Thursday, April 30, 2026

County Mental Health Team Brings Free Paperwork Help to Altadena’s Neighborhood Library

Eaton Fire survivors can get one-on-one tech help with online applications and appeals — by appointment on weekdays, or walk-in this Saturday

More than a year after the Eaton Fire, the forms are still coming.

FEMA appeals, insurance claim submissions, disaster assistance applications — the bureaucratic aftermath of the January 2025 disaster remains unfinished business for many Altadena survivors. To help them through it, the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health has stationed an outreach team at the Altadena Library at Loma Alta Park, offering free, one-on-one, in-person tech support for anyone still struggling to navigate those online systems.

Sessions are available Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., by appointment. Saturday, May 9 — from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. — is a walk-in day: no appointment needed.

The library is at 3330 N. Lincoln Ave. in Loma Alta Park, housed in the park’s Social Hall.

To schedule a weekday appointment, visit https://forms.office.com/g/tTu38ihSxS.

Thursday, April 30, 2026

Parents Say School Closures Have Not Helped District in the Past

By ANDRÈ COLEMAN, Managing Editor

Parents, students and community members raised concerns about transparency, financial impact and student well-being during a Pasadena Unified School District town hall Tuesday on potential school consolidations.

District officials and consultants stressed declining enrollment and financial pressures as key drivers behind the discussion, while repeatedly acknowledging the emotional weight of possible school closures.

“This is an extremely difficult topic to talk about,” consultant Joseph Pandolfo told attendees, noting that schools are deeply tied to community identity and history.

Pandolfo said enrollment across the state has dropped significantly, with Pasadena Unified School District losing roughly 23% of its students over the past decade, a trend mirrored across Los Angeles County. The decline, he said, has left districts with more school capacity than students, forcing difficult decisions about how to allocate resources.

“If closures were the solution, why are we still here? Again,” said Shana Villalobos. “The district’s own survey reflects nearly a third of respondents do not believe consolidation will deliver the promised benefits.

Thursday, April 30, 2026

Two Crime Fiction Heavyweights Bring LA Noir to Vroman’s Tonight

The Los Angeles that Jordan Harper writes about is not the one on the postcards. It is a city of nightcrawlers and fixers, of billionaires without boundaries and crimes that never make the papers. On Thursday night, Harper brings that city to Pasadena.

Harper, the Edgar Award-winning crime novelist and television producer, will discuss and sign his new novel, “A Violent Masterpiece,” at Vroman’s Bookstore at 7 p.m. He will be joined in conversation by S.A. Cosby, the New York Times bestselling author of “King of Ashes” and “Razorblade Tears.” The ticketed event includes a copy of the book, published April 28 by Mulholland Books.

“A Violent Masterpiece” follows three characters — a gonzo live-streaming nightcrawler, a street lawyer, and a young woman searching for a missing friend — as their paths converge around a serial killer and a web of crimes reaching into the highest levels of Los Angeles power. The New York Times called the 384-page novel “the noir novel for our times,”

Thursday, April 30, 2026

Woman Convicted in 2007 Altadena Killing Returns to Court Under Reformed Murder Laws

Mesha Dean, serving 49 years to life for shooting a man during a custody confrontation, seeks resentencing in a proceeding scheduled for Thursday morning

Nineteen years after a man was shot and killed on a cul-de-sac in Altadena while trying to stop two women from taking his 4-year-old nephew, the woman convicted of pulling the trigger is back in a Los Angeles courtroom, asking a judge to reconsider her sentence under laws that did not exist when she was convicted.

A status conference in the case of Mesha Arshaz Dean is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Thursday in Department 110 of the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center at 210 W. Temple St. in Los Angeles. The hearing, before Judge Lisa B. Lench, is a procedural step in a multi-stage process under California Penal Code Section 1172.6 that could result in Dean’s murder conviction being vacated or her sentence reduced — or, if prosecutors prove she remains guilty under current legal standards, the petition being denied.

Thursday, April 30, 2026

Fire Survivors Face Property Tax Deadline Thursday as Altadena Rebuilds

County says those who can’t pay by today may apply for penalty relief through 2030

Sixteen months after the Eaton Fire leveled more than 9,400 structures across Altadena and parts of Pasadena, property owners in the burn zone face a different kind of reckoning: a property tax bill — and a deadline that expires today.

The Los Angeles County Treasurer and Tax Collector is reminding fire-impacted property owners that Thursday, April 30, 2026, is the deadline to make property tax payments, according to a notice posted by the department. Those who cannot pay on time because of wildfire impacts may submit a Penalty Cancellation Request beginning May 1 to avoid penalties and interest. Approved requests could extend the payment window through June 30, 2030, the department said in a press release.

