Tuesday, April 14, 2026

Shepherd’s Door, Women Wealth Warriors to Host Survivor Empowerment Luncheon Thursday

By ANDRÈ COLEMAN, Managing Editor

Shepherd’s Door and Women Wealth Warriors will host a financial empowerment and entrepreneurship awards luncheon Thursday honoring women who have overcome domestic violence, trauma and other hardships while working to rebuild their lives.

The event, “From Survive to Thrive,” will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thursday, April 16 at the Robinson Park Community Center, 1081 Fair Oaks Blvd., and will recognize participants who have completed an eight-week financial literacy and entrepreneurship cohort designed to support long-term stability.

“The luncheon will highlight the importance of economic independence as a key step in recovery, while celebrating the progress of women who have transitioned from crisis toward self-sufficiency,” said Co-founder Tunisia Offray.

Participants bring not only professional goals, but also lived experience, strength and resilience, making the luncheon a reflection of healing and transformation.

The event, supported in part by Pasadena Federal Credit Union, will include lunch and opportunities for attendees to connect with community leaders,

Tuesday, April 14, 2026

Older Americans Month Celebration Planned for Victory Park

The May 20 event is expected to feature live performances, fitness demonstrations, and dozens of exhibitors serving older residents

The Senior Commission is scheduled to review and approve updates to its work plan on Tuesday, including the latest planning details for the commission’s annual Older Americans Month celebration, a citywide event set for May 20 at Victory Park in Pasadena.

The event, planned from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., is being organized by the commission’s Ad Hoc Committee on Objective #1, which includes Commissioners Chelsea Mason, Dion Ferguson, Katie Brandon, Mari Berkemeier, and Jeanine Hernandez. As a strictly advisory body to the City Council, the Senior Commission’s event planning is carried out in coordination with city staff and depends on city approvals and logistical support.

According to work plan updates presented at the commission’s March meeting, Commissioner Brandon reported that the event has secured 18 sponsors and in-kind supporters and has raised $16,900 to date, not including city support. Brandon stated that additional sponsorships are still being sought to support remaining event costs.

Tuesday, April 14, 2026

Caltech’s Theater Program Brings Chekhov’s ‘Three Sisters’ to Pasadena, Reimagined in 1950s California

Theater Arts at Caltech, known as TACIT, will stage a new adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s “Three Sisters” April 23–26 at Ramo Auditorium on the Caltech campus.

Directed by Brian Brophy, TACIT’s longtime director, the production transplants Chekhov’s 1901 drama from provincial Russia to mid-1950s California. According to a production description posted by TACIT, the adaptation was co-created by the company and serves as “a fresh exploration between aspirations and reality, yearning for a better future, and the comic-tragic cost of inaction.”

Chekhov’s original play follows three sisters — Olga, Masha, and Irina — who are stuck in a small town far from Moscow, the city they associate with a more fulfilling life. Over the course of four acts, the characters grapple with stagnant careers, unhappy marriages, and the slow erosion of their hopes, never quite managing to act on the changes they say they want. It premiered at the Moscow Art Theatre in 1901 and is considered one of the foundational works of modern drama.

Monday, April 13, 2026

Burned Into the Record: Altadena’s Fire Stories Reach a UCLA Classroom

A KBLA journalist who has spent a year reporting from the burn scar will deliver a guest lecture in a UCLA course co-anchored by the Altadena Historical Society and west Altadena’s Bob Lucas Memorial Library

The conversations James Farr has spent more than a year recording on the edges of Altadena’s burn scar — raw, unfiltered accounts from fire survivors and displaced families — are headed to a UCLA graduate classroom.

Farr, host of KBLA Talk 1580’s “Conversation Live: Altadena Rising,” will deliver a guest lecture Tuesday evening at UCLA as part of the university’s Urban Humanities Initiative, in collaboration with cityLAB-UCLA, according to a press release from KBLA. The graduate-level course draws on partnerships with the Altadena Historical Society and the Bob Lucas Memorial Library in west Altadena — two institutions that have been active in the effort to preserve what the Eaton Fire took and document what comes next. Historical Society president Veronica Jones said the invitation carries meaning for the community.

Monday, April 13, 2026

Guest Opinion | Chris Holden: I Wrote the Law That Was Supposed to Protect Altadena. The CPUC Broke It.

I grew up in Pasadena. I raised my family here. For more than 36 years I served this community, on the City Council, as Mayor, and in the State Assembly. I know the streets of Altadena. I know the families who lived on them.

On January 7, those streets burned. 19 people died. More than 9,000 structures were destroyed. The cause was a 102-year-old Southern California Edison transmission line, damaged in the 1971 Sylmar earthquake and abandoned by Edison ever since, left standing above a canyon full of dry brush. California’s regulators had the power to address it. They chose not to.

I know this because I wrote the law that gave them the tools to do something about it.

