Wednesday, August 6, 2025

Students Without Legal Status Have The Right To Attend Public School. Will Trump Change That?

By Carolyn Jones, CALMATTERS

Funding cuts. Raids near campuses. Exclusion from programs like Head Start and career training. For months, the Trump administration has been chipping away at the rights of students without legal status in public schools.

Could the administration take away those students’ right to free public school entirely? Experts say that may be the next step.

“People have worried about this for a couple decades, but this is different,” said Patricia Gándara, education professor and co-director of the Civil Rights Project at UCLA. “Right now we have to be extremely vigilant. These people will stop at nothing.”

A 1982 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Plyler v. Doe, guarantees all students, regardless of immigration status, the right to a free public education in K-12 schools. But last year the conservative Heritage Foundation called for the Supreme Court to overturn the ruling and for states to charge tuition to immigrant families, even if their children are U.S.

Wednesday, August 6, 2025

LA County OKs Ordinance Capping Allowable Temperatures in Rental Units

CITY NEWS SERVICE

All rental housing units in unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County will soon be required to have a maximum indoor temperature of 82 degrees under an ordinance approved by the Board of Supervisors Tuesday.

“The proposed ordinance will enhance and strengthen the health and safety of occupants residing in rental housing units by ensuring indoor temperatures do not reach levels that are dangerous to health,” according to a letter sent to the board by the county Department of Public Health.

The ordinance will also require landlords to allow tenants to install portable cooling devices — such as air-conditioning units or fans — or other “non-mechanical cooling methods” — such as blackout curtains — to control the temperature in their units. That requirement is expected to take effect in 30 days, but enforcement of the overall 82-degree maximum temperature requirement will not begin until Jan. 1, 2027.

The ordinance was approved on a 4-0 vote, with Supervisor Kathryn Barger absent.

Wednesday, August 6, 2025

Seven Months, Few Answers

Frustrated Eaton Fire survivors call out State Farm at ‘Dena Rise Up’ rally in Altadena

Seven months after the devastating Eaton Fire tore through neighborhoods in Altadena and northeast Pasadena, dozens of homeowners, renters, and activists gathered in front of a local State Farm office Tuesday to demand answers — and justice.

The rally, along with music from Los Jornaleros—a familiar sight in Altadena and Pasadena—was organized by the “Dena Rise Up” coalition, as both a protest and a community vigil, part of a new monthly campaign that organizers say will continue “on or near the 7th day of every month, for as long as we need to.”

Their message was clear: survivors are still struggling, and insurance companies, especially State Farm, are failing to deliver.

“For my mother, it’s been a nightmare,” said Eshelle Williams, whose family lost four homes in the fire.

“She had paid her State Farm premiums for decades — they were included in her mortgage — and yet we found out,

Wednesday, August 6, 2025

Local Heroes to Be Honored at Tribute Luncheon After Altadena Fires

Community event recognizes men who risked their lives during devastating wild fires

A Taste of Culture will host the 2025 Men of Distinction Tribute Luncheon to honor local heroes who saved lives during the catastrophic Altadena fires.

The event, scheduled for August 17 at the University Club of Pasadena, aims to recognize ordinary men who performed extraordinary acts of courage during one of the most destructive wildfires in global history.

“Their bravery is a powerful reminder of the strength that lies within our community; the profound impact of love and the strength found in standing together and protecting one another,” said Edward Boyd, CEO of L.E.A.P.

Community members are invited to nominate men who helped others during the crisis, such as those who devised rescue plans, re-entered fire areas to save people, or stopped to assist others while evacuating.

Nine finalists will be selected to receive the Men of Distinction Award, including a certificate and gift card. All nominees will receive a complimentary ticket to the luncheon,

Wednesday, August 6, 2025

La Cañada Flintridge Enlists Goats, Sheep for Wildfire Prevention

CITY NEWS SERVICE

La Cañada Flintridge is planning to use an animal-style approach to prevent wildfires in part of the mountainside community, city officials said Tuesday.

With funding from Cal Fire’s Wildfire Prevention Grant Program, the city is “reintroducing one of nature’s oldest vegetation management tools: grazing animals.”

Animal grazing, particularly by goats and cattle, can be an effective method for wildfire prevention by reducing the amount of dry vegetation that can serve as fuel for a fire. Grazing livestock consume grasses and shrubs, creating natural firebreaks and areas with less dense vegetation, which can slow down fire spread.

Different grazing animals have different preferences for vegetation. Goats, for example, are known for their ability to consume woody browse and climb to reach higher vegetation, making them effective at removing “ladder fuels” that can carry fire from the ground to tree canopies.

Sheep graze on grass, clovers and broad leaf plants.

The announcement comes eight months after the Eaton Fire devastated large swaths of in Altadena and parts of in Pasadena.

