Friday, September 11, 2026

Second New Year Without a Building: Pasadena’s Two Congregations Prepare for a Rosh Hashanah With No Opening-Day Shofar

By THERESE EDU

Rosh Hashanah 5787 begins at sundown Friday, Sept. 11, and for the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center it will be the second Jewish New Year the congregation observes without a building.

It will also be a quieter one than usual: the first day of the holiday falls on Shabbat this year, and the shofar is not sounded on Shabbat, so the ram’s horn will not be heard until Sunday, Sept. 13.

Two congregations anchor Jewish observance in Pasadena, and they arrive at 5787 from opposite ends of the same difficult year. Chabad of Pasadena, at 1090 E. Walnut St., publishes its holiday programming openly and takes anyone who walks in. PJTC, whose two-acre campus on North Altadena Drive burned in the Eaton Fire on Jan. 7, 2025, has asked that its High Holy Day schedule and locations not be published, citing security concerns.

The silence on the opening day is a matter of Jewish law,

Friday, September 11, 2026

Free Transit Rides Set for Oct. 7 to Mark California Clean Air Day

Pasadena Transit and Dial-A-Ride will waive fares for the statewide clean-air event, part of a monthlong regional push to get people out of their cars

Pasadena Transit and Pasadena Dial-A-Ride will offer free rides on Wednesday, Oct. 7, in observance of California Clean Air Day, the statewide effort to cut vehicle pollution, according to the City of Pasadena.

The free-fare day caps a month of promotions the city’s two systems are running for SoCal Transit Month, a regional campaign to get residents to ride more and drive less. It lands in a region with a stubborn air problem: the Los Angeles-Long Beach area again ranked as the most ozone-polluted metropolitan area in the nation in the American Lung Association’s 2026 “State of the Air” report, a distinction it has held in 26 of the report’s 27 years.

On Oct. 7, riders can board Pasadena Transit’s six local routes and its curb-to-curb Dial-A-Ride service without paying a fare. A regular Pasadena Transit ride normally costs 75 cents,

Friday, September 11, 2026

Guest Opinion: Tina Wu Fredericks | Reimagining Pasadena Unified School District: Fewer Schools, Stronger Schools. A District that Works for All Students

I was once a parent who came to board meetings to speak against school closures. Seven years later, I am the biggest proponent on the Board for school consolidation. Something happens when you get on the Board — you’re forced to make decisions that are best for the district as a whole, and you begin to see the district through a wider lens, rather than focusing on just one school. 

Plain and simple: Pasadena Unified School District has been operating beyond its means. The main cause: declining enrollment, driven by demographic forces outside of the district’s control. Since its peak in 2000, PUSD student enrollment has declined by 38%, outpacing both state and county averages. 

School consolidation is no longer a choice, but a necessity. 

Between the administration, Board, and the public, nobody has presented an idea that addresses the loss of students and its effect on the district. A lot of people have suggested that the Board needs to come up with a better solution,

Friday, September 11, 2026

Altadena Hike Club Meetup Set for Saturday on El Prieto Canyon Trail

The 6.2-mile group hike starts at 9 a.m., and the organizer says the meeting point will be sent to participants the morning of the walk

A group hike on the El Prieto Canyon Trail is the only confirmed listing on Altadena’s calendar for Saturday, Sept. 12.

The Hike Club Meetup is organized by The Next Fun Thing, a Los Angeles events company. According to the promotional listing on the organizer’s website, the hike begins at 9 a.m. and covers 6.2 miles. The organizer describes the route as moderate. The listing is open to participants 18 and older.

The El Prieto Canyon Trail is in the Angeles National Forest above Altadena, in the Arroyo Seco. It is part of the Brown Mountain trail network.

The organizer does not publish a trailhead address or a meeting spot in advance. The listing states that the meeting location is sent to participants the morning of the hike.

The listing advises participants to bring water,

Friday, September 11, 2026

Altadena Music Theatre Reaches the Final Weekend of “Little Shop of Horrors”

The company’s second-to-last performance at its temporary Mountain View Mausoleum stage in Altadena is set for Saturday night

Altadena Music Theatre will give the second-to-last performance of “Little Shop of Horrors” at 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12, on the temporary outdoor stage the company built at Mountain View Mausoleum, 2300 N. Marengo Ave. in Altadena.

The musical is the second and final production of the company’s 2026 summer season, which the company’s website calls its return to Altadena. On that page, the company said the Eaton Fire displaced it from the Charles Farnsworth Amphitheater, and added: “The show had to go on.”

For the season, the company said it built custom outdoor staging and seating on the grounds of Mountain View Mausoleum, where it also staged “Grease” in August.

The run opened Thursday, Sept. 3, and performances continue Thursday through Sunday at 8 p.m. through Sept. 13, according to a July 28 announcement from producing artistic director Sarah Azcarate.

