Friday, April 24, 2026

Why New Ruling on CA’s ICE Limits Spells Trouble for Resistance Bills

By Lynn La, CALMATTERS

A federal appeals court struck down one of California’s signature laws challenging the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, and the ruling does not bode well for future measures.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld an injunction prohibiting the state from requiring federal immigration agents to readily identify themselves, a law that Democrats passed last year to rein in the masked federal officers who carried out detentions around California.

The law was destined to face critical scrutiny from federal judges, and President Donald Trump’s administration sued to block it almost immediately after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it. An 1890 Supreme Court case states that a state cannot prosecute federal law enforcement officers acting in the course of their duties, reports CalMatters’ Nigel Duara.

And the law ran headlong into the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, which holds that states may not regulate the operations of the federal government.

• Mark J.

Friday, April 24, 2026

Where Fire Survivors Come for Help, a Poet Is Coming to Listen

A free workshop series for Eaton Fire survivors reaches its final session Saturday at Altadena’s recovery hub — led by the community’s own former poet laureate

Carla Sameth knows this community. She served as Altadena’s Co-Poet Laureate for Community Events for two years, running readings and programs in the same foothills neighborhoods that the Eaton Fire tore through in January 2025. On Saturday, she is coming back — not to a library or a school auditorium, but to the building where fire survivors go to find a case manager, a housing counselor, or a path through the paperwork of losing everything.

The San Gabriel Valley Phoenix Poets is holding its final free, public poetry workshop at the Eaton Fire Collaboratory, 540 W. Woodbury Road, Altadena, at 11:30 a.m. Saturday. The workshop is led by Sameth, who served as Altadena’s Co-Poet Laureate for Community Events from 2022 to 2024 alongside Peter J. Harris and received a 2023 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship. It is free and open to anyone directly or indirectly affected by the fire.

Friday, April 24, 2026

Pasadena Unified Board Approves Full Rebuild of San Rafael Elementary Over Fiscal Concerns

Trustees reject motion to delay project until school consolidation decision

[UPDATED] The Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education voted Thursday night to approve the full demolition and rebuild of San Rafael Elementary School, rejecting a motion to delay the project until after the district’s pending school consolidation decision.

The approval comes after trustees acknowledged that the project’s total cost has risen to roughly three times its original allocation in the five?year bond plan, and that the additional amount above existing Measure O funding and expected state match will have to be covered from Measure R before the new facilities master plan is complete.

Trustee Kimberly Kenne moved to table Board Report 1941-F, which authorized the rebuild, arguing the board should wait until the school consolidation process concludes. Trustee Scott Harden seconded the motion.

“I think this would bring clarity to how San Rafael will be used in that plan, as well as may identify other facility needs that will need to be funded,”

Friday, April 24, 2026

Guest Opinion | Calmatters’ Dan Walters: First TV Debate in Race for Governor Mostly Bypassed California’s Serious Issues

By Dan Walters, CALMATTERS

There will be 61 names of would-be governors on the June 2 primary election ballot, but the top two finishers will — as certainly as anything can be in politics — come from the six who participated Wednesday evening in the first statewide televised debate.

Former Congressman Eric Swalwell’s scandal-ridden departure this month shook up the field and seemingly lifted former Attorney General (and ex-Biden cabinet member) Xavier Becerra into contention after months in the low single digits.

However, no one has achieved support anything close to what would be needed to claim one of the top two finishes, probably in the mid-20% range, and a spot on the November ballot.

The debate, staged by the Nexstar string of television stations in San Francisco, was a chance for them to shine.

None did — if shining means presenting a compelling case that he or she is what California needs to confront the existential issues that will determine whether the state can once again be a unique place where people can see their ambitions become reality.

Thursday, April 23, 2026

LA County Begins Mailing Sample Ballots for Primary Election

CITY NEWS SERVICE

Los Angeles County has begun mailing sample ballot booklets to registered voters for the June 2 Statewide Direct Primary Election, officials announced Thursday.

Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean C. Logan said the sample ballot books include key information on candidates, ballot measures and voting options available to voters.

Mailing of the sample ballots will continue through May 12, while vote- by-mail ballots are scheduled to be sent to all registered voters beginning April 30.

Additional election information is available in the State Voter Information Guide, which is mailed separately by the California Secretary of State and is also accessible online at https://voterguide.sos.ca.gov/.

County officials said election materials are available in English and 18 additional languages.

Voters can request materials in their preferred language by returning a form included in the sample ballot book or by contacting the Registrar- Recorder’s office.

For assistance, voters can call 800-815-2666, with Spanish-language support available at 213-358-2770.

