Thursday, May 7, 2026

Nursing Home That Served Pasadena and Altadena for Decades Sues Edison Over Eaton Fire

Two Palms Care Center, destroyed the night of January 7, 2025, alleges SCE’s equipment ignited the blaze that forced the evacuation of 45 residents

Two Palms Care Center, a skilled nursing facility that cared for elderly and disabled residents near the Pasadena-Altadena border for more than 55 years, has sued Southern California Edison and its parent company, Edison International, alleging the utility’s faulty electrical infrastructure started the Eaton Fire that destroyed the facility.

The suit, filed May 6 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleges SCE failed to de-energize transmission lines on the evening of January 7, 2025, despite wind conditions that exceeded the utility’s own shutoff thresholds and a National Weather Service warning at its highest level, according to a press release from Zimmerman Reed LLP, the firm representing Two Palms.

When flames reached the surrounding area within an hour of ignition, staff evacuated 45 residents — many bedridden, some with dementia — on wheelchairs and rolling beds. All survived. More than 15 months later,

Thursday, May 7, 2026

The School Children Chose the Tower

By PETER LATHAM

Built in 1931 after Altadena schoolchildren picked it over a swimming pool, the Eliot Tower has stood as their community’s civic landmark for nearly a century. Pasadena Unified School District has now indicated it may not survive the school’s rebuild in the wake of the Eaton Fire

In 1930, the schoolchildren of Altadena were given a choice. The new junior high school rising from a tract of land along North Lake Avenue could include either a swimming pool or a tower. They picked the tower.

The story has been preserved as oral history by the Altadena Historical Society, attributed to Sara Carnahan, a longtime board member and Eliot alumna. However the choice was put, the result has shaped the skyline of North Lake Avenue ever since.

Ninety-five years later, in May 2026, almost seventeen months after the Eaton Fire tore through the foothill community on January 7, 2025, a Pasadena Unified School District official has signaled to residents that the tower may not survive the planned rebuild of the campus,

Thursday, May 7, 2026

Protest at Eliot Arts Campus Draws Calls for Preservation of Iconic Tower After Fire Damage

By EDDIE RIVERA

Residents, historians and former students urge Pasadena Unified School District to reconsider demolition plans for Altadena landmark

Dozens of residents, preservation advocates and former students gathered Wednesday afternoon outside the fire-damaged campus of Eliot Arts Magnet Academy in Altadena, calling on the Pasadena Unified School District to slow plans that could lead to demolition of the school’s iconic tower.

The campus, heavily damaged in the devastating Eaton Fire, has remained shuttered for months as district officials assess the future of the historic property.

“It’s unsurprising to everyone that’s here, especially if you lost your home, how you can cry over a building,” said former Altadena Town Council President Victoria Knapp. “But this building, this particular tower, is the heart and iconic representation of Altadena. Anyone who comes here northbound knows that they’ve arrived in Altadena because of this tower.”

The protest followed remarks Tuesday evening by Pasadena Unified School District Superintendent Elizabeth Blanco at an Altadena Town Council Land Use Committee meeting,

Wednesday, May 6, 2026

USDA Waives Rural Rules to Send $3 Million in Repair Grants to Eaton Fire Homeowners

Federal program designed for rural areas extends eligibility to 92 low-income households in Altadena

A federal housing repair program built for rural America is coming to Altadena.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced $3 million in disaster assistance grants for homeowners whose properties were damaged by the Eaton Fire, according to a statement from Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger’s office.

The grants, distributed through USDA’s Section 504 Single Family Housing Repair Program, offer up to $32,420 per household — but the program does not normally serve communities like Altadena, an unincorporated community in Los Angeles County. USDA waived its standard rural eligibility requirements to reach the fire-damaged area, according to the announcement, which described the action as demonstrating the Trump administration’s commitment to applying eligibility waivers for communities affected by the California wildfires.

The money is targeted at 92 very-low- and low-income homeowners, according to USDA Rural Development California State Director Bryan Anguiano.

“USDA Rural Development is committed to supporting families affected by the Eaton Fire.

Wednesday, May 6, 2026

L.A. County Declares Its Own Day of Prayer, Aligning With 75-Year National Tradition

The annual observance, approved by the Board of Supervisors, invites residents of all backgrounds to pause and reflect on the first Thursday of May

Los Angeles County now has its own Day of Prayer.

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a motion by Supervisor Janice Hahn to proclaim May 7, 2026, as “County Day of Prayer” and to establish the observance annually on the first Thursday of May, aligning it with the National Day of Prayer. The proclamation applies countywide, encompassing Pasadena, Altadena and all communities across the county’s 88 cities and unincorporated areas.

“During these trying times, the County Day of Prayer is an invitation for people across Los Angeles County to pause, reflect, and pray in any way they choose for whatever is on their hearts that could make our communities, our County, and our nation better,” Hahn said during the Board meeting, according to a press release from her office.

