Friday, April 25, 2025

County Officials Outline Rebuilding Support and Permit Process at Altadena Community Meeting

By ANDRÈ COLEMAN, Managing Editor

With more than 300 rebuilding applications already submitted following the devastating Eaton Fire, Los Angeles County officials on Monday reassured Altadena residents that resources are in place to streamline the recovery and rebuilding process.

Amy Bodak, Director of Regional Planning, and Kira Barnett, Assistant Deputy Director with the Department of Public Works, co-chaired a special task force presentation during a community meeting on Monday.

The pair emphasized that County agencies are committed to supporting residents at every stage of the rebuilding journey.

The County has developed a single streamlined permit application process.

Under that process, all of the required documents can be submitted at once. Each of the permitting departments will review the documents.

The Department of Regional Planning will conduct a zoning review of the application first, and zoning will ultimately confirm what can be built on the property.

Once property owners receive clearance and have full building plans,

Thursday, April 24, 2025

LA County Students Receive 3000 Chromebooks as Part of Google and YouTube’s $15 Million Wildfire Recovery Initiative

By EDDIE RIVERA

“Even in the most difficult times, with the power of community — which is the power of us — we will not just rebuild, we will rise,” Pasadena Unified School District Board President Jennifer Hall Lee said Wednesday morning, as she addressed a crowd of students gathered at Pasadena High School.

The occasion was the donation of 3000 new Google Chromebooks to students across LA impacted by January’s devastating wildfires — part of a broader $15 million education-focused recovery package from Google and YouTube to help rebuild communities across Los Angeles County.

According to a Google spokesperson, $3 million in education-related funding included the Chromebooks, as well as a back-to-school matching campaign through donorschoose.org, designed to ensure teachers in wildfire-affected schools have the essential resources and supplies to rebuild their classrooms.

The donation, facilitated in partnership with the Los Angeles Education Foundation, aims to support the continuity of learning for the thousands of students who were forced to evacuate or lost access to devices when schools and homes were damaged or destroyed,

Thursday, April 24, 2025

All Altadena Land Owners Impacted by Eaton Fire Have Turned in Right of Entry Forms

By ANDRÈ COLEMAN, Managing Editor

Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said at a meeting on Tuesday that every property owner in Altadena impacted by the Eaton Fire has filled out the required Right of Entry forms.

“All property owners have now notified the county of their removal plans,” Barger said at Monday’s meeting. “This is a significant milestone that reflects the commitment and the determination of the Altadena community to rebuild and begin to move forward.”

According to the County’s website, of the 12,048 parcels eligible for cleanup by the Army Corps of Engineers, 10,445 have opted in for cleanup.

Homeowners were required to submit the forms even if they were not using the army to clean up wildfire debris on their property.

The final day to register was April 15. Pasadena Now reported earlier this month that the Army Corps of Engineers would clear debris left behind by property owners that did not fill out the forms.

Thursday, April 24, 2025

County Supervisors to Vote on $4 Billion Settlement, Urgent Fire Debris Removal

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will consider a historic $4 billion (plus administrative costs) settlement for childhood sexual abuse claims and take action on urgent fire debris removal measures during their public hearing meeting Tuesday, April 29, at 9:30 a.m. in Board Hearing Room 381B at Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration.

The settlement recommendation, listed as item 11 on the agenda, would resolve approximately 6,800 cases alleging childhood sexual abuse against several County departments, including Probation, Children and Family Services, Parks and Recreation, Health Services, Sheriff’s and Fire departments.

A recommendation submitted by Supervisors Lindsey P. Horvath (Third District) and Kathryn Barger (Chair, Fifth District) seeks adoption of an urgency ordinance to address uncleared fire properties. The Board is asked to “Find that, as reflected in the County Health Officer’s order, dated January 15, 2025, as subsequently amended, uncontained fire ash and debris on residential properties impacted by the January 2025 Fires constitutes a present health hazard, which requires speedy nuisance abatement to address this emergency situation.”

Thursday, April 24, 2025

Silver Jubilee Brunch To Raise Funds for Troop 1 Scouts Affected by Eaton Fire

Will pay tribute to women supporting Eagle Scouts

The twenty-fifth annual Silver Jubilee Women of Eagle Scouts Brunch, themed “Wind Under Their Wings,” will celebrate the mothers, grandmothers, sisters, and aunts who have guided young men and women on their road to earning the rank of Eagle Scout. The event will take place on Saturday, May 17, 2025, at a private location in Pasadena, with a portion of proceeds benefiting scouts in Troop 1 affected by the recent Eaton Fire.

“The committee welcomes the community to attend and honor the Women Behind the Eagle Scouts,” said the organizing committee, led by Co-Chairs Vicki Elliott of San Marino and Suko Gutoh of Glendale.

The celebration will begin with a hosted reception at 10:30 a.m., where local Boy Scouts will greet guests. The brunch and program will follow at 11:15 a.m., featuring Scouts from troops throughout the San Gabriel Valley leading the pledge of allegiance. The event will conclude at 1:30 p.m.