Thursday, April 23, 2026

From Ashes to Canvas: Five Artists Bring Eaton Fire Responses to Altadena Panel

A set decorator’s collection of 5,400 house keys, a tintype photographer’s mobile darkroom, and an Altadena painter’s gallery show converge in one Friday night discussion

The house keys are piling up. So are the drawings, the photographs printed on thin sheets of metal, and the oil paintings of charred hillsides made in the year since the fire.

On Friday, five artists — each of whom responded to the January 2025 Eaton Fire with a specific, sustained body of work — will gather for a panel discussion titled “Healing, Hope, and Commemoration: Artistic Responses to the Eaton Fire,” hosted by Altadena Heritage at 2606 Madison Ave. in Altadena. The event begins at 7 p.m. and runs until 8:30 p.m. Tickets are available through Eventbrite.

The Eaton Fire started January 7, 2025, and destroyed 9,414 structures in and around Altadena, according to Cal Fire. The community’s artists have spent the 15 months since making work from that loss.

Among those presenting Friday night is Kate Sullivan,

Thursday, April 23, 2026

The Window to Shape LA County’s Fire Recovery Review Closes Thursday

A McChrystal Group survey on post-fire services ends April 24 — this one focused on what the county did after the flames

The first county review asked why the warnings came too late. The second is asking what happened after the fire went through.

Los Angeles County’s public survey on Eaton and Palisades Fire recovery closes Thursday, April 24 — the final opportunity for Altadena and Pasadena-area residents to formally document their experience of the county’s post-fire operations and contribute to an independent review that, according to the county, will inform reforms to how LA County handles disaster recovery in the future.

The survey is part of a second after-action review being conducted by the McChrystal Group, the same private consulting firm that the LA County Board of Supervisors hired in February 2025 to independently evaluate the county’s response to the January 2025 fires. Where the first review — released in September 2025 — examined alert notification systems and evacuation policies, this one focuses on what came after: whether county services reached those who needed them,

Thursday, April 23, 2026

‘We’re Not Just Rebuilding, We’re Dreaming Big’ PUSD Board President Tells Community at 2026 State of the Schools

Full text of Tina Fredericks’ address included below

Pasadena Unified School District leaders told families, educators and civic officials that the District is rebuilding after a year marked by the Eaton Fire, community concerns over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity and a $30 million budget-reduction plan, during the 2026 State of the Schools ceremony held Wednesday evening — Earth Day — at Mary W. Jackson STEAM Multilingual Magnet Elementary in Altadena. The full text of Board President Tina Fredericks’ address is reproduced below.

Superintendent Elizabeth Blanco reported that the District’s graduation rate has increased to 91%, that early literacy is improving under newly adopted programs, and that Pasadena High School is ranked among the top three California public high schools for UCLA acceptance rates. Blanco said all four Pasadena Unified School District comprehensive high schools — Pasadena High School, Marshall, Muir and Blair — have exceeded projected university acceptance rates this year, and that 12 John Muir High School students will graduate with their associate in arts degrees and high school diplomas,

Thursday, April 23, 2026

Pasadena Group at Center of TPS Fight Brings Protests to Local Courthouse Steps

For a second straight week, TPS holders and advocates rally outside the Ninth Circuit on South Grand Avenue as the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments six days away

The lawyers who have been fighting in federal court to protect the legal status of hundreds of thousands of immigrants work out of an office on South Arroyo Parkway. The courthouse where much of that fight has played out is on South Grand Avenue. And for the second consecutive week, the people those lawyers represent have gathered on its steps.

Six days before the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments that could determine whether the federal government can strip legal status from approximately 1.3 million immigrants, TPS holders and advocates staged a second week of demonstrations Wednesday at the Richard H. Chambers U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit at 125 S. Grand Ave. in Pasadena.

The rallies are organized by a coalition that includes the National Day Laborer Organizing Network — headquartered at 1030 S.

Thursday, April 23, 2026

Bonta Issues Reminder to California Schools on Student Safety Obligations

CITY NEWS SERVICE

A month after reaching an agreement mandating new student safety measures in a Los Angeles County school district, California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued an alert Wednesday reminding K-12 schools across the state of their legal obligation to prevent and address sexual harassment and abuse in education programs and activities.

Bonta also launched a new web page and Know Your Rights alert in six languages reminding California families and students of their rights under California law, encouraging them to immediately report incidents of sexual harassment, assault and abuse, and providing information on what to expect in addressing such complaints.

“Sexual harassment, assault and abuse in schools is far too common and completely unacceptable,” Bonta said in a statement. “Every student has a right to a safe learning environment, and it is the duty of our school districts — along with a moral obligation — to step off the sidelines and be a part of the solution.”

According to recent data,