Tuesday, July 7, 2026

Increased $85,000 Reward Offered in Altadena Cold Case Murder Investigation

CITY NEWS SERVICE

Authorities Monday announced a reward of up to $85,000 for information leading to the arrest of the person or people who fatally shot a 4-year-old in Altadena in July 2016.

The shooting involving people believed to be gang members occurred at about 10:40 p.m. July 5, 2016, in the 300 block of West Figueroa Drive, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Sheriff’s officials said deputies determined that a man was being chased through a property in the area when the suspects opened fire, striking the man in the leg. He sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

Salvador Esparza was standing near a doorway of his family’s home when he was also struck by gunfire. He was taken to a hospital, where he later died.

“Although a decade has passed, our commitment to Salvador and his family has never wavered. We remain determined to identify those responsible, bring them to justice, and provide Salvador’s family with the answers and accountability they have deserved for far too long,”

Monday, July 6, 2026

County Retirement Association to Get Briefing will on How Environmental, Social and Governance Affect Impact Investments

Trustees on the committee that oversees corporate governance for the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association will hear a research briefing in Pasadena on Wednesday from MSCI on how environmental, social and governance factors relate to investment returns.

The item, set for the July 8 meeting of LACERA’s Corporate Governance Committee and Board of Investments, is educational only — it carries no motion, vote or policy proposal. The presentation was recommended by Principal Investment Officer Scott Zdrazil in a June 26 memo reviewed by Chief Investment Officer Jonathan Grabel.

The speaker, Julia Morello, is executive director of MSCI Research & Development, where she leads a team within the firm’s newly created Emerging Risk function, studying how climate, artificial intelligence and geopolitical risk show up in company-level data. She joined MSCI in 2009 through its acquisition of RiskMetrics Group. Before her current post, she was head of sector and thematic research at MSCI, leading a team of sector, regulatory and carbon experts with a particular focus on ESG Ratings research.

Monday, July 6, 2026

LA County to Consider Giving Nonprofits First Crack at Altadena-Area Apartment Sales

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is set to consider a proposal that would explore giving nonprofit housing organizations the first opportunity to buy apartment buildings and mobile home parks in unincorporated communities, including Altadena, before those properties reach the open market.

The measure, Item 4 on the board’s July 7 agenda, would direct county departments to return within 180 days with a recommended Community Opportunity to Purchase Act, or COPA, ordinance. Because Altadena is an unincorporated community governed directly by the county, any such ordinance would apply there, potentially changing how apartment buildings and mobile home parks are bought and sold.

Under the framework the motion lays out, the county would explore giving qualified mission-driven purchasers — such as community land trusts and nonprofit developers — a Right of First Offer and a Right of First Refusal on covered properties, along with a method for determining fair-market offers. The program would apply to residential properties with five or more units and to mobile home parks.

Monday, July 6, 2026

Sheriff, Supervisor, Family Renew Appeal in Unsolved Killing of Altadena Boy, 4

A media advisory says county leaders will gather with relatives Monday morning to seek tips in a decade-old porch shooting

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna and Supervisor Kathryn Barger are scheduled to join relatives of Salvador Esparza III at a 10 a.m. Monday news conference in Altadena, according to a sheriff’s department advisory, renewing a public appeal for information nearly a decade after the 4-year-old was fatally shot on a relative’s front porch.

An $85,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

Esparza, of Monrovia, was shot on the evening of July 5, 2016, while standing on the porch of a relative’s home in the 300 block of West Figueroa Drive in unincorporated Altadena.

He died hours later at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena.

The case remains unsolved.

A gunman fired at least 13 rounds at people gathered on the porch, then fled in a dark-colored sedan that had been waiting nearby on Olive Street.

Monday, July 6, 2026

Heat Advisory Cautions Temps To Push Pasadena Into the 90s Through Thursday

The National Weather Service warns temperatures could reach 100 degrees in nearby mountains and valleys, and Los Angeles County is urging residents to check on neighbors without air conditioning

A heat advisory takes effect at 10 a.m. Tuesday and runs through 8 p.m. Thursday for the San Gabriel Valley, including Pasadena, with the National Weather Service forecasting highs near 90 to 92 degrees locally.

The advisory prompted the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to issue a countywide warning Sunday urging residents — particularly older adults, young children, pregnant people and those without air conditioning — to take precautions against heat-related illness this week.

The National Weather Service’s Los Angeles/Oxnard office forecasts a sunny high near 90 for Pasadena on Tuesday, a sunny high near 92 on Wednesday, and a mostly sunny high near 92 on Thursday, with overnight lows around 63.

