Thursday, April 30, 2026

California Housing Shows Strain as Global Tensions, Policy Uncertainty Weigh on Outlook

By EDDIE RIVERA

Modest gains in affordability mask persistent gaps, cooling profits and shifting buyer demographics

California’s housing market is showing tentative signs of stabilization, but a volatile mix of geopolitical strain and erratic domestic policies continue to weigh on the broader economic landscape, according to new data from the California Association of Realtors.

The report paints a picture of modest improvement under pressure. Housing affordability ticked up slightly in 2025, aided by a pullback in mortgage rates from their late-March peak. Yet the gains remain marginal and uneven, with affordability still out of reach for most households. Just 23% of White non-Hispanic households could afford a median-priced home, up from 22% a year earlier, while affordability stood at 29% for Asian households and only 11% for both Hispanic/Latino and Black households.

Those disparities persist even as borrowing costs ease, underscoring the structural imbalance between incomes and home prices. Home values have continued to edge higher,

Thursday, April 30, 2026

Warning Issued for Recreationally Harvested Mussels from California Coast

CITY NEWS SERVICE

The California Department of Public Health issued a quarantine order Wednesday warning that mussels gathered by recreational harvesters from California’s ocean shore should not be consumed by humans for the next six months.

The quarantine area extends from the Oregon border to the Mexican border, including all bays, inlets and harbors in Los Angeles County. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health conducts daily syndromic surveillance to identify cases of illness due to ingestion of mussels and other bivalent shellfish and works with the state by collecting shellfish for testing.

During the quarantine season, mussels may concentrate naturally occurring toxins that are highly poisonous to humans including paralytic shellfish poison and domoic acid biotoxins in bivalve shellfish, including mussels, clams, oysters and scallops.

Shellfish toxin levels do not have predictable cycles and can increase rapidly. Prevention of human illnesses requires the annual quarantine, combined with year-round surveillance, public education, shellfish advisories and commercial closures as needed.

Thursday, April 30, 2026

Last Eaton Fire Shelter Animal Adopted From Pasadena Humane

CITY NEWS SERVICE

The last animal taken in by Pasadena Humane following the Eaton Fire was in a new home Thursday after being adopted, marking a milestone in the shelter’s recovery efforts.

The dog, a German Shepherd named Artemis, had originally been brought to the shelter for emergency boarding after his family lost their home in the fire, officials said. Although they had hoped to reunite with him, they ultimately surrendered the animal due to long-term impacts from the disaster.

“Today, we’re celebrating something truly meaningful: every animal who came into our care during the Eaton Fire is now home,” shelter officials said in a statement.

Some animals were returned to their original families, while others were adopted into new homes, reflecting what officials described as resilience and recovery in the aftermath of the fire.

Pasadena Humane cared for more than 1,500 pets and wildlife during and after the fire, providing shelter, medical treatment and emergency support, while also working to reunite animals with their owners.

Thursday, April 30, 2026

Whooping Cough Outbreak Reported at Pasadena Elementary School

CITY NEWS SERVICE

The Pasadena Public Health Department is investigating four confirmed cases at Don Benito Fundamental School

The Pasadena Public Health Department announced Wednesday it is investigating an outbreak of whooping cough involving four confirmed cases at Don Benito Fundamental School.

The department is working with the Pasadena Unified School District and others to monitor for any additional infections and to guide response efforts, according to a statement from the Pasadena city manager’s office.

Health officials have notified close contacts and provided instructions for testing, treatment when appropriate, and staying home if symptoms develop, the statement said.

The city manager’s office said whooping cough, or pertussis activity, has been elevated in the community, and health officials are urging residents to ensure they are up to date on their vaccinations.

Health department officials recommend that anyone who develops a persistent cough or other respiratory symptoms contact a health care provider and that people remain home when ill to reduce transmission.

Thursday, April 30, 2026

Pasadena Urges Mpox Precautions as Cases Rise

CITY NEWS SERVICE

The Pasadena Public Health Department Wednesday urged residents to take precautions against mpox and consider vaccination as cases increase in California.