The move comes on the eve of the 75th annual National Day of Prayer,

Wednesday, May 6, 2026

County Oversight Panel Asks Altadena, Pasadena Residents to Weigh In on License Plate Surveillance

Tonight’s virtual forum examines how the Sheriff’s Department uses automated readers and whether the data is protected from federal immigration enforcement

The cameras mounted on streetlights and patrol cars throughout Altadena read every license plate that passes. Tonight, the county agency that oversees the Sheriff’s Department wants to know what residents think about that.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission holds a virtual public forum from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesday on the department’s use of automated license plate readers, the high-speed cameras that scan millions of plates weekly across the county. The forum, mandated by the Board of Supervisors last September, will focus on data-sharing safeguards and potential protections against the technology’s use in federal immigration enforcement. The Commission, created by the Board of Supervisors in 2016 to provide independent oversight of the LASD, is accepting public comment through Webex registration at bit.ly/coc-alpr.

Altadena, an unincorporated community, is policed by the LASD’s Altadena Station, which also covers Northeast Pasadena and Pasadena Glen.

Wednesday, May 6, 2026

Free Virtual Job Fair Targets Pasadena-Area Workers on May 14

A national hiring-event company offers four hours of direct access to recruiters across dozens of industries

Pasadena-area residents looking for work can register now for a free virtual job fair scheduled for May 14, one of a handful of no-cost hiring events aimed at the city this spring as California’s unemployment rate continues to run above the national average. 

Best Hire Career Fairs, a Las Vegas-based company that organizes hiring events nationwide, will host the four-hour virtual fair from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The company says the event will connect job seekers directly with hiring managers and recruiters from companies spanning healthcare, technology, finance, education, manufacturing, hospitality, and dozens of other industries, according to the event’s Eventbrite listing. Registration is free. 

California’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 5.3% in March 2026, according to the state Employment Development Department — above the most recent national rate of 4.4% reported in February. Los Angeles County’s unadjusted rate was 5.1% that same month.

Wednesday, May 6, 2026

Local Funding Pays for 73% of PUSD’s $83 Million Special Education Bill, as Federal Share Falls Below 7%

Pasadena Unified School District plans to spend nearly $83 million educating students with disabilities next year — and almost three of every four dollars will come from local coffers, not from state or federal sources.

That structural imbalance, laid bare in the District’s 2026-27 Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) submission, goes before the Pasadena Unified School District Governing Board for public comment at a public hearing scheduled for approximately 5:15 p.m. Thursday, May 7, at the Pasadena Unified School District Education Center, 351 S. Hudson Ave.

Of the $82,991,011 budget filed on the California Department of Education (CDE) Local Plan Annual Submission template, $60,606,863 — 73.03% — is sourced locally, drawn from the District’s Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP), transportation funds, Workability allocations, and contributions from unrestricted District revenues.

State special education revenue covers $16,769,284, or 20.21%. Federal revenue, the smallest share, totals just $5,614,864 — 6.77% of the budget.

Within those state and federal totals, the District projects $13,669,339 in Assembly Bill (AB) 602 state aid and $921,241 in AB 602 property taxes;

Wednesday, May 6, 2026

Alliance Française Honors Pasadena’s Own Julia Child with a Hands-On “Tribute” Cooking Class

The 102-year-old French language and cultural nonprofit marks 65 years since “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” with a Thursday evening fundraiser at Sauté Culinary Academy.

Julia Child was born in Pasadena. Sixty-five years ago this fall, she published “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” and changed the way Americans approached their own kitchens. On Thursday, May 7 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Alliance Française de Pasadena will honor her with a “Tribute to Julia Child” cooking class and fundraiser at the Sauté
Culinary Academy.

The hands-on evening blends a working cooking lesson with a celebration of Child’s legacy: the Pasadena native who taught her countrymen and -women how to roast a chicken without fear, then earned the Légion d’Honneur, France’s highest civilian honor, for her work in introducing French cuisine and culture to America. The event doubles
as a fundraiser for the Alliance Française, the local nonprofit that has been promoting French language and Francophone cultures in Pasadena since 1924,

Tuesday, May 5, 2026

Pasadena Assemblymember’s Bill Would Shield Historic Districts From State Housing Law

The measure would close gaps in SB 79 that preservation advocates say leave locally designated landmarks vulnerable to demolition

A bill authored by Assemblymember John Harabedian would extend state protections to historic districts and landmarks listed on local, state, and national registers — a direct response to concerns that California’s sweeping transit-oriented housing law left too many of those resources exposed.

AB 2576, which passed the Assembly floor and now moves to the California Senate according to a press release from Harabedian’s office, proposes what the release describes as “targeted clean-up amendments” to SB 79, the Abundant & Affordable Homes Near Transit Act signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October 2025. That law allows midrise housing of up to seven stories within half a mile of major transit stops and takes effect July 1, 2026. Critics, including the Los Angeles Conservancy, have said SB 79’s preservation provisions are too narrow — capping historic resource exemptions at 10 percent of any transit-oriented development zone and primarily protecting properties listed at the local level.