Tuesday, May 5, 2026

Harabedian Targets ‘Fail First’ Insurance Rules for Mental Health Medications

The Pasadena assemblymember’s AB 1970 would ban step therapy requirements for patients with serious mental illness

When a doctor prescribes medication for schizophrenia or severe depression, the patient’s insurer can override that choice — requiring the patient to first try a cheaper drug, fail on it, and only then receive the original prescription. Assemblymember John Harabedian wants to end that practice for Californians with serious mental illness.

Harabedian, a Pasadena Democrat who represents the 41st Assembly District including Pasadena and Altadena and serves on the Assembly Insurance Committee, introduced AB 1970 earlier this year.

The bill would prohibit health plans and insurers from imposing step therapy — commonly called “fail first” policies — on prescription drugs used to treat serious mental illness and substance use disorders, according to an analysis by the California Health Benefits Review Program. If enacted, the prohibition would take effect for contracts issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2027. The ban would not apply in cases where the FDA’s own labeling requires that a patient take a prior medication first.

Tuesday, May 5, 2026

Alleged Mishandling of LA Wildfire Claims by State Farm Sparks Legal Action

CITY NEWS SERVICE

An investigation by the California Department of Insurance found that claims filed with State Farm by survivors of the 2025 Eaton and Palisades wildfires were “delayed, underpaid, and buried” in red tape, resulting in legal action by the office, it was announced Monday.

The department’s enforcement action seeks millions of dollars in penalties, considered the largest amount pursued this century following a wildfire disaster, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said. It also calls for a suspension of the company’s license for up to a year.

In addition to penalties, the department is requiring State Farm to take corrective actions to speed up payments and resolve outstanding claims.

State Farm policyholders filed nearly 11,300 residential claims related to the wildfires, nearly one-third of the 38,835 claims filed across all insurers, according to the department’s claims tracker.

The violations indicate that thousands of survivors may have been affected, according to Lara.

In an emailed statement to City News Service,

Tuesday, May 5, 2026

PUSD Board to Take Up Final Layoff Resolutions Thursday

Trustees will consider terminating 61 named certificated employees and laying off 246 classified workers ahead of a May 15 state deadline

[UPDATED] The Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education will meet Thursday to finalize workforce reduction for the 2026-27 school year that terminates 61 named certificated employees (teachers, administrators, speech pathologists, nurses, counseling staff, and other credentialed educational staff) and lays off 246 classified workers (the custodians, recreation aides, security officers, social workers, gardeners, computer technicians and noon aides who keep schools physically running).

The Board is authorized to cut up to 161.35 full-time-equivalent certificated positions, but is acting on far fewer.

The vote, set for a 5:30 p.m. special meeting in the Elbie J. Hickambottom Board Room at 351 S. Hudson Ave., is the last step required under California law to complete the cuts proposed in February.

Education Code section 44955 requires the Board to take final action and notify affected certificated employees by May 15;

Tuesday, May 5, 2026

New Alliance Targets Firefighters’ Long-term Health Risks

By EDDIE RIVERA

PROTECT Frontline Alliance launches in Pasadena, aiming to close gaps in research, care, and policy for first responders

At a fire station perched above the Arroyo on Monday morning, the conversation turned from response to recovery.

On International Firefighters Day, speakers at the Linda Vista station in Pasadena formally introduced the PROTECT Frontline Alliance, a new nonprofit aimed at addressing what organizers described as persistent and underexamined health risks facing firefighters and other first responders. The initiative seeks to bridge gaps in research, policy, and access to care tied to long-term occupational exposure.

Firefighters, speakers said, operate in environments shaped not only by flames but by invisible hazards—benzene, heavy metals, and other toxic byproducts that accumulate over years of service. The result, according to federal data cited at the event, is a workforce facing elevated rates of cancer, respiratory illness, post-traumatic stress, and suicide risk.

Edgar Gonzalez, a founding member of the alliance,

Tuesday, May 5, 2026

Eaton Fire Lawsuits Against Edison Return to Court Today for Case Management Conference

Nearly 1,000 lawsuits against Southern California Edison over the deadly 2025 Eaton Fire return to Los Angeles Superior Court this morning as a judge manages pretrial proceedings ahead of a scheduled January 2027 trial.

The case management conference is set for 10 a.m. in Department 17 of the Spring Street Courthouse, 312 N. Spring St., Los Angeles, before Judge Laura A. Seigle.

Specific agenda items and motions scheduled for today’s hearing are not available in public sources.

The lead case, filed by Altadena resident Jeremy Gursey, anchors the consolidated litigation brought by homeowners, renters, businesses, wrongful death families and government entities.

The Jan. 7, 2025, Eaton Fire killed 19 people and destroyed more than 9,400 structures in Altadena during a 24-day conflagration that burned 14,021 acres before full containment Jan. 31, 2025.

The blaze ranks as the fifth deadliest and second most destructive wildfire in California history.

