Thursday, May 21, 2026

County Office of Education Has Received No Complaints Against PUSD Board

By ANDRÈ COLEMAN, Managing Editor

According to a spokesperson, the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) has not received any complaint against Pasadena’s Board of Education regarding potential legal action that could lead to litigation, causing the district to incur more debt.

LACOE threatened to take over the school district earlier this year amid a financial crisis and warned the district not to incur new debt.

Four school board members remain under fire for allegedly violating the state’s open meeting laws and for working with a consultant before the district had hired the firm to handle school closures.

According to emails obtained by a district parent and sent to news outlets, Pasadena Unified School District Board President Tina Fredericks and board members Scott Harden, Kim Kenne and Yarma Velázquez allegedly coordinated privately with consultants and one another ahead of the district’s public school consolidation process, prompting accusations they violated California’s Ralph M. Brown Act.

Several parents told Pasadena Now they planned to complain about to LACOE about the incident.

Thursday, May 21, 2026

Pasadena Transit, Metro, Metrolink Waive Fares Today for Bike Day

Four agencies offer free rides Thursday across Los Angeles County; a pit stop at City Hall greets cyclists with coffee and giveaways

Riders can board any Pasadena Transit bus today without paying a cent — and the same goes for Metro buses, Metro trains, and Metro Micro across Los Angeles County — as four transit agencies waive fares for Bike Day, Thursday, May 21.

Pasadena Transit, Pasadena Dial-A-Ride, LA Metro, and LADOT Transit are charging nothing for the day. Metrolink, the regional commuter rail system, is offering free rides to anyone who boards with a bicycle. The coordinated promotion covers bus routes, rail lines, on-demand shuttles, and bike-share stations from Pasadena to the coast.

Bike Day falls during Pasadena Bike Month 2026, which runs Saturday, May 2, through Sunday, May 31. The City of Pasadena Department of Transportation, in partnership with Day One and the Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition, is hosting 15 free events throughout the month, according to a city press release.

Thursday, May 21, 2026

Guest Opinion | Calmatters’ Kim Alexander: With So Many Candidates And Options In California, When’s The Right Time To Vote?

By Kim Alexander, CALMATTERS

There has been a lot of coverage about the crowded field of candidates seeking to become California’s next governor.

It’s especially crowded because this is an open-seat contest, with no incumbent running. Also California conducts state elections under “open primary” rules where all candidates from all parties appear on the primary ballot, so voters can vote for any candidate they wish, regardless of the voter’s party preference.

In the general election the top two vote-getters face off and may be of the same party. This has happened in the past. But what has never happened before is two Republicans running against each other statewide.

Democratic Party strategists have been worrying about that. While party leaders have pressured candidates with low polling numbers to bow out — which they technically can’t do because their names are on the ballot — others are urging voters to “vote late” and wait to see if any candidates stand down their campaigns.

Thursday, May 21, 2026

What Are They Trying To Hide? California Lawmakers Kill Lobbying Transparency Bills

By Ryan Sabalow, CALMATTERS

California lawmakers are poised to kill legislation that would have forced them to immediately release lobbying letters from business and advocacy groups and given the public a new window into the secretive world of Capitol lobbying.

Two bills that would have required the Legislature to post the letters lawmakers receive from registered lobbyists and groups trying to influence legislation never received a hearing in the California Assembly.

CalMatters has been trying for more than a year to get real-time access to these public records to add transparency to the legislative process.

The letters detail the concerns or approval groups express about the hundreds of bills lawmakers introduce each year, often passing them after just a few minutes of debate and public testimony.

Now, the Democratic lawmaker in charge of the committee that would have to approve the measures for them to advance says the Legislature doesn’t need a law to put the letters online.

Thursday, May 21, 2026

Volunteers to Unveil Murals and New Outdoor Spaces at Odyssey Charter School South in Altadena

Disaster-relief nonprofit All Hands and Hearts will join Odyssey Charter Schools leadership, students and families at OCS South on Thursday afternoon to unveil murals, painting and new student-centered outdoor spaces completed at the Altadena campus, which reopened in January 2026 after the Eaton Fire destroyed the school’s original site. 

The reveal runs from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the school’s campus at 575 W. Altadena Drive, marking completion of a volunteer project at a school that has been rebuilding since one of the most destructive wildfires in California history tore through Altadena 16 months ago. 

The completed project includes murals, painting and new student-centered outdoor spaces, according to the event announcement. 

Volunteers, school leadership, students and families are expected to participate. 

OCS South lost its original campus at 119 W. Palm Street when the Eaton Fire swept through Altadena on January 7-8, permanently displacing the school’s 375 students. At least 40 percent of OCS South families lost their homes in the fire,

Thursday, May 21, 2026

Altadena Arts Collective Returns With Second Fair at Eagles Hall

The free June 6 event brings local artists, food and music to the Fraternal Order of Eagles, building on a post-fire inaugural gathering last fall

Three years after its founding, ALTA Arts Collective is doing what it set out to do: getting artists and neighbors in the same room.

