Tuesday, December 9, 2025

Agency Again Declares No-Burn Day for Much of Southern California

CITY NEWS SERVICE

The South Coast Air Quality Management District issued a No-Burn Alert for Tuesday, prohibiting wood burning in fireplaces and in all indoor or outdoor devices across four Los Angeles-area counties.

The alert covers the South Coast Air Basin, including large areas of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, except the High Desert and Coachella Valley.

“South Coast AQMD reminds residents in these areas that burning wood in their fireplaces or any indoor or outdoor wood-burning device is prohibited at any time on No-Burn Days,” the alert said.

Smoke from wood burning can cause health problems, according to the AQMD. Fine particulate matter called PM2.5 can get deep into the lungs to cause asthma attacks and other respiratory problems, increases in emergency room visits and hospitalizations.

This is the eighth No-Burn Day the South Coast AQMD has issued in the 2025-2026 season from September through the end of April for ozone, and from November through the end of February for fine particle pollution when air quality is forecast to be poor.

Monday, December 8, 2025

Altadena to Commemorate One-Year Anniversary of Eaton Fire

The Coalition for Altadena Recovery (CCAR) will host a community commemoration on Jan. 7, 2026, marking the one-year anniversary of the Eaton Fire, according to a statement from the organization. The event is scheduled for 5 p.m. in the Grocery Outlet parking lot at 2270 Lake Ave. in Altadena.

The Eaton Fire forever changed the landscape of Altadena. Organizers said the gathering is intended to bring residents together in resilience and solidarity, to reflect on what was lost, celebrate what has been rebuilt, and look ahead with hope.

The program will feature music, remembrances, and light refreshments. The event is open to all community members, rain or shine.

“This disastrous event forever changed Altadena and Altadenans,” Altadena Town Council Chair Victoria Knapp said in the release. “We wanted to create an opportunity for the community to come together to heal, support, and rally around each other. These milestones are important for marking our collective grief and also our recovery.”

Altadena Historical Society President Veronica Jones added: “We pause to remember the lives lost,

Monday, December 8, 2025

Guest Opinion: Jennifer Hall Lee | Retrospective: My Year as School Board President

This year as Board President of the Pasadena Unified School District has been one I will carry with me for a long time. I began the year with deep respect for our students, families, and staff. I end it with admiration for their resilience and determination. Serving in this role has afforded me a close view of what it means to lead in times of uncertainty and hope. Recovery continues, and we have built a foundation for healing and renewal.

Prior to the fire, I did what incoming presidents do: I set goals for the board. The Eaton fire was devastating. Through this challenging year, I am proud of the work we have all done together.

The first is the adoption of new Board goals to ensure accountability and raise student achievement. These goals were set by the whole board and they are bold, visionary, centered on children, and grounded in data and community voice.

The Board also completed a first: the Governance Handbook.

Monday, December 8, 2025

Before a Major Renovation, Altadena Library Offers Tweens a Quiet Space to Create

With a massive renovation project looming for early 2026, the Altadena Main Library is focusing this week on a smaller, more intricate kind of construction: friendship bracelets.

On Wednesday, Dec. 10, the library will host a “Gift Making Workshop” specifically designed for children ages eight to 12. The event, scheduled for 4 p.m. in the Main Library Community Room, invites participants to “make a bag charm or a friendship bracelet for a friend or family member (or just for yourself),” according to the program description.

The workshop highlights the library’s continued role as a community hub for youth—categorized as “Tweens”—even as the district prepares for significant physical changes. The Main Library, a 25,000-square-foot facility built in 1967, is scheduled to “close for renovation in early 2026,” a project with an estimated budget between $5 million and $15 million, according to bid documents.

Wednesday’s free event offers a moment of creative calm before the busy holiday season. While registration isn’t explicitly required, the library notes that “Supplies are Limited.”

Monday, December 8, 2025

Melodia Mariposa’s Altadena Holiday Concert: Joyful Seasonal Music of Resilience

Altadena’s beloved music nonprofit, Melodia Mariposa, is proving that even fire cannot silence its song. After the Eaton Fire destroyed the Altadena Town and Country Club on January 7–8, 2025—less than three weeks after the 2024 performance—the group is back with renewed spirit and a new home for its 4th Annual Holiday Concert. 

This year, the celebration unfolds at Westminster Presbyterian Church on Lake Avenue, where Maestro Larry Blank will lead Melodia Mariposa’s All Star Orchestra in a program of festive classics and seasonal surprises. Adding to the magic, local soprano Brooke Iva Lohman will join the ensemble, bringing her voice to a night designed to lift spirits and honor community resilience. 

The evening begins with a warm welcome: doors open at 6 p.m. for a pre-concert reception featuring wine and hors d’oeuvres for members and donors. At 7 p.m., the sanctuary fills with music, and by 8:30 p.m., the night concludes with a celebratory toast. 

What makes this concert even more remarkable?