Plaintiffs allege that at approximately 6:18 p.m. on Jan.

Tuesday, May 5, 2026

At a Convention Center Filled with Faith Leaders, a Keynote on Rising After the Eaton Fire

Miguel A. Santana, head of the foundation that distributed $30 million in wildfire relief in its first month after the Eaton Fire, headlines the 53rd Annual Pasadena Mayor’s Interfaith Prayer Breakfast

When clergy, civic leaders and hundreds of residents gather at the Pasadena Convention Center early Thursday for the 53rd Annual Pasadena Mayor’s Interfaith Prayer Breakfast, the room will be carrying nearly a year and a half of grief, resilience and unfinished rebuilding. The theme — “Rising Together” — chose itself.

The breakfast runs Thursday, May 7 from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m., with doors opening at 6:45 a.m., at the Pasadena Convention Center, 300 E. Green St. The keynote speaker is Miguel A. Santana, president and CEO of the California Community Foundation. Santana’s foundation activated its wildfire recovery fund immediately after the Eaton Fire and distributed $30 million in its first month to nonprofits assisting fire survivors in Altadena and across the region. His career across public service, philanthropy and the nonprofit sector has focused on housing,

Tuesday, May 5, 2026

Tournament House Throws Open Its Doors — Free Public Tours Begin Thursday at the Wrigley Mansion

The Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association resumes its summer tradition with weekly Thursday afternoon tours of the historic Italian Renaissance mansion.

For most of the year, Tournament House on South Orange Grove Boulevard hums with closed-door work — Grand Marshal announcements, Rose Queen briefings, Rose Bowl Game logistics. On Thursday, May 7 at 2 p.m., the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association opens those doors to the public for the first of a summer’s worth of free guided tours of the historic Wrigley Mansion.

The 90-minute tours, led by volunteer members of the Tournament’s Heritage Committee, run every Thursday at 2 p.m. through Aug. 27 and take visitors through the residence that has served since 1958 as headquarters for the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game. The Italian Renaissance-style mansion was once the winter home of chewing gum magnate William Wrigley Jr. and his wife Ada, whose family donated the property to the city of Pasadena with the request that it become the Tournament’s permanent home.

Monday, May 4, 2026

A Mental Health Talk on the Quiet Epidemic of Social Isolation

Frances Kim of the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health visits San Marino on Wednesday afternoon to discuss isolation’s toll — and the small steps that can help

The body of research linking social isolation to higher risks of depression, cognitive decline, heart disease and even shortened lifespan has grown rapidly enough that the U.S. Surgeon General has called loneliness a public health crisis.

On Wednesday, May 6 at 1 p.m., Frances Kim of the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health will bring that conversation to the San Marino Community Center for a free hour-long talk on isolation and what to do about it.

The presentation runs from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. in MPR1 at the Community Center, 1800 Huntington Drive in San Marino. No registration is required. Kim will explore how isolation affects mental and physical health and offer practical ideas for staying connected and making the small daily changes that lead to a healthier and more productive life,

Monday, May 4, 2026

Help Filing Eaton Fire Paperwork: County Mental Health Brings One-on-One Sessions to Loma Alta Park This Week

The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health offers walk-in support all day at the Altadena Library satellite branch inside the recently rebuilt park

Sixteen months into the Eaton Fire recovery, the volume of paperwork falling on survivors has not eased: insurance claims under review, FEMA appeals, SCE Wildfire Recovery Compensation Program offers, contractor estimates, county debris programs and rebuild permits all crowded into the same kitchen tables.

On Saturday, May 9 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health will offer free one-on-one technical assistance with post-fire paperwork at the Altadena Library satellite branch inside Loma Alta Park.

No advance appointments are required for the Saturday sessions. Survivors can simply walk in. The location, Loma Alta Park, reopened last May as a so-called super park after sustaining damage in the fire, with a satellite Altadena Library, satellite senior center, mental health clinicians, after-school programming and youth employment hubs all built in as part of the park’s expanded role in the community’s recovery.

Monday, May 4, 2026

A $7 Cheeseburger Reopened Debate Over Bail in California. Here’s What the Supreme Court Found

By Nigel Duara, CALMATTERS

The California Supreme Court held Thursday that judges should take someone’s financial circumstances into account when setting bail, a ruling that gives courts some flexibility to jail indigent defendants before trial.

The case turned on a $7 cheeseburger purchased with another person’s credit card. The person charged with theft spent six months in jail on a bail he couldn’t afford.

While his case was resolved long ago, the court decided to take up the constitutional questions arising from his incarceration and inability to pay his way out.

Two articles in the California Constitution were potentially in conflict: a defendant’s right to be released on bail except for certain violent or sexual crimes, and a separate article created by the 2008 ballot measure that instructs judges that “public safety and the safety of the victim shall be the primary considerations” in setting bail amounts. The question before the high court was whether they could harmonize.