In 2019, I authored Assembly Bill 1054. At the time, California’s largest utility, PG&E, had filed for bankruptcy after its equipment caused a series of catastrophic wildfires, including the 2018 Camp Fire that destroyed the town of Paradise and killed 85 people. With PG&E in bankruptcy,

Monday, April 13, 2026

Open Mic Night Returns to Callisto Tea House

Altadena Library collaboration brings community together for an evening of expression

The Callisto Tea House, in collaboration with the Altadena Library, is set to host its popular Open Mic Night on Monday, April 13, offering a vibrant platform for local talent and community engagement. This recurring event invites individuals of all ages and artistic genres to share their music, stories, and spoken word poetry in a supportive and encouraging atmosphere. The evening promises to be a celebration of creativity, where neighbors can gather to cheer on each other’s work.

The Open Mic Night has become a cherished tradition, fostering a sense of camaraderie and artistic expression within the Pasadena and Altadena communities. Participants are encouraged to bring their instruments, their voices, or their latest literary creations to the stage. The event emphasizes inclusivity, welcoming a diverse range of performances from seasoned artists to first-time presenters. It’s an opportunity to connect with fellow residents and experience the rich cultural tapestry of the area.

Monday, April 13, 2026

Guest Opinion | Calmatters’ Dan Walters: California Voters Will Face Dueling Ballot Propositions This Fall. Confusion is Likely

By Dan Walters, CALMATTERS

When California voters approved Proposition 13 in 1978, they forced a massive change in how government services are financed that continues to reverberate nearly a half-century later.

Prop. 13’s limits on property taxes that had financed public schools and other units of local government for many decades forced fundamental changes in fiscal responsibilities — the state assuming education costs being just one example.

California media extensively covered Prop. 13’s financial impacts at the time, and countless academic and journalistic analyses have done so since. But one aspect of its passage has been largely ignored.

California’s political leadership in 1978 — Gov. Jerry Brown and a Legislature controlled by his fellow Democrats — did their best to torpedo Prop. 13 by placing a rival measure on the same primary election ballot. The alternative, Proposition 8, promised property tax relief for owner-occupied homes but denied it to commercial property.

Prop. 13 passed overwhelmingly but Prop.

Sunday, April 12, 2026

A Family, a Volunteer, and a Life-Saving Journey at Kaiser Permanente’s Los Angeles Medical Center

When Tracy Watson recently arrived at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center (LAMC) – which serves Kaiser Permanente members in Pasadena – on the morning of her husband’s heart surgery, the uncertainty felt overwhelming.

Her husband, Richard “Dick” Watson, a newly enrolled Kaiser Permanente member and school crossing guard, was scheduled for a triple bypass and valve replacement—procedures that all began with what they believed would be a standard checkup. “If it hadn’t been for that physical, we never would have known anything was wrong,” Tracy said.

Watson’s path to that day had moved quickly. After his primary care physician detected a heart murmur during his initial physical exam, he was referred for further testing at Kaiser Permanente Anaheim Medical Center.

A series of evaluations—including an EKG, a stress test and cardiac catheterization—found that Watson’s heart wasn’t functioning as it should, leading to a referral to the cardiac surgery clinic at LAMC for evaluation with Cardiac Surgeon Dr. Kwok Yun.

The coordinated communication between primary care,

Sunday, April 12, 2026

Pasadena Rabbi Among Speakers at Holocaust Museum Los Angeles’s Yom HaShoah Commemoration Today

Rabbi Joshua Ratner of Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center is among the featured speakers at the museum’s annual remembrance ceremony

Rabbi Joshua Ratner of Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center is among the featured speakers at Holocaust Museum Los Angeles’s annual Yom HaShoah commemoration being held today, Sunday, April 12, at 11 a.m. at the museum’s location at 100 The Grove Drive in Los Angeles.

The ceremony, titled “Yom HaShoah Commemoration: Remembrance and Responsibility,” focuses on preserving Holocaust memory and the obligation of future generations to carry forward the stories and lessons of the Holocaust, according to the museum’s event listing.

Ratner serves as senior rabbi of Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, a congregation that has been holding services at First United Methodist Church in Pasadena since its own building was destroyed in the Eaton Fire earlt last year.

Other featured speakers at the ceremony include U.S. Rep. Laura Friedman, D-Glendale, and Beverly Hills Mayor Sharona Nazarian. Holocaust survivor Henry Slucki will appear in conversation with CNN anchor Elex Michaelson and Slucki’s granddaughter,

Sunday, April 12, 2026

Huntington Health’s Top Nurse Adds Chief Operating Officer to Her Role

Jinhee Nguyen will oversee both nursing and hospital-wide operations at Pasadena’s largest medical center

Huntington Health has named its chief nursing officer, Jinhee Nguyen, DNP, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, to the additional role of senior vice president and chief operating officer, consolidating nursing and hospital-wide operations under one executive at Pasadena’s largest medical center.

The appointment, announced Thursday by the Cedars-Sinai affiliate, gives Nguyen responsibility for operations across the organization while she continues to lead nursing. She was selected through what the organization described as a highly competitive internal process.

“This appointment speaks to the exceptional depth of leadership within our organization and to the meaningful impact Jinhee has made since joining Huntington nearly two years ago,” John M. Corman, MD, president and chief clinical officer of Huntington Health, said in a statement. “Her leadership has driven measurable improvements in care quality, nursing engagement, financial performance, and operational readiness.”

Nguyen joined Huntington in July 2024 as chief nursing officer after spending approximately 20 years at Adventist Health Glendale Medical Center,