Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Barger Welcomes Federal Rebuilding Push But Says Altadena’s Real Crisis Is Financial

The county supervisor warns of an imminent mass sheltering shortage as fire survivors exhaust insurance and emergency funds

Altadena families are not just waiting on permits. They are waiting on money.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, whose 5th District includes Altadena, issued a statement Tuesday welcoming President Trump’s executive order aimed at accelerating wildfire rebuilding — but she cautioned that the federal action addresses a problem that may not be the primary barrier to recovery. The most urgent need, Barger said, is financial: families lack the capital to begin or continue rebuilding, and the county faces a looming mass sheltering crisis as survivors exhaust their insurance payouts and emergency relief funds.

“I welcome any effort to responsibly accelerate rebuilding,” Barger said in her statement. “Los Angeles County already has a local self-certification process to help expedite rebuilding, along with streamlined approvals for modular, factory-built homes, and pre-approved plans.”

Trump’s executive order, titled “Addressing State and Local Failures to Rebuild Los Angeles After Wildfire Disasters,”

Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Four Men Charged in Eaton Fire Burglary Face Pretrial Hearing

Defendants accused of stealing Emmy Award from Altadena home during wildfire evacuation

A pretrial hearing is scheduled Wednesday for four men accused of burglarizing an evacuated home during the Eaton fire in Altadena.

Roy Sims, Ryan Sims, Naquan Dewey Reddix and Pierie Obannon are set to appear at 8:30 a.m. in Department B of Pasadena Courthouse, 300 E. Walnut St. The hearing is scheduled for Jan. 28, 2026.

The four men were arrested Jan. 8 and charged two days later with first-degree residential burglary. Prosecutors allege they entered a home during the wildfire and stole property, including an Emmy Award.

All four defendants pleaded not guilty at their Jan. 10 arraignment.

District Attorney Nathan Hochman is prosecuting the case, identified as Case 25PDCF00019. The charges carry a maximum sentence of six years.

Roy Sims and Ryan Sims each had bail set at $50,000 and remained in custody as of Jan. 10. Reddix and Obannon each posted bail and were released.

Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Twice-Moved Craftsman Offers Altadena a Blueprint for Rebuilding by Relocation

Friday lecture examines how a house that partied through its 1948 Hollywood move landed on a fire-damaged lot—and what that means for recovery policy

A five-bedroom Craftsman that survived two demolition orders in more than a century now stands on an Altadena lot where a home burned in the Eaton Fire—and on Friday, a historian will explain what lessons the building’s unusual journey holds for fire survivors weighing how to rebuild.

Graham Larking, a cultural resources specialist with a doctorate from Harvard, will present “Itinerant Craftsman: Lessons from the Duntley-Blackburn Residence” at 7 p.m. at the Altadena Main Library. The lecture is part of the Altadena Revealed series, a monthly program created by the Foothill Catalog Foundation and local heritage organizations in response to the January 2025 fire that destroyed more than 9,000 structures.

The house at the center of Larking’s presentation traveled from East Hollywood to Los Feliz in 1948, then from Los Feliz to Altadena in August 2025.

Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Amazon Fresh to Close East Pasadena Store in Nationwide Exit From Physical Grocery Retail

The California locations will remain open longer than stores in other states under state labor notification requirements

Amazon will close the Amazon Fresh grocery store in East Pasadena as part of a companywide decision to shut down all of its Amazon-branded physical grocery stores, the company announced Tuesday.

The store at 3425 East Colorado Boulevard is among 72 Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go locations nationwide that will close. Most stores will shut their doors February 1, but California locations—including Pasadena—will remain open longer to comply with the state’s requirement that employers provide 60 days’ advance notice before mass layoffs or closures.

The store opened September 15, 2022, drawing lines of eager shoppers and a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Councilmember Gene Masuda and Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger. At the time, Masuda called it a welcome addition to his East Pasadena district.

“It means a lot,” Masuda said at the September 2022 opening. “The residents will have another new and exciting place to go shopping and a different experience.”

Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Trump Signs Executive Order on L.A.-Area Wildfire Reconstruction

CITY NEWS SERVICE

A new executive order from President Trump that was signed on Friday aims to “cut through bureaucratic red tape and speed up reconstruction in the Pacific Palisades and Eaton Canyon areas one year after devastating wildfires destroyed nearly 40,000 acres of homes and businesses,” according to the White House.

Trump blames Democratic political figures for the pace of rebuilding.

His order is entitled, “Accelerating rebuilding in wildfire-devastated Los Angeles.”

Some property owners have complained that they need more government assistance and streamlined or suspended regulations in order to rebuild.

Others say the settlements offered by Southern California Edison and their private insurance carriers are insufficient.

It is not clear what effect, if any, Trump’s latest executive order will have on the pace of rebuilding.

Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Expecting Dozens, Pasadena Church Sees 800 Pack Sanctuary for Immigration Defense Training

By Eddie Rivera with Therese Edu

Lines stretched down Union Street as residents sought guidance on responding to ICE encounters in their neighborhoods

Organizers at All Saints Episcopal Church set up a meeting room Monday expecting perhaps 100 people for a workshop on how to respond when federal immigration agents appear in local neighborhoods.

But within minutes, the room was full. Residents packed the church campus and spilled into the sanctuary. Lines stretched down Union Street and nearly around the block.

By the time the two-and-a-half-hour training session concluded, nearly 800 people had packed the historic church’s main sanctuary — a space normally reserved for Sunday worship — to learn what to do if they witness a neighbor being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“We expected a hundred people,” said Patrick Briggs, an All Saints parishioner and vestry member. “We had almost 800.”

The extraordinary turnout reflected a community on edge.

The training came amid heightened local ICE activity and national anxiety following recent reports of U.S.

Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Cracks Between Newsom and Frustrated Lawmakers Show in First Budget Hearings

By Dan Walters, CALMATTERS

Gavin Newsom is officially a lame-duck governor, and his final year in office seems increasingly focused on an almost certain campaign for the White House.

Meanwhile, however, he must spend at least some of his time governing California and dealing with a Legislature dominated by his fellow Democrats but increasingly less willing to cater to his whims.

Newsom’s relationship with legislators has always been more transactional than collaborative. He has even used the annual budget process to force them to adopt major policy changes with little or no scrutiny. Legislators often grumbled about being squeezed by Newsom, but felt compelled — not always but most of the time — to go along.

However, their annoyance is becoming more public, as indicated during legislative hearings on his final budget last week.

Newsom’s initial $349 billion budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year is, as administration officials acknowledge, merely a placeholder.

Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Altadena Job Center Hosts Weekly Sessions to Enroll Fire Survivors in County Workforce Program

Popups every Thursday offer in-person help accessing paid temporary positions for workers displaced by the Eaton Fire

Workers displaced by the January 2025 wildfires can visit the Altadena Job Center every Thursday from 1 to 4 p.m. for one-on-one help enrolling in a LA County program that offers paid temporary employment with departments involved in recovery and rebuilding.

The weekly recruitment popups, hosted by the LA County Department of Economic Opportunity, provide in-person eligibility screening and enrollment assistance for the Fire Recovery and Resilience Workforce Program. The program offers three-to-five months of paid work at $20 to $27 per hour with benefits, according to the department, with positions available in County departments including Public Works, Parks and Recreation, and Beaches and Harbors.

The Altadena Job Center, at 464 W. Woodbury Rd., Suite 210, was opened in September 2025 specifically to serve Eaton Fire survivors. The center is co-located at the LA County Department of Public Works’ Altadena One-Stop Permit Center.

“The Altadena Job Center reflects a deep commitment to meeting our community needs at the right level and at the right location,”

Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Fire Survivors Face Up to $40,000 to Connect to Edison’s New Underground Lines

Costs have apparently grown since April, and no funding has been secured to help homeowners who lost everything

Altadena residents trying to rebuild are encountering a new financial obstacle: connecting to Southern California Edison’s underground power lines could cost them $20,000 to $40,000, according to residents affected by the work.

The connection costs are not covered by homeowner insurance, and neither the utility nor any government agency has secured funding to help offset the expense.

The figure is significantly higher than what Edison’s chief executive estimated in April 2025, when he told Governor Gavin Newsom that homeowners could face $8,000 to $10,000 to connect.

“They’re going to put a transmission line in the middle of my driveway and it’s going to be my job to figure out how to get power to it at my expense,” Conner Cipolla, the corresponding secretary of the Altadena Town Council, told KTLA 5 TV news. Cipolla has been displaced from his home since the fire.

Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Free Laundry Service Launches at Pasadena School

Mobile nonprofit brings fourth trailer to Madison Elementary, funded by Anthem Blue Cross Medi-Cal

A mobile laundry nonprofit that has served unhoused residents and fire survivors across Los Angeles County will launch its fourth trailer Tuesday at Madison Elementary School, which houses Pasadena Unified’s homeless education program.

The Laundry Truck LA will hold a ribbon cutting at 7:30 a.m. at the Pasadena campus, where families can drop off clothing during morning drop-off and pick it up washed, dried, and folded by the end of the school day. The fourth trailer was funded by Anthem Blue Cross Medi-Cal, according to event organizers.

Statistics indicate that Madison Elementary serves a high-need population: 90% of its 409 students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The campus also houses PUSD’s Families in Transition program, the district’s office that supports students experiencing homelessness. Nearly 300 homeless students were enrolled in PUSD during the 2024-25 school year, according to state data.

The launch comes 20 days after the one-year anniversary of the Eaton Fire,