Friday, August 14, 2026

Pasadena School Board Trustees Table Nearly Everything at Six-Hour Special Meeting

Trustees approve only forming a committee of the whole — assigned solely to define what “transformation” means — and table the rest of the agenda four days before new school year classes begin

Pasadena Unified’s Board of Education convened Thursday night to set a deadline for voting on which schools to close or consolidate, and adjourned shortly before midnight without setting one.

The special meeting was structured around Resolution 2894, which directs the district to undertake a transformation process, and was run not by the board president but by an outside facilitator, Natalia Guerra, director of community partnerships and impact at Collaborate Pasadena.

But after nearly six hours, the board had approved just a single action item out of five: constituting itself as a committee of the whole, which — as amended from the dais — was given one job: to finish defining what “district transformation” means.

Trustees then voted to table the four remaining action items, including the closure-vote deadline,

Friday, August 14, 2026

Classes Resume Monday With Transitional Kindergarten Open to Every Four-Year-Old

The Pasadena Unified School District year begins Aug. 17, the second under California’s completed universal prekindergarten expansion

Pasadena Unified School District students return to class Monday, opening a school year in which transitional kindergarten is available to every four-year-old in California for the second year running.

“I want to welcome back all students at all levels to a new year,” Interim City Manager Matthew E. Hawkesworth said, wishing them new adventures and chances to make friends. He encouraged students to try their best and stay curious, telling them their impact starts on day one.

The first day of the 2026-2027 year is Monday, Aug. 17, and the first semester begins the same day, according to the district. Teachers were on duty for staff development Aug. 12 and 13, and Aug. 14 was a teacher-driven, pupil-free day. The district says it is “excited to welcome students and families” and has published a welcome kit carrying the year calendar, bell schedules, after-school programs and other resources.

Friday, August 14, 2026

LED Conversion Reaches Canyon Close Road, With 1,063 Streetlights Still to Go

The upgrade retires a high-voltage series system whose transformers are no longer made, part of a citywide conversion the city began in the 1990s

City crews finished converting the streetlights on Canyon Close Road, Fox Ridge Drive and Altadena Drive in July, retiring a high-voltage series circuit whose replacement transformers are no longer manufactured.

The old system had become increasingly unreliable and difficult to maintain, with aging wiring and transformer failures causing recurring electrical faults, according to the City of Pasadena. Crews installed new electrical feeds, underground conduits and wiring, access boxes and energy-efficient LED fixtures. Greg de Vinck, director of public works, reported the completion. The work was done jointly by Pasadena Water and Power and the Public Works Department, and the city said the replacement uses about one third of the energy of the system it replaced.

The three streets are one piece of a conversion that has been running for more than three decades. The city began replacing high-voltage post-top series circuits with low-voltage multiple circuits in the early 1990s,

Friday, August 14, 2026

Boston Court Sets Its Shipwrecked Prince in an Evacuation Center

A rarely staged Shakespeare arrives on North Mentor Avenue in Ellen McLaughlin’s modern verse translation

The prince at the center of Shakespeare’s Pericles loses nearly everything to storms and shipwreck. Boston Court Pasadena has set the play inside an emergency evacuation center.

Margaret Shigeko Starbuck directs, and Boston Court presents the production in partnership with Play On Shakespeare, describing the staging as a re-conceptualization that uses movement and music. Previews of what the company bills as the West Coast premiere begin Thursday, August 20, at 70 North Mentor Avenue. The performance on Friday, August 21, at 7:30 p.m. is the second of six previews, ahead of the August 29 opening, and the run continues through September 27, 2026.

Randolph Thompson plays Pericles. Joel Swetow, making his Boston Court debut, plays Gower; Troy Leigh-Anne Johnson plays Marina; and Nicole Javier, a faculty member at Pasadena City College, plays Thaisa. The ensemble also includes Julanne Chidi Hill, Desirée Mee Jung, Adam J.

Friday, August 14, 2026

Company Launches Classroom Giveaway for Southern California Teachers

CITY NEWS SERVICE

Nominations were being accepted Friday for a back- to-school giveaway that will provide a Southern California teacher with a donation toward classroom supplies.

Rooter Hero Plumbing & Air will accept nominations through Aug. 23 from teachers in its service area.

One Southern California teacher is expected to be selected Aug. 24 and will receive a donation applied toward the teacher’s classroom wish list, according to the company. Rooter Hero did not specify the value of the donation.

Nominations can be submitted through the company’s website and must include an explanation of why the teacher should be selected and a link to the teacher’s classroom wish list.

