federal immigration enforcement operations that have occurred at or near the companies’ stores since January 2025, according to Chu’s office. The lawmakers set a response deadline of June 29.

The letter asks nine categories of questions about the scope of the operations, whether the companies received advance notice, and whether federal agencies have requested surveillance footage, license plate data, or employee records, according to the letter posted by Chu’s office.

Monday, June 29, 2026

Edison Reports $700 Million in Eaton Fire Payout Offers, Sets Tuesday Community Meeting

Edison calls the program fair and fast; some fire survivors and their attorneys call the payouts a fraction of what litigation might bring

Southern California Edison reported late last week that it has extended over $700 million in offers to more than 5,000 people who lost homes, businesses or family members in the January 2025 Eaton Fire.

SCE said it will take questions about its voluntary Eaton Fire payout program at a Tusday, June 30 community meeting in Pasadena.

The figures, the utility’s own, are its largest reported total yet for a program that pays out faster but requires claimants who accept it to give up the right to sue.

That tradeoff defines the choice facing survivors after the massive fire that killed at least 19 people and devastated Altadena. Lawsuits against the utility are in the preliminary stages, with a trial scheduled for early 2027.

Edison has not formally accepted legal fault or ‘blame’ for causing the Eaton Fire,

Monday, June 29, 2026

From Aretha to Taylor Swift, a Pasadena Camp Traces Pop Music’s Arc in Five Days

School of Rock’s weeklong program puts young musicians inside the songs that defined six decades of popular music

The distance from Aretha Franklin to Taylor Swift is six decades — and, starting this week, five days at a music school on East Colorado Boulevard.

School of Rock Pasadena’s Pop Legends Camp, which runs Monday through Friday this week, puts students ages 8 to 18 inside a working band to rehearse and perform songs by artists who collectively trace the evolution of popular music. The camp costs $645 and ends Friday with a live performance for family and friends, according to the school’s website.

The Pasadena location, at 1240 East Colorado Boulevard, is one of more than 450 School of Rock franchise locations worldwide. The performance-based music school, which counts students from Pasadena Unified School District and other local schools among its enrollment, is a member of the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce.

The camp’s setlist draws from a roster that starts with early pop legends — Franklin,

Monday, June 29, 2026

Pasadena NAACP Awards $10,000 in Scholarships to 10 Students on “626 Day”

The Pasadena Branch of the NAACP awarded $10,000 in scholarships to 10 students during a special ceremony held Friday June 26, 2026 on the steps of Pasadena City Hall in celebration of “626 Day.”

Seven graduating high school seniors and three continuing college students were recognized for their academic achievement, leadership, community involvement, and commitment to educational excellence.

The high school scholarship recipients, representing both Pasadena Unified School District schools and local private schools, will continue their educational journeys this fall at institutions including California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, Loyola Marymount University, and other colleges and universities.

The college scholarship recipients are currently pursuing higher education at the University of San Diego, Morgan State University, and Integrity College of Health.

The scholarship program reflects the Pasadena NAACP’s longstanding commitment to educational opportunity and student achievement. For many years, the branch has invested in local students through scholarship support designed to help reduce financial barriers to higher education while recognizing academic excellence,

Monday, June 29, 2026

Three Maranatha High Juniors Launch Free Basketball Camp for Altadena Kids Affected by Eaton Fire

Founded by high school students who experienced the devastation of the Eaton Fire firsthand.

Three Maranatha High School juniors who experienced the Eaton Fire firsthand announced they will host a free Basketball and Wellness Camp for children ages 8 to 12 affected by the tragedy

The founders of Healing Hoops Altadena — Ryden Shiozaki, Ethan Kim and Ryder Wong — said they intend to use basketball and mental wellness support to help their community heal.

The camp is planned for July 13 through 17 at the Pasadena Tabernacle Corps Community Center, 960 East Walnut Street, where it is scheduled daily from 9 to 11 a.m. The week closes with a free public wrap-up event on July 18 from noon to 3 p.m. at the Pasadena Boys and Girls Club, Mackenzie Scott Branch, 2020 N. Fair Oaks, their announcement said.