Tuesday, August 5, 2025

Finding Solace in Gardens After the Flames

Community walks offer healing path for fire survivors in the San Gabriel Valley

Every Thursday morning at 10, they gather at garden gates across the San Gabriel Valley — former neighbors whose tree-lined streets in Altadena are now ash, homeowners whose carefully tended backyards exist only in photographs, friends who once chatted over garden fences that no longer stand.

These fire survivors are finding their way back to each other through a series of free community walks called “Walk, Laugh, Eat Repeat,” organized by A Taste of Culture, a local nonprofit dedicated to health and wellness through arts, culture and education. The program, running through August and September 2025, rotates among the region’s most treasured green spaces — from Descanso Gardens to the Huntington, from the Arboretum to local parks.

“These walks revive that sense of community, combining gentle exercise with social connection to help combat some of the isolation and anxiety resulting from the fires,” said Aldonia Bailey, founder of Simply Aldonia TV.

Tuesday, August 5, 2025

Pasadena Unified School District Schools Reopen Aug. 18; Superintendent Highlights Excitement, Preparedness

Students across the Pasadena Unified School District will begin the 2025–26 school year on Monday, Aug. 18, as district leaders prepare to welcome families back with optimism and renewed momentum.

In an Aug. 4 emailed letter to the PUSD community, Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Blanco said she can “feel the energy building” across campuses as the first day of school approaches.

“We’re getting ready to welcome students and families back,” Blanco wrote.

Blanco’s message emphasized facility updates underway throughout the district, including fresh paint and campus modernization projects. She noted the work of facilities, maintenance, and operations teams to ensure sites are ready for students’ return.

Additionally, Dr. Blanco cited safety measures implemented this summer to keep schools “safe and welcoming for all,” including the development of guidance, training, and support related to federal immigration enforcement.

Administrators are reviewing student data to strengthen teaching and wellness efforts ahead of the new academic year. Teachers and staff are scheduled to return the week before school begins to prepare for the new year,

Tuesday, August 5, 2025

2,300 California ‘Dreamers’ Are About To Lose Their Health Care Coverage

By Ana B. Ibarra, Calmatters

Less than a year after “Dreamers” were first allowed to sign up for Covered California health insurance, undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children are about to lose their health care coverage.

In California, that means about 2,300 Dreamers must find health insurance elsewhere or go without once their coverage is terminated at the end of the month. The decision was made by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency that oversees insurance marketplaces.

Last year, the Biden administration updated the definition of “lawfully present” for Affordable Care Act eligibility so recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), also known as Dreamers, could buy insurance through the state and federally run marketplaces. The Trump administration reversed that decision in June and set the change to take effect two months later.

The policy is “designed to stabilize the risk pool, lower premiums, and reduce improper enrollments with a goal of improving healthcare affordability and access while maintaining fiscal responsibility,” the agency said in a statement announcing the marketplace changes.

Tuesday, August 5, 2025

Pasadena Plaintiffs Hail Appeals-Court Ruling in L.A. Illegal Immigration Raids Case

Plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration in Los Angeles Monday hailed an appeals court ruling that upheld a decision temporarily barring federal agents from making arrests without probable cause.

The lawsuit’s lead plaintiff, day laborer Pedro Vasquez Perdomo, 54, of Pasadena, says he was waiting to be picked up for a construction job at a Metro bus stop in front of a Winchell’s Donuts in Pasadena on the morning of June 18 when he and two others were surrounded by masked men with guns, arrested and taken to a detention center in Los Angeles, where he remained for three weeks. He has since been granted bond and released.

The men who took Vasquez Perdomo never identified themselves to the plaintiffs, never stated they were immigration officers authorized to make arrests, never stated that they had arrest warrants and never informed the plaintiffs of the bases for their arrests, the lawsuit alleges.

“I am afraid that just standing outside can mean being taken again,”

Tuesday, August 5, 2025

Despite Wildfires LA County Property Values More Than $2 Trillion

CITY NEWS SERVICE

Property value in Los Angeles County increased by $82 billion, or 3.91%, compared to last year’s estimate, marking 15 years of continuous growth despite the devastating wildfires that destroyed thousands of homes in January, the county Assessor’s Office announced Monday.

The growth translated to approximately $2.176 trillion in total net value, which is expected to provide $20 billion in property tax dollars toward public services such as education, first responders and healthcare workers, as well as other county services.

“As I said when I presented the forecast to the Board of Supervisors in May, this has been a very challenging year, highlighted by the devastation of the January wildfires that laid to waste large sections of Altadena and the Pacific Palisades,” County Assessor Jeffrey Prang said in a statement.

“The wildfires impacted more than 23,000 property parcels, including the total loss of over 10,000 homes, which significantly decreased property tax revenue. However, we are committed to ensuring property owners receive the assessment relief they are entitled in a timely manner,”