Wednesday, February 11, 2026

Kaiser Pharmacy Workers End Three-Day Strike as Nurses’ Open-Ended Walkout Continues

STAFF REPORT

More than 3,000 UFCW members return Thursday while 31,000 UNAC/UHCP health care professionals remain on picket lines at the Pasadena-headquartered system

More than 3,000 pharmacy and laboratory workers are ending a three-day unfair labor practice strike against Kaiser Permanente on Thursday, but approximately 31,000 nurses and health care professionals remain on an open-ended walkout at the Pasadena-regional headquartered health system that has closed some pharmacies and labs and disrupted services for millions of Southern California members.

The pharmacy and lab workers, represented by United Food and Commercial Workers locals across Southern California, walked off the job at 7 a.m. Monday, February 9, joining nurses and other professionals represented by the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals who have been striking since January 26. The UFCW said its members will return to work at 5 a.m. Thursday, February 12. The nurses’ strike has no scheduled end date.

Kaiser said the UFCW walkout involved 2,424 pharmacy employees and 929 clinical lab scientists at facilities in Los Angeles,

Wednesday, February 11, 2026

Pasadena State Senator Issues Statement After Federal Court Upholds the “No Vigilantes Act”

State Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, a Pasadena Democrat, issued a statement on the United States District Court for the Central District of California’s ruling against the Trump Administration’s lawsuit challenging SB 805, the No Vigilantes Act. Pérez represents Pasadena and the surrounding communities in the 25th Senate District.

“Today, U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder has upheld my SB 805, the No Vigilantes Act, marking a major legal victory for California and a stinging defeat for the Trump Administration,” Pérez said in the statement on Tuesday. She added that the ruling “is vindication that California has the right to pass laws requiring all law enforcement operating in our state to displaying identification.”

Pérez said that as “the Trump Administration’s conducts its cruel and fascist war on immigrants, California won in court today.” She noted that in addition to requiring law enforcement to display identification, SB 805 “already bans bounty hunters from conducting any immigration enforcement.”

She also said she was “disheartened by the judge’s ruling against Senator Scott Wiener’s SB 627,

Wednesday, February 11, 2026

Judge Rules on CA’s Mask Ban for Law Enforcement

By Lynn La, CALMATTERS

A federal judge has pumped the brakes on a California law banning local and federal officers from wearing masks. But both sides — California lawmakers and the Trump administration — are claiming victory.

In her ruling Monday, District Judge Christina Snyder, a Clinton-appointee, said that because the legislation exempted state law enforcement, it discriminated against federal agents and is therefore unconstitutional. Authored by state Sen. Scott Wiener, the law was supposed to go into effect Jan. 1, but has been put on hold after the Trump administration sued last November to block the measure. Snyder’s temporary injunction goes into effect Feb. 19.

U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi called the ruling a “key court victory” on social media, adding that the federal Justice Department will “continue fighting and winning in court for President (Donald) Trump’s law-and-order agenda.”

So why, then, did Wiener also consider the ruling “a huge win”?

Wednesday, February 11, 2026

Pasadena School Board to Hold Three Special Meetings Thursday

The trio run all afternoon and into the evening, will discuss litigation, include a “retreat” and campus consolidation planning

The Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education will convene three separate meetings Thursday, including a closed session on litigation, a board retreat, and a special session tied to the Superintendent’s Consolidation Advisory Committee, according to district notices.

The meetings are scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 12 in the Elbie J. Hickambottom Board Room (Room 236) at 351 S. Hudson Ave. in Pasadena. Agendas are posted at pusd.us/board.

The district’s announcement states that the special meeting related to the Superintendent’s Consolidation Advisory Committee will focus on defining outcomes for consideration and developing desired outcomes and related factors to guide the committee’s work.

The first special meeting begins at 3 p.m., followed by a second at 4 p.m. and a third at 7:30 p.m., all in the same board room.

For more details about the board’s retreat click “Pasadena School Board to Hold Governance Retreat Thursday;

Wednesday, February 11, 2026

After Incident, County Supervisors Order Review of Street Parking for Altadena Fire Survivors’ Trailers

Parking citations issued to a family living outside their damaged home prompt a broader policy evaluation

Thirteen months after the Eaton Fire, Derrick and Shirley Collins are still living in a rented trailer on the street outside their damaged home. Last week, L.A. County parking enforcement officers told them to move it or lose it.

Now the county is reconsidering.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a motion by Supervisor Kathryn Barger directing county departments to evaluate whether fire survivors could temporarily park recreational vehicles and mobile homes on certain public rights-of-way in the Altadena area. The departments have 21 days to report back with options, eligibility requirements, time limits and safety standards, according to a county statement.

The motion followed the Collins family’s experience, reported by KABC-TV and CBS LA: two parking citations in a single week for the fifth-wheel trailer they have been renting and parking on El Sereno Avenue since the fire swept through their neighborhood in January 2025.