Wednesday, April 23, 2025

Given Its Failures, Can California Manage A Transition To A Carbon-Free Future?

By Dan Walters, CALMATTERS

It’s become painfully obvious in recent years that California officialdom lacks the ability to plan and deliver major projects.

While examples abound, the state’s woebegone bullet train project, its tortuous efforts to implement information technology and the financial and managerial meltdown of its unemployment insurance program are among the most egregious.

Given that sorry record, why should we believe the state’s plans to completely overhaul California’s economy by eliminating hydrocarbon-based energy will be any more successful?

Over the next 20 years, California wants to replace nearly 30 million gasoline and diesel-powered cars and light trucks with those using batteries or hydrogen. Simultaneously California is supposed to wean itself from natural-gas-fired electric power generation and increase power output, to recharge many millions of car batteries and service houses and commercial buildings that will no longer use gas.

The mileposts on the road to a carbon-free California are beginning to appear,

Wednesday, April 23, 2025

In Polarized Times, Pasadena Literary Festival Turns to Books That Build Character

Southern California’s diverse literary festival offers healing through literature amid political division and wildfire recovery

As the Pasadena community navigates the aftermath of November’s divisive presidential election and recovers from recent wildfires, LitFest in the Dena returns May 2-3 with a timely theme: “Books That Teach Us About Character,” bringing together 150 authors to explore how literature shapes moral values and community resilience.

The free two-day event, held at Pasadena Presbyterian Church, represents a deliberate response to current political tensions and community challenges.

“We decided to put integrity at the forefront of our event because it’s something that is on everyone’s mind,” said Natalie Lydick, Project Development at Light Bringer Project, the nonprofit organization that presents the festival.

This year’s venue change from Mountain View Mausoleum to Pasadena Presbyterian Church was necessitated by ongoing fire recovery efforts in the region. The festival will feature special programming addressing the wildfires, including panels on “Poetry as Memory and Collective Processing”

Wednesday, April 23, 2025

Ashes to Anthems Concert to Support Pasadena-Area Recovery Efforts

Grammy winner Andra Day headlines benefit event offering resources for families affected by Eaton Fire

The Hold Dena consortium is co-producing the inaugural “Ashes to Anthems” Benefit Concert and Resource Fair this Saturday at Memorial Park in Pasadena, set to bring together entertainment and essential services for families affected by the Eaton Fire.

“Ashes to Anthems isn’t just a concert. It is a rally, a coming together, and formation of a movement. It is where sound becomes strength and where the community collectively summons and calls upon the joint anthem to HOLD DENA,” organizers said.

The April 26 event, running from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., aims to raise awareness, amplify the collective voice, and direct resources toward long-term community recovery.

The event is described as “an invigorating day of upliftment for families” and will feature Grammy Award-winning artist Andra Day as the headliner, joined by Travis Greene and Goapele.

Beyond entertainment, the organizes said the event will feature “a powerful mile-long Resource Fair—a collaborative force for recovery and restoration.”

Wednesday, April 23, 2025

Free Eye Screenings Will Draw Community to Pasadena Lions Club Event

The Pasadena Host Lions Club will provide free vision screenings and prescription glasses this Saturday, April 26, at their annual VisionFest, a service accessible to anyone regardless of residence.

“Free Vision Services: All Are Welcomed!” said Lion Donna Pomerantz, Club Secretary. “The Pasadena Host Lions Club 2025 VisionFest is a few days away and everyone is welcome no matter where you reside.”

Pomerantz emphasized the event’s inclusivity.

“This is our Flagship vision event every year. We will be seeing people from within the greater Pasadena community and beyond!”

“We will do eye screenings and dispensing glasses, all at no cost to those we will serve,” she continued. “We will have people who are native Spanish language speakers to assist those in need as well. We are pleased to welcome ‘ALL.'”

The Salvation Army Tabernacle at 960 E. Walnut Street in Pasadena will host the event at their facility. The event will start at 9 a.m. and continue until  1 p.m.

Wednesday, April 23, 2025

Community Organization Hosts Wellness Day For Women Affected By Eaton Canyon Fires

Local nonprofit offers trauma-informed workshops and resources for healing

Reddy To Care will host a free wellness event this Saturday to support women of color affected by the January 2025 Eaton Canyon Fires in Pasadena. The “Rise & Heal: A Women’s Wellness Day” aims to provide healing-centered workshops, wellness check-ins and resource support for those impacted by the disaster.

The wellness day will take place on April 26 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Holy Assembly Church of God in Christ in Pasadena, 55 E Villa St, in Pasadena. Pre-registered participants will receive breakfast, lunch, raffles, and self-care giveaways during the day-long event.

Attendees will have access to trauma-informed care through various wellness facilitators, including Dr. Keisha White (KCW Psychological Services) and Dr. Amanda S. Walker (The Whole Mood Foundation) for wellness check-ins, Dr. Kenya Williams for yoga, Dr. Joy Dabbs (The Oracle Inside Healing Center) for grief recovery, Chantelle Adanna (Chantelle Adanna Publishing) for writing therapy, and Heather Hilliard Bonds,