Each day will feature a basketball workshop and activities designed to “instill calm and creativity in the youngsters, such as art therapy and yoga,”

Sunday, June 28, 2026

Ask a Caltech Expert: Adam Wierman on the Pros and Cons of Data Centers

CALTECH

With the recent growth of AI, particularly with widespread adoption of large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, there has been a dramatic increase in the need for data centers—facilities that house the computers and data storage systems that make the technology possible. And while much has been said about the large-scale and even global environmental impact of these computing centers in terms of energy and water usage, the local impact on small communities, where large data centers are increasingly being built, is emerging as a point of particular concern.

Adam Wierman, the Carl F Braun Professor of Computing and Mathematical Sciences and director of Information Science and Technology at Caltech says it is crucial to fully understand and manage the impact of data centers on these smaller communities. His group uses mathematics, machine learning, and ideas from optimization, control, and economics to make the networked systems that govern our world more sustainable and resilient.

Sunday, June 28, 2026

Altadena Homeowners to Showcase Eaton Fire Rebuilding Progress on Nonprofit-Led Recovery Tour Monday

Neighborhood Housing Services of Los Angeles County and partner organizations will lead a guided “Rebuilding & Recovery Tour” in Altadena on Monday, June 29, showcasing the progress of residents rebuilding homes lost in the January Eaton Fire.

The tour, timed to National Homeownership Month, comes as rebuilding in Altadena remains slow more than a year after the fire and as community organizations work to keep longtime residents — many of them underinsured or displaced — from being pushed out.

Organizers say the event is meant to spotlight equitable pathways to recovery in a historically diverse community where Black families have deep roots.

NHS, the Southern California chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (SoCal NOMA), and the Restore the Legacy LA (RLA) Coalition are hosting the tour, which runs from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and begins at the property of Roosevelt Pullem at 2840 Highview Avenue, according to an announcement from NHS.

A press conference is scheduled for 10 a.m.

Sunday, June 28, 2026

After 500 Books for Others, an Altadena Editor Writes Her Own

Marisa Solis and co-author Elizabeth Dougherty bring their guide for first-time authors to Vroman’s on July 14.

For 28 years, Marisa Solis helped other people sound like authors. After editing more than 500 books across every nonfiction genre, the Altadena resident decided to become one herself. On Tuesday, July 14, Solis and her co-author, Elizabeth Dougherty, read from and sign their new book at Vroman’s Bookstore, beginning at 7 p.m.

The book, “The Complete Expert-to-Author Guide: Plan, Write, and Publish Your Nonfiction Book,” is exactly what its title promises — a step-by-step road map for experts who want to turn their knowledge into a published book. Solis and Dougherty, longtime developmental editors and book coaches who cofounded the editorial company Book Structure Pros, wrote it after a planned writing workshop fell through, channeling the disappointment into a guide that collects the advice they had spent years giving clients. Kirkus Reviews called it “a smart and stylish guide to writing and publishing a nonfiction book.”

There is a neat symmetry to the project: two veteran editors,

Sunday, June 28, 2026

Rapid Transit Line Construction Shifts Pasadena Bus Stops Along Lake, Colorado and Hill

Construction on Metro’s North Hollywood-to-Pasadena Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line is closing and relocating Pasadena Transit bus stops along Lake Avenue, Colorado Boulevard and Hill Avenue through the summer and into the fall, the City of Pasadena’s Pasadena Transit division said.

The stop changes accompany the first wave of station construction in Pasadena for the 19-mile, 22-station regional line, which broke ground in the city in April and is scheduled to open ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games.

For riders, the immediate effect is a string of closed and shifted stops near two of the city’s busiest corridors.

The Route 10 stop at the northwest corner of Lake Avenue and Colorado Boulevard is closed through July 3, with riders directed to the westbound stop at Colorado and Oak Knoll or the northbound stop at Lake and Green, according to Pasadena Transit.

Work at that intersection began the week of April 20 and is expected to run about three months, with crews starting on the northwest side before shifting to the northeast corner;