Thursday, December 11, 2025

On Eve of County Deadline, Pasadena School Board to Vote on Financial Health and Launch School Consolidation Study

Four days before a critical deadline that will determine whether it retains local control or faces a state takeover, the Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education will vote Thursday night on a financial report that declares the District fiscally healthy, while simultaneously taking its first formal step in over six years toward potentially consolidating and closing schools.

The two votes represent a high-stakes session for the District.

The Board will be asked to approve its First Interim Financial Report, certifying its own finances as “positive” despite a massive underlying operating deficit masked by one-time disaster funds.

Moments later, it will vote on a resolution establishing criteria for “optimal school size,” launching a study process that could lead to school closures in a District that has lost over 3,000 students in seven years.

This dual strategy—projecting financial confidence while acknowledging the need for painful structural change—is the District’s final effort to satisfy the Los Angeles County Office of Education. The County agency,

Thursday, December 11, 2025

L.A. County to Bury 2,308 Unclaimed Decedents in Common Grave Thursday

More than 2,300 people who died in Los Angeles County but whose bodies remain unclaimed will be laid to rest Thursday in a common grave during an interfaith ceremony in Boyle Heights that has taken place annually for well over a century.

The Ceremony to Commemorate the Unclaimed Dead will be held at 10 a.m. at the Los Angeles County Crematory and Cemetery.

Local faith leaders will preside over the ceremony, which is held by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, along with the Department of Health Services’ Office of Decedent Affairs and the Los Angeles General Medical Center Chaplains.

The people being buried — 2,308 in all, some of whom were homeless or had no next of kin who could be contacted — died in 2022.

Bodies are held for three years between the year of death and burial, to allow family members to claim cremated remains.

The Office of Decedent Affairs, which manages cremation and burial for indigent/unclaimed individuals who die within L.A.

Wednesday, December 10, 2025

Pasadena Students Impacted by Eaton Fire to Attend Dodgers Holiday Event

Pasadena Unified School District students displaced or affected by the Eaton Fire earlier this year will be among 600 children hosted Wednesday at Dodger Stadium for the Los Angeles Dodgers’ annual holiday party.

The Dec. 10 event, organized by the Dodgers’ Community Relations Department, the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation and national nonprofit Baby2Baby, begins at 10:30 a.m. and features a “Winter Wonderland” on the stadium field. Students will sled down a constructed snow hill, run the bases, take part in fielding drills in the outfield and pose for photos with Santa Claus.

Lunch will be served in the Pavilion Bleachers, and each student will receive a gift bag with winter coats, warm clothing, toiletries and toys. Organizers said the distribution is intended to support families still navigating temporary housing and economic recovery following the 2025 wildfire season.

Pasadena Unified students were invited in direct response to the Eaton Fire, which burned 14,000 acres on Jan. 7, destroyed nearly 9,000 structures in Pasadena and Altadena,

Wednesday, December 10, 2025

Commission Will Learn About Regional Center That Serves Over 400,000 Californians With Developmental Disabilities

Pasadena commission to hear about system that transformed care since 1960s

A regional system serving more than 400,000 Californians with developmental disabilities will be the focus of a presentation on Wednesday before the Pasadena Human Services Commission.

The Frank D. Lanterman Regional Center will provide an overview of California’s regional center network at 6 p.m. in the Jackie Robinson Community Center, 1020 North Fair Oaks Avenue.

The presentation comes as the Lanterman Center, one of 21 such facilities statewide, continues serving families across North Los Angeles County. The center covers areas including Pasadena, Glendale, Burbank and parts of central Los Angeles.

California launched two pilot regional centers in 1966. The program expanded three years later with passage of the Lanterman Mental Retardation Services Act.

Before the Lanterman Act, families faced only two options: keep a child with disabilities at home or pursue institutionalization.

The legislation aimed to help individuals with developmental disabilities live more independently. It sought to approximate everyday living patterns available to people of the same age without disabilities.

Wednesday, December 10, 2025

CSArts-SGV Creative Writing Students Take Center Stage at Vroman’s for Annual Literary Reading

High school writers from California School of the Arts, San Gabriel Valley will showcase their emerging talent Friday at Vroman’s Bookstore, Southern California’s oldest independent bookstore founded in 1894.

The Creative Writing Conservatory Student Reading features students reading from poetry, fiction and nonfiction selections. CSArts-SGV’s Creative Writing Conservatory is one of 11 arts conservatories offered within the school, operating under a rigorous college-preparatory academic model combined with pre-professional arts training. The conservatory produces “Sugar Pine,” the school’s award-winning annual literary journal.

CSArts-SGV is a tuition-free, donation-dependent nonprofit charter school operating in partnership with Duarte Unified School District. The school was modeled after the Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA) in Santa Ana, which has operated for more than 30 years. According to the school, its mission statement reflects its dual focus: “We provide an unparalleled arts and academic education in a creative, challenging and nurturing environment to a diverse student body passionate about the arts, preparing them to reach their highest potential.”