Monday, December 8, 2025

School Board to Install Tina Fredericks as President Amid Fiscal Crisis

Leadership transition comes weeks after contentious budget cut vote

The Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education will install new leadership Monday evening, with Trustee Tina Fredericks set to become board president as the district navigates an ongoing fiscal emergency and continued recovery from the Eaton Fire.

The organizational meeting, scheduled for 5 p.m. at the district’s Hudson Avenue headquarters, will see Fredericks replace outgoing President Jennifer Hall Lee, who led the seven-member board through a divisive vote last month that slashed millions from the 2026-27 budget—eliminating dozens of positions.

Dr. Yarma Velázquez is slated to serve as vice president, with Trustee Patrice Marshall McKenzie as board clerk. Superintendent Elizabeth Blanco will continue as board secretary, according to the agenda.

The transition places new leadership at the helm of a district the Los Angeles County Office of Education has warned faces a “structural crisis,” with projected deficit spending of $149.4 million between 2025 and 2028.

Monday’s special meeting agenda contains no substantive policy items—only organizational business including approval of the 2026 meeting schedule,

Sunday, December 7, 2025

New Developer-Built Home is First of Eaton Fire Rebuild in Altadena

Nearly one year after the Eaton Fire destroyed thousands of homes across Altadena, the first developer-built home has been listed for sale.

The property at 3245 Arrowhead Drive is the first of 15 single-story homes planned by San Diego-based New Pointe Communities, a real estate development and building firm, and being marketed by Compass agents Jeff Salcido of Pasadena and Mark Marquez of San Diego.

It will go on the market for $1,899,990.

The coordinated New Pointe Communities rebuilding effort is among the largest currently underway in Altadena, with an estimated $20 million to $40 million in new housing inventory expected to reach the market over the next three months.

The first completed home is scheduled for move-in by February 2026.

Compass’s Pasadena office will host a “Caravan Cool Down + Meet the Builder” event at the Arrowhead Drive property on Thursday, Dec. 4, from 2 to 4 p.m. The event is described in company materials as a “dusty shoe walkabout” offering a preview of construction activity throughout the cul-de-sac.

Sunday, December 7, 2025

Against the Odds, Altadena Holds 105th Christmas Tree Lane Lighting Ceremony

By EDDIE RIVERA

Memories and thousands of colorful bulbs light up Santa Rosa Avenue in Altadena on Saturday night

On a chilly Saturday evening, the deodar cedars of Santa Rosa Avenue — their branches once scorched by ash and wind, their nearby surroundings dotted with vacant lots and burned-out foundations — flickered back to life in a radiant green-and-white glow. For more than five blocks, from Mariposa Street to Woodbury Road, thousands of holiday bulbs emerged from the dark, flooding the historic lane in the warm, hopeful light of the 105th annual Christmas Tree Lane lighting ceremony.

It was more than a holiday spectacle. For many, Saturday’s light-up was defiance against loss and mourning after a trauma that nearly erased their town.

The tradition of illuminating Santa Rosa Avenue stretches back to 1920, when a local merchant and the Pasadena Kiwanis Club first strung electric lights along a short stretch of deodars originally planted in the 1880s. Today,

Sunday, December 7, 2025

Agency Extends No-Burn Order for Much of Southern California

CITY NEWS SERVICE

The South Coast Air Quality Management District extended a No-Burn Alert Saturday, prohibiting wood burning in fireplaces and in all indoor or outdoor devices across four Los Angeles-area counties through at least Sunday.

The alert covers the South Coast Air Basin, including large areas of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties except the High Desert and Coachella Valley.

“South Coast AQMD reminds residents in these areas that burning wood in their fireplaces or any indoor or outdoor wood-burning device is prohibited at any time on No-Burn Days,” the alert said.

Smoke from wood burning can cause health problems, the AQMD said. Fine particulate matter called PM2.5 can get deep into the lungs to cause asthma attacks and other respiratory problems, increases in emergency room visits and hospitalizations.

This is the seventh No-Burn Day the South Coast AQMD has issued in the 2025-26 season from September through the end of April for ozone,

Saturday, December 6, 2025

Black Clergy Host Southern California Edison Leaders at Pasadena Town Hall Today on Eaton Fire Compensation

Edison International President and CEO Pedro Pizarro and Southern California Edison Senior Vice President and Chief Customer Officer Funmi Williamson are scheduled to speak today at a community town hall in Pasadena on wildfire compensation tied to the Eaton Fire, according to an announcement from organizers.

The meeting, hosted by the Black Clergy coalition and First AME Church Pasadena, is set for 10 a.m. to noon at 1700 N. Raymond Ave. Organizers said the event will provide information about Southern California Edison’s wildfire recovery compensation program, enacted to address destruction caused by the Eaton Fire.

Rev. Dr. Larry E. Campbell, pastor of First AME Pasadena, is scheduled to facilitate the discussion. The announcement said the agenda includes accurate information about the compensation program, general eligibility, the claims process, and strategies for building long-term relationships between Edison and the Black community. Southern California Edison has expressed a commitment to listening and engaging with residents.

Organizers described the town hall as an opportunity for homeowners, clergy,