Wednesday, July 22, 2026

SoCalGas to Return as Title Sponsor of Second Altadena Forever Run

The Eaton Fire benefit race, which drew roughly 3,000 people in its rain-soaked debut, is set for January 10 in Altadena

A year after thousands ran through Altadena’s burn scar in a January downpour, the benefit race created to mark the community’s recovery from the Eaton Fire is coming back — and so is the utility whose name topped the first one.

Southern California Gas Co. will again serve as the exclusive title sponsor of the Altadena Forever Run, organizers said in a press release announcing a second running of the event on Sunday, January 10, 2027.

Organizers said the renewed commitment reaffirms the company’s support for Altadena’s recovery and rebuilding after the fire. The race is hosted by the Altadena Sheriff’s Station as part of a partnership with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Athletic Association and the Sheriff’s Support Group of Altadena.

The connection to Altadena is direct. The course runs through the unincorporated community’s Eaton Fire-scarred foothill neighborhoods, and the money it raises stays local. 

Wednesday, July 22, 2026

Nineteen Months After Eaton Fire, County’s Altadena Parks Have Received Zero FEMA Dollars

County officials gave the Town Council a detailed accounting of a park recovery they now put above $240 million — paid for so far almost entirely by $64 million in private donations and grants

Nineteen months after the Eaton Fire, Los Angeles County’s Altadena parks have received no money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency toward a recovery officials now estimate will cost more than $240 million, county Parks and Recreation leaders told the Altadena Town Council on Tuesday.

But $64 million in donations and grants have flowed in for the parks’ recovery  — every dollar raised has come from philanthropy, grants and other non-federal funding sources, Parks Director Norma García-González and Deputy Director Chester Kano said.

The department received no additional staff or resources for the recovery, and a small amount of insurance money has served only as seed funding, Kano said.

“We have zero FEMA dollars,” Kano told the council, echoing García-González, who said the park system had absorbed more than $200 million in impact.

Wednesday, July 22, 2026

Padilla Tells Senate Panel That Altadena Fire Survivors Have Been Left Behind

Sen. Alex Padilla told a Senate committee Tuesday that survivors of the Eaton Fire in Altadena have now waited more than 18 months for long-term federal rebuilding money, and that President Trump’s latest funding request to Congress leaves them out entirely.

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) told a Senate committee on Tuesday that residents of Altadena, where the Eaton Fire caused widespread devastation 19 months ago, are still waiting for federal long-term recovery funding that the Trump administration has again declined to request.

According to a press release from Padilla’s office, the senator testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee, which held a July 21 hearing on President Trump’s supplemental funding request. 

Padilla’s office said the request omitted disaster aid for communities rebuilding after catastrophic natural disasters.

At the hearing, Padilla acknowledged that some fire survivors were present in the audience.

“Walking around the Palisades and the Altadena communities during the fires and after the fires, you couldn’t help but be moved by the scale of the devastation,”

Wednesday, July 22, 2026

County Approves $3 Million Program to Clean Lead-Tainted Soil at Standing Altadena Homes

Aid targets Eaton Fire survivors whose houses were spared but whose yards may still carry lead

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a program to help Altadena homeowners remove lead-contaminated soil from properties that survived the Eaton Fire.

The Altadena Soil Remediation Program will provide up to $3 million for enrollment, administration and cleanup, according to a news release from Supervisor Kathryn Barger’s office and a report from City News Service. The board authorized the Los Angeles County Development Authority to run the program using an existing county contracting mechanism.

For Altadena — an unincorporated community represented at the county level by Barger, whose Fifth District covers the area — the action is aimed at fire survivors who have largely fallen outside earlier cleanup efforts: residents whose homes were left standing. Helen Chavez Garcia, a spokesperson for Barger, told LAist that the new program is intended for still-standing properties and is meant to help residents who have run into insurance obstacles.

Wednesday, July 22, 2026

Altadena Housing Site Sells With a Stated Plan to House Fire Survivors

A fully permitted 54-unit parcel changes hands for $6.25 million as the buyer, unnamed, says displaced families will get preference

A patch of Altadena land already cleared through the county’s approval maze — the step that has stalled much of the town’s recovery — has a new owner, and, according to the broker who sold it, a purpose tied to the fire that emptied the neighborhood.

The 1.08-acre site at 2214 North Windsor Avenue has sold for $6.25 million. The buyer, whom Coldwell Banker Commercial Realty did not name, is a local affordable-housing developer that is working with the various agencies to re-imagine the property and build affordable housing. 

The unnamed developer says it will give preference to families displaced by the Eaton Fire when the units are ready for residency, the brokerage said in a statement.