The collective will hold its second art fair on Saturday, June 6, from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Fraternal Order of Eagles Hall is a free, family-friendly gathering featuring a juried selection of local artists, food vendors, live music and interactive art activities, according to a press release from the organization. The event follows an inaugural fair at the same venue in October 2025 that ALTA described on its website as “a meaningful moment of reconnection” after the Eaton Fire.

That fire, which started January 7, 2025, destroyed more than 9,400 structures in Altadena and killed 19 people. In its wake, ALTA expanded its mission to include what the organization calls opportunities for “healing,

Thursday, May 21, 2026

CHP Announces Memorial Day Enforcement Campaign

CITY NEWS SERVICE

The California Highway Patrol will launch a statewide Memorial Day weekend enforcement campaign focused on seat belt use, reckless driving and impaired driving as heavy holiday travel begins across California.

The CHP’s Holiday Enforcement Period will run from 6 p.m. Friday through 11:59 p.m. Monday, with officers conducting targeted patrols on highways and local roads statewide.

“Wearing a seat belt remains one of the simplest and most effective ways to save lives,” CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee said in a statement. “Crashes are unpredictable, and taking a moment to buckle up before every trip can mean the difference between life and death.”

According to the CHP, preliminary 2024 and 2025 data show more than 13,000 crashes statewide involved an unrestrained occupant, resulting in more than 1,300 fatalities.

During last year’s Memorial Day enforcement period, CHP officers investigated 22 fatal crashes within the agency’s jurisdiction. Of the 21 vehicle occupants killed, nine were not wearing seat belts,

Thursday, May 21, 2026

After 15 Years, an Altadena Addiction Center Finds Its Mission Mirrored in the Streets Around It

For 15 years, the important work inside the small nonprofit at 3025 N. Lincoln Ave. has unfolded quietly. Therapists have led group sessions. Families separated by addiction have found their way back to one another. Clients have arrived in crisis and, in many cases, returned years later as volunteers to help others.

Then came January 7, 2025.

The Eaton Fire that began that night burned for 24 days, scorched 14,021 acres, and destroyed more than 9,000 structures, including roughly 6,000 homes. The Altadena Recovery Center, an outpatient addiction treatment nonprofit founded by Shirley Bennett, was damaged but not consumed.

In the 16 months since, the rebuilding of Altadena has proceeded house by house, block by block — and the slower, less visible rebuilding inside the center on Lincoln Avenue has continued alongside it.

This year, the center marks its 15th anniversary in operation. In August 2026, in partnership with the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce, it will hold a public ribbon cutting — the first formal moment of recognition in its decade-and-a-half history.

Wednesday, May 20, 2026

Altadena Town Council Presses PUSD on Future of Eliot Arts Magnet Tower

Pasadena Unified School District officials told the Altadena Town Council on Tuesday that no final redevelopment decision has been made for fire-damaged Eliot Arts Magnet Academy, including its tower, and that an environmental review and additional structural assessments will examine whether the tower can be saved or made safe.

The clarification came during a special May 19 presentation listed on the meeting agenda as “PUSD — Eliot School,” with Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Blanco and district Director of Facilities, Maintenance, Operations & Transportation Michael Dunning as presenters. It followed an earlier land use meeting where district comments about structural reports raised concerns among attendees, including concerns later raised publicly about a possible tear-down of the Eliot tower.

Blanco apologized for “any grief” caused by the earlier discussion, saying district officials had been working from information available at the time from structural engineers.

She said she learned new information the next day that changed the district’s understanding of the review required for the tower.

Blanco said the tower is not registered as a historical landmark in the places architects would normally search,

Wednesday, May 20, 2026

Altadena Council Backs Affordable Housing Project Aimed at Bringing Displaced Renters Home

As Altadena rebuilds from the Eaton Fire, town council members are confronting a central question of recovery: who will be able to come back? On Tuesday, the Altadena Town Council threw its support behind a proposed 52-unit affordable housing development at 2214 North Windsor Ave., describing the project as a critical tool for helping displaced renters and families return to a community where much of the naturally affordable rental stock was destroyed.

A letter of support, signed by Council Chair Nic Arnzen and read into the record by Council Member Anton Anderson during the May 19 meeting, was written to back the developer’s application to the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee for tax credits to help fund the project. The letter said the project “arrives at a pivotal moment in Altadena’s recovery, one that requires not only rebuilding, but intentional equity centered intervention.” It was approved by the council’s Land Use Committee at its May 5 meeting before being read to the full council Tuesday night.