Friday, March 20, 2026

California’s $20 Fast Food Wage Yields Higher Prices, Fewer Jobs, More Automation

By Dan Walters, CALMATTERS

Two years ago, a hotly contested law imposing a $20-per-hour minimum wage on franchised fast food outlets took effect.

The legislation, Assembly Bill 1228, emerged from months of intense political conflict, pitting fast food behemoths such as McDonalds against service worker unions, arguing not only over the wage itself but what the industry saw as an effort to undercut its business model.

Eventually the industry agreed to a higher wage in exchange for unions leaving the franchise system unmolested and the creation of a commission to oversee wages and working conditions.

Ever since, fast food corporations and labor interests have jousted over the law’s impact, with both waving economic reports to bolster their positions.

The industry warned that the FAST Act, as it was dubbed, would push fast food prices upward and employment opportunities downward. Unions and their allies contended it would benefit fast food workers with few,

Friday, March 20, 2026

Pasadena Unified School District Refocuses Chávez Day Activities Amid Abuse Allegations

Superintendent directs families to mental health resources after New York Times investigation details sexual abuse by late labor leader

The Pasadena Unified School District said Thursday it will change how it observes César Chávez Day this year, shifting the focus from the late labor leader to the broader civil rights movement after a New York Times investigation detailed allegations that Chávez sexually abused girls and women during his decades leading the United Farm Workers.

Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Blanco said in a statement that the District is “adapting planned activities to honor the collective work for civil rights rather than the individual.” She pointed students, staff, and families to district mental health resources, including the Pasadena Unified School District’s Student Wellness and Support Services (SWSS), Daybreak Health, and Hazel Health, as well as the Los Angeles County Office of Education’s Sexual Assault Awareness page.

“The information shared by Dolores Huerta and other survivors is a painful reminder of our responsibility as educators to uphold the safety,

Friday, March 20, 2026

Sheriff’s Department, Victim’s Dad Seek Tips in Unsolved 2023 Shooting Death of Altadena Man

CITY NEWS SERVICE

Sheriff’s officials and the father of a 27-year-old man who was fatally shot in Altadena during an attempted burglary nearly three years ago appealed to the public Thursday for help bringing whoever is responsible for the homicide to justice.

Daniel Ursitti, who had advertised online that he had psychedelic mushrooms for sale, was shot at his home in the 700 block of West Owen Court about 2:35 a.m. March 22, 2023, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Deputies from the Altadena Sheriff’s Station found Ursitti wounded after responding to a reported burglary in progress and a man who had been shot.

Ursitti was pronounced dead at a hospital.

The loss of Daniel Ursitti was compounded when the family’s home was subsequently destroyed in January’s deadly Eaton Fire.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide detectives, who have been investigating the case since the killing but have not been able to make any arrests,

Thursday, March 19, 2026

Edison CEO’s Pay Rose 20% After Eaton Fire; Pasadena Legislator Vows Action

Assemblymember Harabedian says fire survivors should not subsidize executive compensation as state report nears April deadline

After it was reported that Edison International gave its chief executive a raise in 2025, Assemblymember John Harabedian (D-Pasadena), who represents the fire-devastated 41st Assembly District, said the disparity between Edison’s financial performance and his constituents’ ongoing struggles demands legislative action. He pointed to a state report on the California Wildfire Fund, due to the Legislature by April 1, as the vehicle for change.

“My constituents are fighting every day just to stay off the street as they try to put their lives back together from the damage Edison’s equipment likely caused,” Harabedian said in a statement issued Wednesday.

The statement came one day after the Los Angeles Times reported on Edison’s executive compensation, drawn from a new SEC proxy filing. The filing showed that Edison International’s net income surged to $4.5 billion in 2025, up from $1.3 billion the prior year — a gain of more than 200% in the company’s GAAP earnings.

Thursday, March 19, 2026

Eaton Fire Recovery Coalition Names First Executive Director

Michael Ocon, a Pasadena High School graduate, was chosen from 37 applicants to serve as the Collaborative’s first paid executive

The Eaton Fire Collaborative has selected Pasadena native Michael Ocon as its first Executive Director to lead long-term recovery coordination across Altadena, Pasadena, and Sierra Madre, the organization announced March 13.

Ocon, a Pasadena High School graduate who previously worked at Pasadena-based Collaborate PASadena, was chosen from 37 applicants through a competitive process that included multiple rounds of interviews and presentations to the full governing board, according to a press release from the Collaborative.

The appointment establishes the organization’s first paid executive position approximately 14 months after the January 2025 Eaton Fire.

The Collaborative serves as the region’s Long-Term Recovery Group, bringing together more than 200 community groups, nonprofits, and civic agencies to coordinate recovery services.

