Tuesday, June 2, 2026

Study Finds Carcinogenic Chromium-6 Near Eaton Fire Cleanup Zone

CITY NEWS SERVICE and STAFF REPORTS

Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) have found airborne particles containing carcinogenic hexavalent chromium, also known as chromium-6, in neighborhoods near the Eaton Fire and Palisades burn areas months after the devastating wildfires, according to a study announced Monday.

The study, published in the journal Nature Communications Earth & Environment, found elevated concentrations of chromium-6 nanoparticles in the air around wildfire cleanup zones approximately two months after the fires were extinguished.

Researchers said the particles may have traveled six to nine miles downwind, potentially affecting communities far beyond the burn areas.

Chromium-6 is a highly toxic, carcinogenic form of the metallic element chromium. Often produced by industrial processes like metal plating and leather tanning, it also leaches into water from natural rock deposits. It poses severe cancer and respiratory risks.

“Hexavalent chromium, or chromium-6, is a toxic metal and carcinogen that can impact the lungs and is associated with asthma,

Tuesday, June 2, 2026

Local Parents of Neonatal Intensive Care Infants Can Now Watch Over Their Newborns From Anywhere

Huntington Hospital installs 32 live-streaming cameras, funded in part by Panda Cares, the charity rooted in a Pasadena restaurant that opened more than 50 years ago

The hardest part, for many parents of a NICU baby, is leaving.

Shift ends, or another child needs dinner, or the hospital is 40 minutes away — and the baby stays, monitored by strangers the parents have come to trust but cannot watch.

Huntington Hospital has now installed 32 live-streaming cameras throughout its neonatal intensive care unit, giving families secure video access to their newborns 24 hours a day, from any phone, tablet, or computer. The system, called AngelEye, was made possible in part by Panda Cares the philanthropic arm of Panda Express, a restaurant chain that traces its origins to a single Panda Inn on East Foothill Boulevard in Pasadena, opened in 1973. For families separated from their babies by work, distance, or illness, the cameras offer something the hospital calls family-centered care: the ability to see your child even when you cannot be there.

Tuesday, June 2, 2026

PUSD Schools Prepare to Send Off Class of 2026 at Civic Auditorium

Graduation ceremonies span two days for a class that endured the Eaton Fire’s aftermath

The Class of 2026 will graduate this week and next across five ceremonies, on two days and one stage inside the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, where seniors from every Pasadena Unified high school will collect their diplomas starting Wednesday.

For these seniors, the milestone comes less than 18 months after the Eaton Fire destroyed five PUSD campuses in Altadena in January 2025, closed schools for weeks, and displaced thousands of students and staff.

Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Blanco, in an email to the school community on June 1, called the graduates “leaders ready for the world.”

“As you walk across the stage at graduation, you embody the hopes and dreams of our community,” Blanco wrote. “Your journey through our schools has been shaped by academic achievement, resilience, leadership, and the lifelong friendships you built along the way.”

The ceremonies begin Wednesday, June 3, when the Center for Independent Study and Rose City High School hold a combined commencement at 2 p.m.,

Tuesday, June 2, 2026

Pasadena Unified Launches Search for Builder of 110-Unit Workforce Housing Project on Roosevelt Campus

The district has opened a design-build solicitation for 110 below-market homes on the former Roosevelt Elementary campus, financed by two bond measures

Pasadena Unified has begun looking for a company to design and build 110 homes for its own teachers and staff, opening a contractor search late last month that pushes its first venture into housing development toward construction on the campus of a closed elementary school.

The Pasadena Unified School District issued a request for qualifications and proposals in mid-May and set a June deadline for firms to respond, according to the solicitation, which estimates construction at $82 million to $85 million.

The combined solicitation asks firms to submit qualifications and a bid at once, so a single team would handle both design and construction.

The project, on the former Roosevelt Elementary School site at 315 N. Pasadena Ave., would bring 110 below-market rental units — 80 apartments and 30 townhomes, in a design district planning materials describe as Spanish Revival — paid for with two voter-approved bonds.

Tuesday, June 2, 2026

California Voting Ends Tuesday. The Results? Don’t Expect Them Anytime Soon

By Kate Wolffe, CALMATTERS

Even after all the ballots have been cast on Tuesday, it might be a while before Californians know the results of some significant races this election, given the state’s notoriously slow counting.

California has made headlines for trailing other states when it comes to tallying its votes. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom sent a letter last month to all 52 county elections officials urging them to “accurately count every lawfully cast ballot as quickly as possible,” saying that “mis- and dis-information” can spread in the time between Election Day and when the results are certified as official.

