Thursday, March 19, 2026

Eaton Fire Recovery Coalition Names First Executive Director

Michael Ocon, a Pasadena High School graduate, was chosen from 37 applicants to serve as the Collaborative’s first paid executive

The Eaton Fire Collaborative has selected Pasadena native Michael Ocon as its first Executive Director to lead long-term recovery coordination across Altadena, Pasadena, and Sierra Madre, the organization announced March 13.

Ocon, a Pasadena High School graduate who previously worked at Pasadena-based Collaborate PASadena, was chosen from 37 applicants through a competitive process that included multiple rounds of interviews and presentations to the full governing board, according to a press release from the Collaborative.

The appointment establishes the organization’s first paid executive position approximately 14 months after the January 2025 Eaton Fire.

The Collaborative serves as the region’s Long-Term Recovery Group, bringing together more than 200 community groups, nonprofits, and civic agencies to coordinate recovery services.

It operates The Collaboratory resource center at 540 West Woodbury Road in Altadena, which opened in October 2025 and offers case management,

Thursday, March 19, 2026

Sheriff’s Detectives Seek Public’s Help in Unsolved Altadena Killing of Daniel Ursitti

Nearly three years after the 27-year-old was found fatally shot inside a gated community home, investigators plan to release surveillance footage

Three years ago, an unknown killer shot 27-year-old Daniel Ursitti in the head inside a home in Altadena’s gated La Viña community. No one has yet been arrested. On Thursday, the detectives working his case are asking the public to help change that.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau scheduled a news conference for 10 a.m. Thursday at its Monterey Park headquarters, where officials said they would present surveillance footage and seek the community’s help in identifying and locating suspects in Ursitti’s killing. Members of his family are expected to attend.

Ursitti was found in a bedroom at a two-story house in the 700 block of West Owen Court after deputies responded to a report of a burglary at about 2:34 a.m. on March 22, 2023, according to the sheriff’s department. He had suffered a gunshot wound to the head and was taken to a hospital,

Thursday, March 19, 2026

State Senator Pérez Demands César Chávez’s Name Be Stripped From Schools, Streets and State Holiday

State Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, who represents Pasadena and Altadena in the California Legislature, called Wednesday for the removal of Cesar Chavez’s name from streets and schools across the state and for an end to the state holiday honoring the late labor leader, following a New York Times investigation that detailed decades of his alleged sexual abuse against women and girls.

Pérez, a Democrat whose 25th Senate District stretches from Pasadena to Rancho Cucamonga — and includes a stretch of Cesar Chavez Avenue in Monterey Park — is among a fast-growing number of California officials demanding the state sever its public tributes to the United Farm Workers co-founder. She chairs the Senate Education Committee, which oversees policy for the more than three dozen California schools that bear Chavez’s name.

“I’m shocked and disgusted to read investigative reports revealing that United Farm Workers co-founder Cesar Chavez was a pedophile and a rapist, who used his position as a labor leader to take advantage of women and girls,”

Thursday, March 19, 2026

Pasadena Unified Announces Town Hall as Committee Narrows School Closure Plan

The March 31 virtual session gives the community a chance to weigh in before a 33-member panel delivers its recommendations this spring

The Pasadena Unified School District will conduct a virtual town hall on its school consolidation proposal process on March 31, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Blanco issued an invitation on Wednesday, inviting community members to join online at pusd.us/townhall.

The town hall arrives at a pivotal moment. A 33-member advisory committee appointed by Blanco has already held two of seven planned meetings and has begun the work of deciding which campuses in Pasadena, Altadena, and Sierra Madre could be consolidated or closed.

At its March 9 session, the Superintendent’s School Consolidation Advisory Committee voted to remove nine schools from consideration, including John Muir High School, Pasadena High School, and Sierra Madre Middle School. 

The district is confronting a budget shortfall projected at $30 million to $35 million for the 2026-27 fiscal year and a student population that has declined roughly 23 percent over the past decade — from 17,267 students in 2014-15 to 13,228 in the current school year,

Thursday, March 19, 2026

Guest Opinion | School Board Member Dr. Yarma Velázquez Vargas: How to Honor Collective Struggle, Community Advocacy, and Educational Justice?

As we reflect on the legacy of labor movements and educational justice in our communities, we recognize that meaningful change has never been the result of a single individual. Rather, it is the product of collective struggle of workers, families, educators, and organizers who, together, have pushed forward the conditions for dignity, access, and opportunity.

While figures such as César Chávez and Dolores Huerta are often elevated in public memory, we must acknowledge that the successes attributed to movements are rooted in the sacrifices and leadership of many, often unnamed, individuals or even one monolithic community. It is collective work.

In this spirit, we should center not individuals, but the values and actions that have sustained these movements: community organizing, educational advocacy, cultural affirmation, and the ongoing fight for justice.