Wednesday, February 11, 2026

Pasadena School Board to Hold Governance Retreat Thursday; Public Comment Limited

The special meeting will focus on board governance training and meeting procedures

The Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education will hold a special meeting and board retreat Thursday, Feb. 12, focused on how trustees run meetings and make decisions.

The retreat will be one of three special meetings scheduled to run all Thursday afternoon, into the evening.

It is scheduled for 5 p.m. in the Elbie J. Hickambottom Board Room, Room 236, at district headquarters, 351 S. Hudson Ave., in Pasadena. The district’s notice says the meeting will be streamed online and broadcast on Charter Cable Channel 95.

Because it is a special meeting, public comment will be limited to items on the agenda. The posted agenda lists one discussion item: “Board Governance Training,” described as a presentation and discussion of parliamentary procedure using Rosenberg’s Rules of Order, meeting protocols and Brown Act-aligned decision-making.

No additional business items are listed for action. The agenda, as posted,

Wednesday, February 11, 2026

LA County Supervisors Place Sales-Tax Hike for Healthcare on June Ballot

By JOSE HERRERA, City News Service

Los Angeles County voters will decide in June whether to approve a temporary half-cent sales tax in an effort to support healthcare services amid reductions in state and federal funding, under a measure approved by the Board of Supervisors Tuesday.

The proposal, introduced by Supervisors Holly Mitchell and Hilda Solis in January, is called the Essential Services Restoration Act and asks voters to enact the half-cent general sales tax increase for five years, through Oct. 1, 2031.

An estimated $1 billion would be generated from the measure, according to the county.

The county sales tax currently stands at 9.75%. The latest proposed hike would increase it to 10.25%.

After hours of debate and public discussion Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors agreed on a 4-1 vote, with Supervisor Kathryn Barger dissenting, to place the proposal on the June ballot.

“Backfilling federal funding cuts on the backs of county taxpayers is not acceptable,”

Tuesday, February 10, 2026

Barger Seeks Rapid Action for New County Rebuild Authority

Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger is asking the Board of Supervisors to require county staff to report back within seven days on creating a Disaster Recovery Rebuild Authority within the Department of Public Works, according to the agenda for today’s County Supervisors’ meeting.

Barger’s motion calls for a plan to rebuild public infrastructure in Altadena and the unincorporated Santa Monica Mountains, both areas devastated by the January 2025 fires. According to the agenda item, the authority would coordinate infrastructure delivery, hazard mitigation, sewer and water systems, utility coordination and community engagement.

The motion also asks the Director of Public Works to report quarterly on an Infrastructure Master Plan. It further directs fire, public health and planning officials to report within seven days on additional staffing needs at the Calabasas One-Stop Permitting Center, which handles rebuilding permits for the Santa Monica Mountains fire zone.

For Altadena residents, the motion represents the latest in a series of county actions aimed at speeding recovery more than a year after the Eaton Fire destroyed an estimated 9,000 structures in the community.

Tuesday, February 10, 2026

California Sues Websites That Publish Blueprints For 3D Printer Ghost Guns

By Cayla Mihalovich, CALMATTERS

Two websites that distribute instructions for how to manufacture ghost guns are facing a new lawsuit from the state of California alleging that they provide access to illegal and untraceable firearms.

The lawsuit, filed by Attorney General Rob Bonta and San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu, is aimed at the Gatalog Foundation Inc. and CTRLPEW LLC.

The lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court argues that the websites violated multiple state laws, including the distribution of computer code and guidelines for 3D printing firearms, illegal large-capacity magazines, and other firearm-related products.

According to the lawsuit, the websites offer computer code and instructions for more than 150 designs of lethal firearms and prohibited firearm accessories. The lawsuit said state officials as part of their investigation downloaded the code and instructions from the website “with a few simple keystrokes” and used it to build a Glock-style handgun.

“These defendants’ conduct enables unlicensed people who are too young or too dangerous to pass firearm background checks to illegally print deadly weapons without a background check and without a trace,” said Bonta.

Tuesday, February 10, 2026

County Supervisors to Consider Half-Cent Sales Tax That Could Help Fund Pasadena Public Health

Altadena rebuild authority, Eaton Fire emergency contracts and traffic safety measures also on Tuesday’s agenda

A proposed half-cent sales tax that would raise an estimated $1 billion a year for health care — and send a dedicated share to the City of Pasadena — heads to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday as part of a 66-item agenda that also includes new steps to rebuild Altadena’s fire-damaged infrastructure.

The sales tax proposal, introduced by Supervisors Holly J. Mitchell and Hilda L. Solis, would ask voters on the June 2, 2026, statewide primary ballot to approve a 0.5% general retail transactions and use tax. The measure, titled the Essential Services Restoration Act, is framed as a response to federal funding cuts under H.R. 1 that the county projects will cost it billions in health care dollars over the coming years.

Under the spending plan outlined in the motion, 1% of the revenue would go directly to the City of Pasadena Public Health Department and the City of Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services,