Thursday, April 2, 2026

LA County Assessor to Host Webinar on Business Property Statement

CITY NEWS SERVICE

While the deadline to file business property statements is Wednesday, Los Angeles County Assessor Jeff Prang reminded entrepreneurs to file their business property statement before a final deadline of May 7 to avoid penalties.

Prang announced Monday that he will host a webinar on April 15 from 11 a.m. to noon to help business owners understand the form, known as a 571-L, answer any questions about it and to file the paperwork.

The webinar is expected to provide answers to many common questions regarding the business statements, which provide a basis for determining property tax assessments for business equipment and related fixtures.

Questions include why business owners receive the forms in the first place, whether a business must file a 571-L, and step-by-step instructions on how to fill out the form.

More information on the webinar is available at assessor.lacounty.gov/news-information/events.

The Assessor’s Office mails the forms to most commercial, industrial and professional firms in Los Angeles County.

Wednesday, April 1, 2026

Altadena’s Story, Before It Could Be Forgotten, Is Now on Film

The Eaton Fire destroyed more than 9,400 structures. A group of filmmakers who were there decided Altadena’s identity was not going to disappear without a record — and now their work is reaching festival audiences

 “Everything is gone,” a parent said. “We needed something to hold onto.”

They were talking about baseball — about the Central Altadena Little League season that nearly didn’t happen after the Eaton Fire burned through the neighborhood in January 2025, destroying more than 9,400 structures, according to Cal Fire. But the words describe something larger: what a community reaches for when the places that held its identity are gone.

Filmmakers in Altadena reached for cameras. Their work is now reaching screens.

The 13th annual Pasadena International Film Festival — founded by Pasadena residents and opening April 9 at Laemmle NoHo 7 in North Hollywood — has dedicated a cluster of five films to the Eaton Fire and the California wildfires. Among them is Altadena: The Heart.

Wednesday, April 1, 2026

Altadena Chamber Wins Countywide Business Nonprofit Award After Year of Fire Recovery

The 102-year-old organization will be honored at BizFed’s annual ceremony in Glendale on April 17

The Altadena Chamber of Commerce and Civic Association has been named the 2026 Business Nonprofit of the Year for Los Angeles County’s 5th Supervisorial District, a recognition from the county’s largest business federation following the Chamber’s expanded role in Eaton Fire recovery.

The award, part of the annual Bizzi Awards presented by the Los Angeles County Business Federation known as BizFed, was announced in a newsletter distributed by the Altadena Chamber. BizFed, an advocacy alliance of more than 240 business organizations representing 420,000 employers across Southern California, designed the awards to honor companies, nonprofits and public officials in each of the county’s five supervisorial districts. As of publication, BizFed had not posted the full list of 2026 honorees on its website.

The 5th Annual Bizzi Awards ceremony is scheduled for Friday, April 17, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Chevy Chase Country Club in Glendale.

Wednesday, April 1, 2026

PUSD Students Can Still Access Free Mental Health Support During Spring Break

Crisis lines, telehealth counseling and state-funded apps remain available while Pasadena Unified campuses close April 6–10

Pasadena Unified School District schools and offices close for spring break Monday, April 6, through Friday, April 10, but free, confidential mental health services for students and families will not shut down with them.

The district is reminding Pasadena and Altadena families that a network of crisis hotlines, digital wellness tools and telehealth counseling remains available around the clock and on weekends — including through PUSD’s partnership with Daybreak Health, a school-based telehealth provider the district brought on after the January 2025 Eaton Fire to expand student access to mental health care, according to the PUSD website.

The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by calling or texting 988 or chatting online at 988lifeline.org. The Crisis Text Line offers the same around-the-clock access; users text HOME to 741741 to connect with a trained counselor. Both services are free and confidential.

Wednesday, April 1, 2026

Registrar: Fire-Displaced Voters in Altadena and Pasadena Could Risk Missing June Primary Ballots

County registrar urges thousands still in temporary housing to update registration before May 18

More than 15 months after the Eaton Fire destroyed over 9,400 structures and displaced thousands of residents in Altadena and Pasadena, the Los Angeles County Registrar’s office is warning that fire survivors who have not updated their voter registration may not receive ballots for the June 2 primary election.

Vote-by-mail ballots begin mailing May 4. The last day to register and receive one is May 18. The county does not forward ballots — they go only to the address on file. For displaced residents whose registered address is a lot that burned to the ground, the result is a ballot with nowhere to land.

The stakes on the June ballot are substantial. California’s open governor’s race — with Gov. Gavin Newsom term-limited — headlines a primary that also includes the Los Angeles mayoral contest, in which incumbent Karen Bass faces roughly 40 challengers, eight LA City Council seats,

Wednesday, April 1, 2026

Five Pasadena Teachers to Be Honored by Rotary — And Receive a Bigger Check Than Ever Before

The club’s Teachers of Excellence program raises its individual award for the first time in 36 years, from $1,500 to $2,300

For 36 years, the Rotary Club of Pasadena has been putting money into the hands of exemplary local teachers. This April 29, for the first time, it will be more money.