Vroman’s Bookstore hosts more than 400 free community events annually and maintains partnerships with schools and nonprofit organizations like Friends in Deed through its “Vroman’s Gives Back”

Wednesday, December 10, 2025

Free Holiday Craft Program Offers Teens a Creative Way to Display Holiday Photos

Altadena Library invites teens to make personalized felt photo holders this Friday

Teenagers in Altadena have a free opportunity to create personalized holiday decorations this week. The Altadena Library District is hosting a DIY Felt Photo Holders workshop for teens ages 13-18 on Friday, December 12, from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Altadena Library at Loma Alta Park.

The program offers participants a chance to “make some DIY Felt Photo Holders” that can “be turned into magnets for your fridge or ornaments for the holidays,” according to the event description. The workshop is completely free and requires no prior crafting experience.

The event will take place at the library’s Loma Alta Park location. However, interested teens should note that supplies are limited, so early registration is recommended.

For more information or to register, teens and their families can contact the Altadena Library District or visit the library’s event calendar.

DIY Felt Photo Holders for Teens will run on Friday,

Wednesday, December 10, 2025

Two Curators Invite Visitors to Explore What ‘Sanctuary’ Means in Their Lives

Danielle A. Hill and Lauren Miller open philosophical conversation about refuge, transformation, and collective care through contemporary art

This Friday, co-curators Danielle A. Hill and Lauren Miller will guide visitors through their vision of sanctuary—not as a simple concept, but as a lived experience of protection, transformation, and collective care.

The two curators are opening the “Sanctuaries” exhibition at the Armory Center for the Arts to public conversation, hosting a curatorial walkthrough where they will share insights into how they selected 18 contemporary teaching artists and the collaborative process that shaped the show. The exhibition explores sanctuary through painting, textile, ceramic, photography, risography, and mixed media.

Hill, a Cleveland-born artist and curator now based in Pasadena, centers her work on “interdependency, love, connection, and familial practices.” She “collaborates with collectives and organizations that prioritize and invest in the thriving of artists of color while abstaining from colonial practices.” As Exhibition Manager at the Armory, Hill also serves as the City of Pasadena’s District 3 Arts &

Tuesday, December 9, 2025

Pasadena Announces Its 2026 One City, One Story Selection, The Dream Hotel

STAFF REPORT

Pasadena Public Library is proud to announce its book selection for Pasadena’s 2026 One City, One Story community reading celebration: The Dream Hotel by author Laila Lalami. A 19-member selection committee led by Senior Librarian Christine Reeder and made up of community volunteers worked for many months to determine this year’s One City One Story honoree.

Now in its 24th year, One City, One Story is designed to broaden and deepen an appreciation of reading and literature and to promote tolerance and understanding of differing points of view by recommending a compelling book that engages the community in conversation.

The Dream Hotel is a riveting and utterly original novel about one woman’s fight for freedom, set in a near future where even dreams are under surveillance. In this dystopian novel Sara is detained by agents from the Risk Assessment Administration who have determined she will soon commit a crime using data from her dreams and an algorithm. At the retention center,

Tuesday, December 9, 2025

LA County Board Looks to Protect Paychecks of Detained/Deported Immigrants

CITY NEWS SERVICE

The county Board of Supervisors directed its staff Tuesday to develop an ordinance that would allow a designee of workers in the county to collect their final paycheck if the person is unable to do so, including if the worker has been detained or deported by federal immigration authorities.

“In these unprecedented times, the county must continue exploring every opportunity to support our most vulnerable residents,” Supervisor Hilda Solis said in a statement after the vote. “This motion is about ensuring we provide a pathway for families and workers to receive their hard-earned last paycheck, regardless of immigration status.”

The motion asks county staff to report back to the board in 90 days on the feasibility of an ordinance that would require employers to provide workers with a “designation form,” identifying a person authorized to collect a workers’ final paychecks in the event of the employee’s unavailability. It would also require employers to deliver the final paycheck to the worker’s designee.

Tuesday, December 9, 2025

Tina Fredericks Elected First Asian American Woman to Lead PUSD Board

Tina Fredericks was elected Monday as the first Asian American woman to lead the Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education, joining Dr. Yarma Velázquez and Patrice Marshall McKenzie to form an all-women-of-color officer team at the helm of the district.

“The election of Pasadena’s first Asian American woman as president of the board marks a profound milestone for the district,” Velázquez said during the annual reorganization meeting. “Her leadership honors the presence, contributions and resilience of Asian American communities in Pasadena, expanding the horizons of who is seen.”

The new officer lineup pairs Fredericks with Velázquez, a Latina, and McKenzie, who is Black, serving as clerk. Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Blanco serves as board secretary.

“It is important and significant, not just for the community, but for all of the Asian, Asian American students, women that we have in our schools,” Velázquez continued. “Your presidency will be a powerful affirmation of what our students can do and how they can also belong to the highest levels of service.”