Monday, August 3, 2026

Two Weeks of Free Math Studies at PCC Open a Path to Priority Registration

Finishing the opening session of the Math Success Center’s summer bridge satisfies one condition of the CAP² track, which leads to a late-start Math 004Z section

Four days of radicals and rational expressions at Pasadena City College this week are the opening conditions for a place near the front of the registration line.

The college’s Math Success Center opened the first of two free weeks of its Summer and Winter Bridge Workshops on Monday at the campus at 1570 East Colorado Boulevard, with the second to follow August 10 through 13.

The sessions review algebra and trigonometry for students heading into College Algebra, Precalculus or first-semester Calculus. Students entering CAP², a track that carries priority registration for a late-start Math 004Z section, must attend the first week, including all of the opening day, according to PCC’s Mathematics Division.

Fall classes begin August 24.

The workshops are free lectures and practice covering key concepts in algebra and trigonometry,

Monday, August 3, 2026

Westbrook Foundation’s Free Basketball Camp Draws More Than 100 Kids to Altadena’s Loma Alta Park

More than 100 young basketball players from across the San Gabriel Valley turned out at Loma Alta Park in Altadena on Friday, July 31, for a free youth basketball camp run by Russell Westbrook’s Why Not? Foundation, with Westbrook leading the training at the park.

The Altadena session ran from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the park, 3330 N. Lincoln Ave., and was the second that Westbook held over two days. The first was held Thursday, July 30, at the Russell Westbrook Community Court at Jesse Owens Park in South Los Angeles.

The Altadena camp was free for every participant and open to boys and girls ages 7 to 14. The foundation described the 2026 sessions as its 13th annual summer camp and part of a broader effort that has welcomed more than 1,000 young people over the years.

Westbrook said his goal is to reach young people consistently.

“Just to inspire and impact people,”

Monday, August 3, 2026

Touching Lives: Cancer Survivors and Caregivers Turn Their Stories Into Art

Cancer Support Community, founded in Pasadena in 1990, says a portion of sales will return to the free classes that produced the pieces

Cancer Support Community Greater San Gabriel Valley is partnering with the Baldwin Avenue Gallery to present Touching Lives: Embracing Strength Through Art in the Face of Cancer, a three-week art exhibition celebrating the strength, creativity, and resilience of individuals whose lives have been impacted by cancer.

Running from esarly next month (September 3–26), the exhibition showcases original artwork created by cancer survivors, caregivers, and others affected by cancer. Featuring paintings, photography, ceramics, fiber arts, mixed media, and sculpture, the collection reflects deeply personal stories of healing, hope, perseverance, and connection.

The exhibition is the culmination of a series of art workshops held throughout the year at CSC. Led by local artists and volunteers, these workshops provided participants with a welcoming space to process their cancer experiences through creative expression. Many of the works on display were created during these classes.

Monday, August 3, 2026

Blood Drive at the Collaboratory Arrives During Only the Second National Blood Supply Crisis in Red Cross History

Pasadena Village, the Eaton Fire Collaborative and the American Red Cross are co-hosting Monday’s drive in Altadena, and free rides are available

The American Red Cross has applied the word crisis to the national blood supply for only the second time in the organization’s history, after the supply fell nearly 25% in June and summer donations dropped to a four-year low, according to a Red Cross release issued July 27.

On Monday, three organizations will open a donation site in Altadena together.

Pasadena Village, the Eaton Fire Collaborative and the Red Cross are co-hosting a drive at the Collaboratory, the community hub at 540 W. Woodbury Road that opened in October 2025 as the physical home of the Eaton Fire Collaborative’s recovery operations. Organizers say they need 25 donors for the drive to meet its goal, according to the Pasadena Village event listing.

The Eaton Fire, which ignited January 7, 2025, destroyed more than 9,000 structures across Altadena,

Monday, August 3, 2026

Jade Marlin Foundation to Give Away Free Backpacks in Pasadena on August 15

By THERESE EDU

School supplies and face painting offered at 900 N. Lake Ave.; children must attend to receive a backpack

The Jade Marlin Foundation will hand out free backpacks and school supplies at a Pasadena giveaway on Saturday, Aug. 15, one of several back-to-school events across the region as families prepare for the new school year.

The Pasadena-based nonprofit will run the event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 900 N. Lake Ave., the North Lake Avenue site where it has held past giveaways. Children must be present to receive a backpack, according to the foundation’s event listing and regional back-to-school guides.

The giveaway will also include free face painting for children, according to a back-to-school guide published by LA Magazine and the foundation’s own listing on Eventbrite, where families are asked to register in advance.