The club announced it is raising the individual award in its Teachers of Excellence program from $1,500 — the grant amount since the program’s founding in 1990 — to $2,300, according to the Rotary Club’s announcement. The increase, the club said, is meant to prevent inflation from diminishing what the recognition is worth. Five Pasadena Unified School District teachers will receive that award at the club’s 36th Annual Teachers of Excellence Ceremony, set for noon Wednesday, April 29, at the University Club of Pasadena.

The honorees, selected through a process that includes classroom observations and essay reviews by a committee of Rotarians and members of the Pasadena Educational Foundation,

Wednesday, April 1, 2026

Poppy Festival Aims to Draw Visitors Back Into Altadena’s Recovering Businesses

The Pasadena Jaycees are organizing a free April 18 event with a passport booklet, a scenic route and local shops still rebuilding after the Eaton Fire

A free festival on April 18 will hand visitors a passport booklet and send them on a route through Altadena, stamping their way through local businesses that have struggled to draw customers since the Eaton Fire destroyed more than 9,400 structures 15 months ago.

The Great Altadena Poppy Festival, organized by the Pasadena Jaycees, pairs the passport-booklet stops at participating Altadena businesses with a scenic drive through poppy fields that have replaced the fire’s burn scars — the product of 250 million California poppy seeds sowed by one Altadena resident across more than 750 damaged properties. Organizers say the goal is to get customers back in the door at businesses that have lost foot traffic since the January 2025 fire. Admission is free.

The festival kicks off at Grocery Outlet, 2270 Lake Ave. in Altadena, where participants pick up their passport booklet.

Wednesday, April 1, 2026

No Decisions About Closing Schools Yet Made, Superintendent Tells Tuesday Town Hall

By Altadena Now Staff

Pasadena Unified School District officials told a virtual town hall audience Tuesday that no schools have yet been recommended for closure — but the advisory committee studying possible campus consolidations is only roughly halfway through its work. The earliest closures to take effect would be in the 2027-28 school year.

The March 31 town hall — live-streamed in English and Spanish — offered the district’s most detailed public accounting yet of the consolidation timeline, the legal framework governing the process, and the financial realities driving it.

With multiple campuses still under active review, a projected district budget shortfall in the tens of millions of dollars, and an enrollment decline of roughly 23% over the past decade, district leaders and outside consultants sought to reassure a wary community that the process remains open-ended and inconclusive — even as the demographic trends that triggered it show no sign of reversing.

“I want to be very clear that no decisions have been made about consolidation to close schools at this time,”

Wednesday, April 1, 2026

‘Save Our Schools’ Rally Protests Possible PUSD Closures

By EDDIE RIVERA

Nearly 100 demonstrators line Del Mar Avenue as district budget crisis keeps several schools under consolidation review

Nearly 100 parents, students and community members gathered Tuesday afternoon outside Pasadena Unified School District headquarters, lining Del Mar Avenue under gray skies and the threat of rain, to protest the possible closure of several campuses amid the district’s ongoing budget crisis.

Organizers held up signs and chanted at the busy traffic, as motorists honked in approval. They described the “Save Our Schools” demonstration as a show of unity across multiple campuses still under consideration, as part of a PUSD consolidation process.

“I’m the president of the Marshall PTSA, and we’re organizing (this) rally to save schools in PUSD, all the schools in PUSD,” said Warren Bleeker, who helped coordinate the event.

The district has been grappling with a structural budget deficit that has forced officials to consider a range of cost-cutting measures, including school consolidation.

Wednesday, April 1, 2026

California Governor’s Race: See the Candidates’ Incomes and Tax Payments

We already knew that Democrat Tom Steyer, a billionaire running for California governor, is rich. But how rich?

In 2024, Steyer and his wife, Kat Taylor, reported a total income of $39 million, thanks to the duo’s massive investments in the global stock market. That’s more than all nine of his major opponents in the governor’s race and their partners made that year combined, according to their federal tax returns released this week.

A 2019 state law, designed to better inform California voters, requires candidates for governor to release their federal tax returns to qualify for the June primary ballot. Among major candidates, only Chad Bianco, Matt Mahan, Katie Porter and Tony Thurmond have already filed their 2025 tax returns.

Here are some highlights:

Income: $39 million in 2024, primarily from massive investments in the global stock market. They also made $6 million in passive income in Luxembourg, Netherlands, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands in 2024. They collected $38,000 in royalties from other properties and earned $23,000 from TomKat Ranch,