In Pasadena, this means committing ourselves to addressing the persistent racial and educational disparities that impact Latina and Black students. It means investing in programs that uplift families, honor linguistic and cultural diversity,

Thursday, March 19, 2026

Traps Go Up Across San Gabriel Valley as Mosquito Surveillance Season Begins

The agency that monitors disease-carrying mosquitoes in Pasadena and Altadena launches its annual early warning system with heightened vigilance after the Eaton Fire

The traps are back.

Across the San Gabriel Valley, technicians from the region’s mosquito control district have begun setting surveillance traps to capture, identify, and test mosquitoes for the viruses they carry — the annual opening move in a public health effort that this year carries particular urgency for Pasadena and Altadena.

The San Gabriel Valley Mosquito & Vector Control District launched its routine seasonal surveillance program in March, marking the shift from winter’s low-activity baseline to the full monitoring schedule that will guide mosquito control operations and public health alerts through the peak summer months.

The District serves more than 1.5 million residents across 26 cities and unincorporated communities in the San Gabriel Valley, including Pasadena and Altadena, according to the agency’s website.

The stakes for the region are not abstract. In October 2023,

Thursday, March 19, 2026

Some California Democrats Pitch Gas Price Relief as Prices at the Pump Soar

By Jeanne Kuang and Alejandro Lazo, CALMATTERS

One candidate wants to suspend a host of state environmental policies that boost the price of gas. Another wants to suspend the 61 cent-a-gallon state gas tax.

Amid a spike in gas prices fueled by President Donald Trump’s war in Iran, at least two Democratic contenders for California governor are capitalizing on the moment to push for policies they say would give drivers a break.

Recent proposals from former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan reflect how Democrats are trying to use rising gas prices, a potent election-year issue, to distinguish themselves as prioritizing the cost of living.

Their Republican opponents have been saying the same for months.

Villaraigosa is calling for a moratorium on a variety of state greenhouse-gas reduction rules that he called “failed policies.” They include carbon emissions limits at refineries, standards to reduce carbon in fuels and other rules he blames for forcing refineries to close.

Thursday, March 19, 2026

Fed Holds Rates as War, Inflation Fears Ripple Through California Housing Market

By EDDIE RIVERA

Rising energy costs and economic uncertainty weigh on consumers, builders and buyers

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday held interest rates steady, signaling mounting concern that a widening conflict involving Iran—combined with persistent economic headwinds—has darkened the outlook for growth, inflation and housing, particularly in high-cost Southern California.

In a statement, the central bank said “uncertainty around the economic outlook has increased,” while noting that inflation remains “somewhat elevated,” a reflection of rising energy prices and global instability following the outbreak of war in the Middle East.

Oil and gas prices have jumped nearly 25 percent since the conflict began, according to new data from the California Association of Realtors (CAR), raising fresh concerns that inflation—after months of gradual easing—could accelerate again in the months ahead.

For California’s already strained housing market, the implications are immediate.

“Elevated construction costs and constrained affordability conditions remain the culprit for the weakness in housing construction,” the CAR report noted,

Wednesday, March 18, 2026

Altadena Residents Blast Edison Over Underground Power Line Costs at Town Council Meeting

Altadena homeowners and fire survivors voiced sharp criticism of Southern California Edison’s plan to underground power lines in the Eaton Fire burn area at Tuesday’s Altadena Town Council meeting, with residents calling the estimated $8,000 to $10,000 cost to connect from their private property to underground infrastructure an unfair burden on a community still struggling to rebuild.

Edison’s Bradley Pensak, who is the Senior Manager of Targeted Undergrounding / Wildfire Rebuild responsible in Altadena and Malibu, told the council that SCE is prioritizing approximately 63 miles of distribution lines for undergrounding in Altadena and surrounding areas affected by the January 2025 Eaton Fire. About 40 of those miles fall within the High Fire Risk Area near the canyons, with the remaining 23 miles in areas where properties were severely damaged.

Pensak said the civil construction costs — which typically include conduit and trenching on a customer’s private property — are costs the customer would bear, particularly in new construction rebuilds. He said Edison had submitted proposals to the California Public Utilities Commission seeking ways to help offset customer costs and was also working with LA County on its FEMA funding submittal through Cal OES.

Wednesday, March 18, 2026

Bill to Expand Court-Ordered Mediation Clears Key Committee, Authored by Pasadena Assemblymember

AB 1950 would remove dollar-amount cap on civil cases eligible for mediation in Los Angeles County Superior Court

Legislation authored by Assemblymember John Harabedian (D–Pasadena) that would allow Los Angeles County judges to order mediation in civil cases of any dollar amount passed the Assembly Judiciary Committee, according to a press release from Harabedian’s office.

AB 1950 would remove the $50,000 cap on cases eligible for court-ordered mediation in LA County Superior Court, the court system that serves Pasadena and Altadena. The measure creates a pilot program set to expire January 1, 2032, and next heads to the Assembly Appropriations Committee this spring, according to the press release.

The bill would affect civil disputes such as employment claims, contract cases, and personal injury lawsuits that exceed the current dollar threshold. Under California law, courts are prohibited from ordering mediation in cases where the amount in controversy tops $75,000, a limit set to take effect January 1, 2027, up from the current $50,000 cap,