It operates The Collaboratory resource center at 540 West Woodbury Road in Altadena, which opened in October 2025 and offers case management,

Thursday, March 19, 2026

Sheriff’s Detectives Seek Public’s Help in Unsolved Altadena Killing of Daniel Ursitti

Nearly three years after the 27-year-old was found fatally shot inside a gated community home, investigators plan to release surveillance footage

Three years ago, an unknown killer shot 27-year-old Daniel Ursitti in the head inside a home in Altadena’s gated La Viña community. No one has yet been arrested. On Thursday, the detectives working his case are asking the public to help change that.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau scheduled a news conference for 10 a.m. Thursday at its Monterey Park headquarters, where officials said they would present surveillance footage and seek the community’s help in identifying and locating suspects in Ursitti’s killing. Members of his family are expected to attend.

Ursitti was found in a bedroom at a two-story house in the 700 block of West Owen Court after deputies responded to a report of a burglary at about 2:34 a.m. on March 22, 2023, according to the sheriff’s department. He had suffered a gunshot wound to the head and was taken to a hospital,

Thursday, March 19, 2026

State Senator Pérez Demands César Chávez’s Name Be Stripped From Schools, Streets and State Holiday

State Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, who represents Pasadena and Altadena in the California Legislature, called Wednesday for the removal of Cesar Chavez’s name from streets and schools across the state and for an end to the state holiday honoring the late labor leader, following a New York Times investigation that detailed decades of his alleged sexual abuse against women and girls.

Pérez, a Democrat whose 25th Senate District stretches from Pasadena to Rancho Cucamonga — and includes a stretch of Cesar Chavez Avenue in Monterey Park — is among a fast-growing number of California officials demanding the state sever its public tributes to the United Farm Workers co-founder. She chairs the Senate Education Committee, which oversees policy for the more than three dozen California schools that bear Chavez’s name.

“I’m shocked and disgusted to read investigative reports revealing that United Farm Workers co-founder Cesar Chavez was a pedophile and a rapist, who used his position as a labor leader to take advantage of women and girls,”

Thursday, March 19, 2026

Pasadena Unified Announces Town Hall as Committee Narrows School Closure Plan

The March 31 virtual session gives the community a chance to weigh in before a 33-member panel delivers its recommendations this spring

The Pasadena Unified School District will conduct a virtual town hall on its school consolidation proposal process on March 31, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Blanco issued an invitation on Wednesday, inviting community members to join online at pusd.us/townhall.

The town hall arrives at a pivotal moment. A 33-member advisory committee appointed by Blanco has already held two of seven planned meetings and has begun the work of deciding which campuses in Pasadena, Altadena, and Sierra Madre could be consolidated or closed.

At its March 9 session, the Superintendent’s School Consolidation Advisory Committee voted to remove nine schools from consideration, including John Muir High School, Pasadena High School, and Sierra Madre Middle School. 

The district is confronting a budget shortfall projected at $30 million to $35 million for the 2026-27 fiscal year and a student population that has declined roughly 23 percent over the past decade — from 17,267 students in 2014-15 to 13,228 in the current school year,

Thursday, March 19, 2026

Guest Opinion | School Board Member Dr. Yarma Velázquez Vargas: How to Honor Collective Struggle, Community Advocacy, and Educational Justice?

As we reflect on the legacy of labor movements and educational justice in our communities, we recognize that meaningful change has never been the result of a single individual. Rather, it is the product of collective struggle of workers, families, educators, and organizers who, together, have pushed forward the conditions for dignity, access, and opportunity.

While figures such as César Chávez and Dolores Huerta are often elevated in public memory, we must acknowledge that the successes attributed to movements are rooted in the sacrifices and leadership of many, often unnamed, individuals or even one monolithic community. It is collective work.

In this spirit, we should center not individuals, but the values and actions that have sustained these movements: community organizing, educational advocacy, cultural affirmation, and the ongoing fight for justice.

In Pasadena, this means committing ourselves to addressing the persistent racial and educational disparities that impact Latina and Black students. It means investing in programs that uplift families, honor linguistic and cultural diversity,

Thursday, March 19, 2026

Traps Go Up Across San Gabriel Valley as Mosquito Surveillance Season Begins

The agency that monitors disease-carrying mosquitoes in Pasadena and Altadena launches its annual early warning system with heightened vigilance after the Eaton Fire

The traps are back.

Across the San Gabriel Valley, technicians from the region’s mosquito control district have begun setting surveillance traps to capture, identify, and test mosquitoes for the viruses they carry — the annual opening move in a public health effort that this year carries particular urgency for Pasadena and Altadena.

The San Gabriel Valley Mosquito & Vector Control District launched its routine seasonal surveillance program in March, marking the shift from winter’s low-activity baseline to the full monitoring schedule that will guide mosquito control operations and public health alerts through the peak summer months.

The District serves more than 1.5 million residents across 26 cities and unincorporated communities in the San Gabriel Valley, including Pasadena and Altadena, according to the agency’s website.

The stakes for the region are not abstract. In October 2023,