The property is entitled to site a three-story, 54-unit mixed-use building of roughly 42,524 square feet, with 2,122 square feet of ground-floor retail,

Wednesday, July 22, 2026

Rose Bowl Stadium to Host Third Annual Dena Community Backpack Giveaway in Early August 2

Pasadena and Altadena families preparing for the new school year can pick up free backpacks filled with school supplies at the Rose Bowl Stadium next month, when the Third Annual Dena Community Backpack Giveaway returns to the historic venue.

According to the event’s public registration listing, the giveaway is scheduled for Sunday, August 2  from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Rose Bowl Stadium, 1001 Rose Bowl Dr., Pasadena. The stadium and its nonprofit affiliate, the Rose Bowl Institute, are hosting the event.

The giveaway is being held in partnership with Neighborhood Servants, the Pasadena Educational Foundation, and Project Passion. In addition to the backpacks, organizers say the day will include community resource tables, family activities, and interactive experiences, along with the chance for attendees to spend time on the field of one of the country’s best-known sports venues.

The Rose Bowl Stadium has described the event as a way to support local Pasadena and Altadena students and families as the school year approaches.

Wednesday, July 22, 2026

Chris Holden’s Annual Block Party and Resource Fair Returns to Pasadena Aug. 1 With Eaton Fire Recovery Focus

Chris Holden will be throwing a block party again this year.

Holden— former Pasadena mayor and assemblymember and current head of LA Fire Justice, a Pasadena-based legal and community advocacy coalition—has a tradition of hosting an annual community block party and resource fair and announced it will return to the 500 block of East Jackson Street in Pasadena on Saturday, Aug. 1, from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

The free event is being presented by LA Fire Justice, the coalition Holden leads as chief executive. The block party has been a community tradition for nearly three decades.

This year’s fair is organized around recovery from the Eaton Fire, the January 2025 wildfire that devastated Altadena and damaged parts of Pasadena and Sierra Madre. LA Fire Justice said the gathering will combine the block party’s festival elements with resource tables aimed at helping displaced residents and affected businesses rebuild.

The event typically draws residents from Pasadena, Altadena and Sierra Madre.

The venue sits on East Jackson Street between Los Robles Avenue and El Molino Avenue in Pasadena.

Wednesday, July 22, 2026

Altadena Business Resource Fair Set for July 30 to Connect Eaton Fire–Affected Businesses With Recovery Aid

Afternoon event at the Altadena Community Center offers grant applications, technical help and one-on-one guidance for owners still rebuilding

Local business owners rebuilding after the Eaton Fire can meet with funding, banking and recovery organizations at the Altadena Business Resource Fair on Thursday, July 30 from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Altadena Community Center, 730 East Altadena Drive.

More than a year after the Eaton Fire many Altadena businesses continue to confront rebuilding costs, insurance delays, reduced customer traffic, workforce disruptions and limited access to recovery capital. According to the release, the event is designed to bring these resources together in one location so owners can receive personalized support, explore funding opportunities and develop long-term recovery strategies. The Chamber says the fair is intended to help small businesses recover and rebuild.

Attendees will be able to meet representatives from SCORE, Operation HOPE, the UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Institute, the Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC LA) and Chase Bank,

Wednesday, July 22, 2026

Board of Supervisors Advance Next Phase of Measure ER Implementation

On Tuesday, July 21 the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a motion co-authored by Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell and Board Chair Hilda L. Solis authorizing the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (DHS) to begin executing contracts with community-based nonprofit health clinics necessary for implementing Measure ER — the voter-approved Essential Services Restoration Act.

According to the County, the Board action will help ensure the program launches on schedule in January 2027, expanding access to no-cost and reduced-cost health care for low-income and uninsured residents.

Measure ER is a temporary half-cent increase in Los Angeles County’s general sales tax, raising the rate from 9.75% to about 10.25% for five years, through October 1, 2031, to shore up funding for health and other essential county services in response to federal and state cuts.

County officials have estimated it will generate roughly $1 billion annually; groceries, prescription medications and medical equipment are exempt. The measure narrowly passed in the June 2,

Wednesday, July 22, 2026

Guest Opinion | Calmatters’ Bradley Franklin and Kyle Greenspan: California Is Making Progress On Fire Prevention. Federal Retreat, Shaky Funding Put It At Risk

By Bradley Franklin and Kyle Greenspan, CALMATTERS

The Altadena and Palisades fires that swept through Southern California last year were just the latest in an escalating series of wildfires that have scorched the state.

The damage has been far-reaching: Californians have lost homes, community and — in some tragic cases — their lives. Wildfires are also raising insurance premiums and threatening the state’s giant sequoias and the headwater regions that provide most of California’s water supply.

This year threatens to be another above-average fire season. As we’ve seen in recent years, fires can emerge quickly — even after wet winters. And if it feels like wildfires are increasing in size and scale, that’s because they are: The area of land burned in severe wildfires in the Sierra Nevada has tripled since 1990, while annual wildfire damages have more than quadrupled during that same period.

Californians are understandably weary of this cycle.