Thursday, September 10, 2026

LA County Democrats Endorse 4 Pasadena Unified Board Candidates

Incumbents Michelle Richardson Bailey and Patrice Marshall McKenzie among those backed ahead of Nov. 3 election

The Los Angeles County Democratic Party has endorsed four candidates for the Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education, including two incumbents seeking reelection, according to a news release issued Tuesday.

The party endorsed Felita Kealing in District 1, incumbent board member Michelle Richardson Bailey in District 3, incumbent board member Patrice Marshall McKenzie in District 5 and Cynthia Torres in District 7 for the Nov. 3 general election.

The Nov. 3 election will determine representatives for four board districts, including Districts 1, 3 and 7, the release said. McKenzie is running unopposed in District 5, and her race will not appear on the ballot.

County party endorsements in local and municipal races become official endorsements of the California Democratic Party, the release said.

The county party is the official governing body of the Democratic Party in Los Angeles County and the largest local Democratic Party organization in the United States,

Thursday, September 10, 2026

Edison to Host Eaton Fire Compensation Meeting in Pasadena Thursday, Ahead of Nov. 30 Claims Deadline

The utility says it has offered more than $860 million through its voluntary program; a claimant who accepts an offer signs a promise not to litigate further

Southern California Edison will hold a community meeting on its Eaton Fire compensation program from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10, at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Pasadena, the utility said in an Aug. 28 news release.

Company leaders and program participants will provide updates, a panel of participants who received compensation will describe their experiences and Southern California Edison experts will answer questions, according to the utility. Eligible individuals and businesses have until Nov. 30 to submit a claim.

Southern California Edison said that as of Aug. 28 it had received more than 4,450 claims covering more than 13,600 individuals, trusts and legal entities, with 39% submitted by attorneys or authorized representatives. The utility said it had extended more than 2,500 offers to nearly 6,300 claimants as of that date, totaling more than $860 million,

Thursday, September 10, 2026

Pasadena-Area Black and Latino Families Invited to Oct. 5 Independent School Admissions Outreach Night

Pasadena’s Chandler School and Flintridge Prep co-host a school fair, student panel and sessions on the application process and financial aid for families considering private schools

Black and Latino families in Pasadena and across the San Gabriel Valley who are considering independent schools for their children can meet admissions representatives from more than 20 private schools, many of them Pasadena campuses, at an outreach evening Monday, Oct. 5, co-hosted by Pasadena’s Chandler School and Flintridge Preparatory School.

The San Gabriel Valley and Pasadena Area Black and Latinx Admissions Outreach Event runs from 6 to 8 p.m. at Flintridge Prep, 4543 Crown Ave., in neighboring La Cañada Flintridge. The event is intended to support Black and Latino families exploring independent school options, organizers said in an announcement, and will include a school fair, remarks from heads of school, a student panel and breakout sessions on the application process and financial aid.

Families will hear directly from students and parents and learn more about the admissions application process and financial aid opportunities,

Thursday, September 10, 2026

Fire Insurance Money Swells Pasadena Unified Reserves, But Core Balance Keeps Shrinking

Pasadena Unified School District ended the 2025-26 fiscal year with $245.5 million in its unrestricted general fund, most of it tied to fire insurance proceeds, while its underlying operating balance declined for a third straight year, district financial records show.

Excluding fire-related revenue and spending, the unrestricted balance fell to $37.7 million from $41.2 million a year earlier, according to the district’s 2025-26 Unaudited Actuals report, scheduled to go before the Board of Education Thursday.

The district recorded $164.7 million in insurance proceeds during 2025-26, following $133.1 million in 2024-25, the report shows. Eaton Fire-related general fund spending totaled $67.5 million in 2024-25, and fire-related general fund spending totaled $22.5 million in 2025-26.

Without the fire-related items, the unrestricted general fund balance fell $3.6 million. That was an improvement from a $27.3 million decline in 2024-25 and smaller than the $13.9 million decline the district estimated.

The report also shows the district spent 50.52% of its current cost of education on classroom compensation,

Thursday, September 10, 2026

Pasadena School Board Holds Special Meeting Tonight

The Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education meets in special session Thursday night to consider certifying 2025-26 unaudited financial results and requesting a waiver from a state classroom-spending requirement the district missed.

The district spent 50.52% of its current expense of education on classroom compensation in 2025-26, 4.48 percentage points below the 55% minimum California Education Code Section 41372 sets for unified districts, Chief Business Officer Arik Avanesyans reported. The shortfall — 4.48% of that $254.5 million current expense — totals $11.4 million, the waiver application shows.

Staff cited mainly increased spending on fire-related supplies and contracted services, one-time state funds and special education non-public agency costs. The district paid $15.9 million in fire-related expenses and $3 million from one-time funds for supplies and contracted services. Without those costs, the percentage would be at 55%, the report states. Staff also wrote that some state and federal funds could not be excluded from the calculation because they included instructional staff costs, although most of those expenditures were non-instructional salaries.