The delay is due in part to ways California has endeavored to make it easier to vote since the COVID-19 pandemic: Every registered voter gets a mail-in ballot, and ballots are valid as long as they’re postmarked by Election Day and arrive at county elections offices within seven days of the election. California’s one of eight states that allow all elections to be conducted by mail,

Tuesday, June 2, 2026

PUSD Announces 2026 Summer Meals Program at 29 Pasadena-Area Sites

Children and teenagers throughout Pasadena, Altadena and Sierra Madre will have access to free breakfasts and lunches this summer through the Pasadena Unified School District’s 2026 Summer Feeding Program, which will operate at schools, parks, libraries, community centers and other locations from June 8 through July 24.

The program is open to children and youth 18 years old and younger. Meals will be available at both PUSD campuses and a network of community sites spread across the district’s service area.

According to the district’s summer meals schedule, 29 locations will participate in the program, including elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, public parks, libraries, youth centers and community organizations.

Among the community locations offering meals are AGBU Camp Amaras, Brookside Park, Jefferson Branch Library, Jivalagian Youth Center, Hope Now Community Resource Center, La Pintoresca Teen Center, Polytechnic School, Robinson Park, Victory Park, Villa Park, Villa Parke Library, Washington Park and the YMCA-Sierra Madre.

School-based meal sites include Blair High School,

Monday, June 1, 2026

State and Local Elections Up for Grabs on Tuesday

By ANDRÈ COLEMAN, Managing Editor

Local residents will go to the polls on Tuesday and vote in important state and local elections.

California voters will elect all of California’s seats to the House of Representatives, the State Assembly, even-numbered seats of the State Senate, the governor and various statewide offices.

Locally, residents living in council districts 3, 5 and 7 will elect Councilmembers.

In those races, incumbents Justin Jones, Jess Rivas and Jason Lyon are seeking reelection.

Erica Margarita Muñoz and Alethea O’Toole qualified to run against Jones and Lyon, but O’Toole subsequently withdrew, too late to remove her name from the printed ballot.

Rivas is running unopposed.

Muñoz unsuccessfully applied for the city’s rental board recently.

Meanwhile, the incumbents have continued to campaign and reach out to voters.

Jones is a licensed civil engineer and a civil engineer with Los Angeles County Public Works. His current role is to help administer the Safe Clean Water Program,

Monday, June 1, 2026

Pasadena and Altadena Voters Head Into Final Day of Early Voting Ahead of Tuesday’s Primary

Today — Monday, June 1 — is the final day of early in-person voting before Election Day tomorrow, June 2. Here is everything Pasadena and Altadena voters need to know.

How You Can Vote Today

Los Angeles County voters in Pasadena and Altadena have three ways to cast or return their ballot:

• Vote in person at any Vote Center in LA County (not just in your neighborhood — any voter can use any county location)
• Drop off your completed mail-in ballot at any of the 400+ official 24-hour Ballot Drop Boxes countywide
• Mail your ballot — but it must be postmarked by Election Day, June 2, and received by June 9

Today’s hours for Vote Centers: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. On Election Day, June 2, all Vote Centers will be open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Ballot Drop Boxes close at 8 p.m. on Election Day.

Voters who missed the May 18 registration deadline can still register in person at any Vote Center through same-day Conditional Voter Registration.

Monday, June 1, 2026

Altadena Unveils Its Largest Mural Ever, a Monument to Fire, Memory and Mountains

By EDDIE RIVERA

Town dedicates a mural for the ages

More than 200 Altadenans came together Sunday, May 31, 2026, to dedicate what organizers are calling the community’s largest public mural — a sweeping visual chronicle of the Mount Lowe Railway painted along the Altadena Crest Trail near the Cobb Estate, and a testament to the fire-scarred community’s history and future.

“From Rails to Trails: Echo Mountain,” created by muralist Austin Scott and commissioned by Waleed and Erin Delawari, was painted on a newly constructed wall at the Delawari family’s property — a wall that replaced the wooden fence the Eaton Fire destroyed when it also took their home and one of their goats.

More than 80 community volunteers contributed nearly 1,000 combined hours over 36 consecutive days to bring the mural to life. The dedication, presented by the nonprofit organization 24LA, ran from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. along the Altadena Crest Trail east of Canon Boulevard above Loma Alta,

Monday, June 1, 2026

New CalFresh Work Requirements Take Effect

New federal work requirements for some CalFresh recipients take effect Monday, potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of Los Angeles County residents who rely on food assistance benefits.

CalFresh, California’s version of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, provides food assistance to low-income individuals and households. County officials said about 1.5 million residents are enrolled, though an estimated 320,000 more may be eligible but are not receiving benefits.

Under the updated rules, certain adults ages 18 to 64 who do not have dependent children younger than 14 in their household will be required to complete at least 20 hours per week, or 80 hours per month, of work, job training or volunteer activities to continue receiving benefits beyond three months in a three-year period.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services launched a monthlong outreach campaign on May 1 to raise awareness of the changes and help residents understand how the new requirements could affect eligibility, enrollment and renewal procedures.

“L.A.