A promotional flyer distributed by the foundation lists the League of Women Voters Pasadena Area, Wescom Financial, the County of Los Angeles and the Pasadena Community Job Center as sponsors,

Sunday, August 2, 2026

Chris Holden’s Block Party Marks 27th Year, Focused On Eaton Fire Recovery

The 500 block of East Jackson Street in Pasadena closed to traffic Saturday afternoon, Aug. 1, for a neighborhood block party that has drawn residents from across the city for three decades.

The free event ran from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. between Los Robles Avenue and El Molino Avenue. Former Pasadena Mayor Chris Holden has hosted it since his years on the Pasadena City Council. This year it was presented by LA Fire Justice, the Pasadena-based legal and community advocacy coalition Holden leads as chief executive.

Organizers billed the gathering as the 27th. Holden said the count is probably low.

“Now you fast forward to what we’re calling the 27th, but I think in reality, this is probably the 30th,” he said. “We just lost some time along the way.”

The program was organized around recovery from the Eaton Fire, the January 2025 wildfire that devastated Altadena and damaged parts of Pasadena and Sierra Madre.

Sunday, August 2, 2026

League of Women Voters to Brief Commission on Voter Outreach and Election Security

A civic engagement presentation prepared for the Aug. 5 meeting covers ballot access, election safeguards and how to spot misinformation

The League of Women Voters is scheduled to present a civic engagement briefing to the Commission on the Status of Women when the commission meets Aug. 5, walking members through voter outreach strategy, election security procedures and techniques for identifying misinformation online.

Martha Zavala, League Past President and Voter Services Director, is scheduled to deliver the presentation as an information item under New Business. The commission may take action on any item listed on it as it deems appropriate following consideration and discussion of the matter.

The presentation, titled “Engaging Voters & Why Informed Women Are Shaping What’s Next,” is subtitled a guide to showing up, speaking up and protecting rights at the ballot box, and is labeled a 2026 civic engagement briefing carrying the tagline “Every Voice. Every Vote.”

The opening section argues that being an informed voter is a form of power,

Sunday, August 2, 2026

Free Day at The Huntington Is Thursday — And the Tickets Are Almost Certainly Gone

Admission is free on the first Thursday of every month, but only by advance reservation, and the August allotment was released July 30.

There is a version of Free Day at The Huntington that exists in the popular imagination — you wake up Thursday, decide to see the Japanese Garden, and walk in. That version has not been real for years.

Thursday, August 6 is Free Day, running from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford Road in San Marino. Admission costs nothing. But it requires an advance reservation, and those reservations are released on the last Thursday of the preceding month at 9 a.m., which means the August 6 tickets went out July 30. The institution runs a virtual waiting room on release mornings, assigning arrivals a random place in line, and the allotment routinely disappears within minutes.

The rules are worth knowing for next month. There is a limit of five tickets per household per year.

Saturday, August 1, 2026

Pasadena Unified Says Bond Refinancing Will Save Local Taxpayers More Than $10 Million

District tells community in Friday email it refinanced $133.4 million in Measure TT bonds

The Pasadena Unified School District has successfully refinanced a portion of its outstanding general obligation bonds, saving local taxpayers over $10 million by reducing its long-term borrowing costs, the District told its community in an email Friday.

According to that announcement, the District issued General Obligation Refunding Bonds to refinance outstanding bonds approved by voters under Measure TT.

Net of all transaction costs, the District said, the refinancing will save taxpayers $10.4 million in total debt service — a net present value savings of $8.8 million, or 6.6% of the refinanced principal. The savings will be realized proportionally over the remaining 10-year repayment period, with final maturity in 2036, the announcement said.

“This refinancing reflects our commitment to being responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars,” Superintendent Elizabeth Blanco said in the announcement.

The refinancing does not extend the repayment term of the bonds,

Saturday, August 1, 2026

Congregants and Officials Gather at Vandalized Pasadena Synagogue to Reject Hate

Speakers ranging from a member of Congress to high school seniors who helped fund and create the mural pledged the artwork would be restored

Congregants, elected officials and neighbors gathered Thursday evening at the fire-scarred campus of the Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center, six days after swastikas and an antisemitic message were discovered on a community mural that had itself been created to cover earlier antisemitic graffiti.

The July 30 gathering at 1434 N. Altadena Drive drew civic leaders, clergy and community partners to the site where the Eaton Fire destroyed the synagogue in January 2025, leaving just the last major exterior wall standing.

It was the second time in roughly six months that the surviving wall had been defaced with antisemitic graffiti. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is investigating both incidents as hate crimes.

Rabbi Joshua Ratner, PJTC’s senior rabbi, told those assembled that the congregation had “marked one week since our spiritual home was desecrated by a despicable act of antisemitic graffiti,”