The deadline applies countywide to properties affected by both the Eaton and Palisades fires, but its weight falls heavily on Altadena and Pasadena. Zip codes 91001, 91104, 91106, and 91107 — covering Altadena and fire-affected areas of Pasadena — are among those designated under Governor Gavin Newsom’s January 2025 executive order that suspended property tax penalties through April 10,

Thursday, April 30, 2026

How Tariffs and War are Hurting California Small Businesses

By Levi Sumagaysay, CALMATTERS

Small businesses already navigating the costs and chaos of tariffs must now also contend  with the effects of the war in Iran.

“It just feels like things keep getting piled on top,” said Nichole MacDonald, owner of a San Diego business that sells women’s bags. “Not just for businesses, but for consumers. And what is a business without consumers?”

Since her customers are feeling financial pain just like her, they’re spending less money on discretionary items, she said. If they are still buying, they’re choosing denim bags over leather because they’re cheaper.

“Each level of pressure, economic uncertainty and tightening of the purse strings impacts people’s decisions on spending,” the Sash Bag owner said.

Other small retailers in the area tell similar stories of increased costs and having to adjust to continued tariff uncertainty in the wake of the Supreme Court decision that invalidated the bulk  of President Donald Trump’s wide-ranging tariffs.

Thursday, April 30, 2026

School District Announces Completion of Environmental Sampling At Altadena Arts Magnet

Environmental samples collected from both floors of the fire-adjacent school; lab results for lead and other metals expected as early as this week

The classrooms at 743 East Calaveras Street have been empty for more than 16 months. Last week, environmental testers worked through both floors of Altadena Arts Magnet for the first time, collecting samples from walls and air for laboratory analysis.

According to a district communication sent Tuesday, the Pasadena Unified School District has completed indoor environmental sampling at the school’s Calaveras Street campus — wipe samples and air samples collected from both floors, now in a laboratory.

Initial results for metals including lead are expected as early as this week, according to the district. When all analyses are complete, PUSD said, a full detailed report will be shared with the school community, and those findings will guide any next steps — including what happens to soft goods and porous materials like carpet, blinds, and acoustic tiles.

The district included the two maps for the first and second floors,

Thursday, April 30, 2026

California Housing Shows Strain as Global Tensions, Policy Uncertainty Weigh on Outlook

By EDDIE RIVERA

Modest gains in affordability mask persistent gaps, cooling profits and shifting buyer demographics

California’s housing market is showing tentative signs of stabilization, but a volatile mix of geopolitical strain and erratic domestic policies continue to weigh on the broader economic landscape, according to new data from the California Association of Realtors.

The report paints a picture of modest improvement under pressure. Housing affordability ticked up slightly in 2025, aided by a pullback in mortgage rates from their late-March peak. Yet the gains remain marginal and uneven, with affordability still out of reach for most households. Just 23% of White non-Hispanic households could afford a median-priced home, up from 22% a year earlier, while affordability stood at 29% for Asian households and only 11% for both Hispanic/Latino and Black households.

Those disparities persist even as borrowing costs ease, underscoring the structural imbalance between incomes and home prices. Home values have continued to edge higher,

Thursday, April 30, 2026

Warning Issued for Recreationally Harvested Mussels from California Coast

CITY NEWS SERVICE

The California Department of Public Health issued a quarantine order Wednesday warning that mussels gathered by recreational harvesters from California’s ocean shore should not be consumed by humans for the next six months.

The quarantine area extends from the Oregon border to the Mexican border, including all bays, inlets and harbors in Los Angeles County. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health conducts daily syndromic surveillance to identify cases of illness due to ingestion of mussels and other bivalent shellfish and works with the state by collecting shellfish for testing.

During the quarantine season, mussels may concentrate naturally occurring toxins that are highly poisonous to humans including paralytic shellfish poison and domoic acid biotoxins in bivalve shellfish, including mussels, clams, oysters and scallops.

Shellfish toxin levels do not have predictable cycles and can increase rapidly. Prevention of human illnesses requires the annual quarantine, combined with year-round surveillance, public education, shellfish advisories and commercial closures as needed.

Thursday, April 30, 2026

Last Eaton Fire Shelter Animal Adopted From Pasadena Humane

CITY NEWS SERVICE

The last animal taken in by Pasadena Humane following the Eaton Fire was in a new home Thursday after being adopted, marking a milestone in the shelter’s recovery efforts.

The dog, a German Shepherd named Artemis, had originally been brought to the shelter for emergency boarding after his family lost their home in the fire, officials said. Although they had hoped to reunite with him, they ultimately surrendered the animal due to long-term impacts from the disaster.

“Today, we’re celebrating something truly meaningful: every animal who came into our care during the Eaton Fire is now home,” shelter officials said in a statement.

Some animals were returned to their original families, while others were adopted into new homes, reflecting what officials described as resilience and recovery in the aftermath of the fire.

Pasadena Humane cared for more than 1,500 pets and wildlife during and after the fire, providing shelter, medical treatment and emergency support, while also working to reunite animals with their owners.