“Teachers give so much to their students, often reaching into their own pockets to make sure their students have what they need in the classroom,” Katherine Conchas, the company’s brand marketing manager and Hero Helps coordinator, said in a statement. “Our goal was to recognize teachers in each of our service areas,

Friday, August 14, 2026

Federal Judge Blocks Plan to Suspend Federal Funding to LA Homeless Services Authority

By FRED SHUSTER, CITY NEWS SERVICE

A judge Thursday blocked the Trump administration’s decision to suspend federal funding to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority over allegations of fraud and widespread mismanagement, finding that the abrupt loss of cash would jeopardize housing and services for more than 11,000 people across the region.

U.S. District Judge David Carter’s partial preliminary injunction against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development allows LAHSA access to federal homelessness funding for fiscal year 2026.

The ruling matters for Pasadena through shared regional outreach networks (LA-HOP, LAHSA Winter Shelter Program), County Measure A funding flows to Pasadena’s contracted providers (Union Station Homeless Services, Friends In Deed), and the broader precedent it sets for HUD’s scrutiny of local homeless authorities nationwide, which could affect Pasadena’s own upcoming federal grant competitiveness.

Also at stake is nearly $241 million already earmarked for the Los Angeles region by Congress, as well as immediate future funding for homelessness in the next fiscal year.

Thursday, August 13, 2026

Federal Toolkit Names L.A. County Sheriff’s Homeless Outreach Team A Model; Barger Points To Fifth District Funding

A new federal toolkit has named the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homeless Outreach Services Team a model for multidisciplinary homeless outreach, and Supervisor Kathryn Barger said Wednesday the designation supports her decision to fund HOST teams assigned solely to her Fifth District.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Sara Carter and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner unveiled the toolkit, which identifies HOST as a model for multidisciplinary outreach efforts.

Barger said in a statement that she directed funding to HOST teams dedicated only to the Fifth District, separate from the teams that serve the county at large.

In regions including the Antelope Valley, Barger said, unsheltered homelessness has declined, encampments have been cleared safely and individuals have been reunited with family members. She did not provide figures.

“I appreciate the federal toolkit’s recognition of HOST and the multidisciplinary approach it represents,” Barger said. “It reinforces an important lesson: meaningful progress depends on strong partnerships across public safety,

Thursday, August 13, 2026

Today, School Board Could Select Date to Vote If Any Schools Will Be Closed or Consolidated

Five action items Thursday night would define the district transformation process, name a committee and set a date for the vote

Pasadena Unified School District trustees on Thursday will consider setting a date for a board vote on whether to close or consolidate any district schools and if so, which, when it considers action items on an agenda that could define and staff the district transformation process the Board of Education initiated in June.

The board meets tonight at 6 p.m. in the Elbie J. Hickambottom Board Room, Room 236, at 351 S. Hudson Ave.

Trustees will take up a definition of the district transformation process, and will consider approving the information necessary for board members to make an informed decision on which schools, if any, to close or consolidate, including a list of the areas and data sets to be covered and the data sets by priority level.

They will also consider approving a committee structure and committee members to facilitate the transformation process,

Thursday, August 13, 2026

With Time Running Out, Torres Qualifies for PUSD District 7 School Board Race

By ANDRÈ COLEMAN, Managing Editor

Cynthia Torres will face Dennis J. McNamara in November after Yarma Velazquez declined to seek reelection

Cynthia Torres has qualified for the race for the District 7 trustee in the November election for the Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) School Board.

Torres submitted her papers on Tuesday and qualified on Wednesday, the final day to make the race. She will face Dennis J. McNamara for the seat currently held by Yarma Velazquez, who is not seeking reelection.

McNamara filed his nomination papers July 27 and qualified for the ballot the same day.

Because Velazquez did not seek reelection, the deadline to qualify for the seat was extended to Aug. 12.

The field for the elections is now complete.

In District 1, Felita R. Kealing and incumbent Kimberly Kenne have both qualified for the ballot. Kealing filed July 29 and qualified Aug. 3, while Kenne filed July 22 and qualified July 24.

Thursday, August 13, 2026

PUSD Board to Examine Framework That Will Guide School Closure, Merger Decisions

The Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education is scheduled to begin shaping a future, community-informed process that could lead to school consolidations or closure decisions when the board hears a two-part presentation and reviews related materials during tonight’s study session.

The two-part presentation, titled “Facilitated Discussion: Initiating the District Transformation Process (Resolution No. 2894),” lays out a road map for defining the process, identifying the information needed for later decisions, determining a deadline for a Board vote on school consolidations or closures, and considering a committee structure and membership for the next phase.

The session is designed to develop process and governance direction rather than make final consolidation or closure decisions.

Thursday night’s presentation calls for the Board to reflect on the previous school-consolidation process implemented over the years, develop a working definition of the District Transformation Process that identifies its components and intended outcomes, and identify the areas and datasets that should be considered before informed decisions are made.

The second part of the presentation turns to the scope and structure of the process ahead.