The advisory covers interior valleys and mountains across Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties,

Monday, July 6, 2026

LA County Seeks Contractors to Water 1,100 Newly Planted Trees in Unincorporated Communities

A request for proposals covers unincorporated communities, including Altadena, as part of the county’s broader tree-canopy initiative

Los Angeles County is looking for a contractor to keep 1,100 newly planted trees alive across its unincorporated communities, under a request for proposals the county’s Department of Economic Opportunity released June 4.

The solicitation is part of the county’s Community Forest Management Plan, an effort the county says advances climate resilience and equitable investment in historically underserved communities — a designation that includes Eaton Fire-devastated Altadena.

Community and nonprofit estimates suggest Altadena lost roughly two-thirds of its tree canopy in the fire and subsequent recovery work, though the county has not as yet published a confirmed loss figure.

Proposals are due July 6 at noon. The county expects the resulting contract to run from October 1, 2026, through June 30, 2028.

To qualify, contractors need at least three years of experience providing comparable tree-watering services within the last five years,

Monday, July 6, 2026

County to Begin Hauling Fire Sediment From Eaton Wash Reservoir in July

Trucks will run through November as crews clear debris left by the Eaton Fire from the Altadena-Pasadena border reservoir

Los Angeles County Public Works will begin hauling fire-related sediment out of Eaton Wash Reservoir in late July, with truck operations continuing through Nov. 15, according to the department’s page for the Eaton Wash Dam Post-Fire Emergency Project. The department’s materials list differing start dates — July 27 and July 29 — for the hauling phase.

The work targets soil and debris that has washed into the reservoir since the Eaton Fire burned the watershed above it.

With less vegetation left on the burned hillsides to hold soil in place, storms have continued carrying sediment into the reservoir, according to Public Works. Clearing it out restores the space needed to capture and slow stormwater, reducing flood risk for communities downstream.

Staging and hauling preparations are set to begin this month. Once hauling starts, trucks will run Monday through Friday from 7 a.m.

Monday, July 6, 2026

County Webinar Walks Eaton Fire Survivors Through Tax Relief Options

Free session Friday covers casualty-loss deductions and disaster aid for low-income taxpayers

The Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs will host a free webinar Friday explaining federal and state tax relief available to survivors of last year’s wildfires, according to the county’s event announcement.

The hour-long session, set for noon to 1 p.m. July 10, will be presented by Deanna S. Newton, managing attorney of the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic at the Koreatown Youth and Community Center. The clinic represents low-income taxpayers in disputes with the Internal Revenue Service, including audits, appeals and collections matters, and in some cases handles state tax issues as well.

Registration for the webinar is being collected through a form titled “Altadena LITC Registration/Survey,” which asks attendees whether they were affected by the 2025 wildfires — a reference to the Eaton Fire, which destroyed thousands of structures in Altadena in January 2025.

According to the announcement, the webinar will cover four main topics: federal and state disaster tax rules,

Monday, July 6, 2026

FEMA Pushes Back Housing Aid Deadline for Eaton Fire Survivors to 2027

Homeowners get another year of rental assistance; renters get three more months, after monthslong pressure from state officials

Homeowners displaced by last year’s Eaton Fire will now have until July 9, 2027, to keep receiving federal rental assistance, after the Federal Emergency Management Agency extended a deadline that had been set to expire this Thursday.

FEMA approved the extension June 24, according to a statement from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office, following requests from the governor, California’s congressional delegation and local officials who argued that many fire survivors still face obstacles beyond their control. Eligible renters received a shorter extension, through October 9, 2026.

The change affects households working through FEMA’s Continued Temporary Housing Assistance program, which had covered rent and utility costs for people whose homes were destroyed or made unsafe by the January 2025 wildfires. The Eaton Fire alone destroyed more than 9,000 structures in Altadena. Under the prior timeline, that housing aid was set to run out 18 months after the disaster was declared — July 9,

Sunday, July 5, 2026

Area Under Air Quality Alert Sunday as Fireworks Smoke Raises Health Risk

The National Weather Service has issued an air quality alert for Pasadena and the rest of the San Gabriel Valley, warning of harmful fine particle pollution from fireworks that is expected to last until 3 p.m. Sunday, July 5.

The alert, based on a South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) advisory, covers most of Los Angeles County.

Particle pollution levels can vary by time and location depending on emissions and local weather conditions, meaning some areas of Pasadena and surrounding communities could see worse air quality than others during the alert period.

Fine particle pollution can get deep into the lungs and cause serious health problems, including heart attacks, bronchitis, asthma attacks and difficulty breathing, the alert states.

Health officials say everyone can be affected, but sensitive groups face greater risk. Those groups include people with lung or heart disease, older adults, people who are pregnant, children and anyone who spends significant time outdoors.

The AQMD outlined precautionary guidance based on the Air Quality Index (AQI),