Health officials said vaccination remains the best protection against severe illness, particularly for individuals at higher risk of exposure.

Mpox, a viral disease, is currently circulating in two strains, known as clade I and clade II. Clade I cases are typically linked to international travel, while clade II has been spreading at low levels in California since 2022, primarily through close physical contact.

A recent clade I case was confirmed in San Francisco involving an unvaccinated individual with travel-related exposure, while statewide data show a rise in clade II infections, officials said.

“With summer travel and large events approaching, now is the ideal time to protect yourself if you or your sex partner may be at risk for mpox,” Pasadena Health Officer Dr. Parveen Kaur said in a statement.

Health officials said the virus spreads through close contact with infected individuals,

Wednesday, April 29, 2026

Parents Blast PUSD School Closure Process at Final Town Hall

Parents at a Pasadena Unified School District town hall Tuesday sharply criticized the district’s school-closure process, arguing that ‘flawed data,’ a rushed timeline and the absence of the full school board have eroded trust as the district moves toward a June 25 vote.

During nearly an hour of public comment at Pasadena High School, speakers challenged the credibility of the School Consolidation Advisory Committee, the outside consultant guiding the work, and the board members who will decide whether to close schools. 

Parent Kate Nixa asked from the floor, “Board here? Is anyone from the board here?” noting the lack of the full board while thanking those who did attend.

Several parents targeted Total School Solutions and its representative, Joseph Pandolfo. TJ Teams, an 18-year PUSD parent, said he emailed Pandolfo about errors in public data and never received a response. Teams called the survey that launched the process “biased and irresponsibly written” and said committee members were given faulty data and only minutes to review it before voting.

Wednesday, April 29, 2026

Pasadena, Altadena Residents Eligible for $2,000 Electric Cargo Bike Vouchers

San Gabriel Valley agency announces $950,000 in new funding to put 475 families on two wheels

For the price of a used dishwasher, a Pasadena parent could haul two kids and a week’s worth of groceries up Colorado Boulevard — no gasoline required.

The San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments announced $950,000 in funding for a new round of its GoSGV E-Cargo Bike Voucher Program, which will provide 475 residents with $2,000 point-of-sale vouchers toward electric cargo bikes. Residents of Pasadena and Altadena are among those eligible to apply when spring 2026 pre-applications open, according to the agency.

Officials made the announcement at a news conference in San Dimas at 9:30 a.m., followed by an e-bike demonstration and tour, according to a SGVCOG news release.

Electric cargo bikes — two- or three-wheeled bicycles with pedal-assist motors and frames built to carry children, groceries, or heavy loads — typically cost between $3,000 and $6,000. The voucher covers a significant share of that cost and is applied directly at the point of sale through approved retailers.

Wednesday, April 29, 2026

U.S. House of Representatives Passes Bill to Shield Eaton Fire Settlements From Federal Taxes

Pasadena congresswoman calls the vote a victory for survivors still struggling to rebuild more than a year after the January 2025 blaze

Eaton Fire survivors who accept settlement payments from Southern California Edison would not owe federal income taxes on that money under a bill the U.S. House of Representatives passed Monday by voice vote.

The measure matters urgently in Pasadena and Altadena, where more than 9,400 structures were destroyed and 19 people killed when the Eaton Fire swept through foothill neighborhoods on January 7, 2025. A previous tax exemption on wildfire-related compensation expired December 31, 2025, leaving thousands of families uncertain whether settlement checks would shrink on arrival.

Rep. Judy Chu, a Pasadena Democrat who represents California’s 28th Congressional District and sits on the House Ways and Means Committee, called the vote “a major victory for natural disaster survivors nationwide, and especially for survivors of the Eaton Fire in my district,” according to a statement released by her office on April 28,

Wednesday, April 29, 2026

Pasadena Surgeon Honored by Supervisor Barger As Armenian History Month Draws to Close

“We honor the strength and resilience of the Armenian people, while celebrating leaders in our own communities whose work uplifts lives locally and across the globe,” Barger said

In 2015, Dr. Andre Panossian traveled to Haiti with a team of pediatric surgeons and helped perform what Partners in Health, the nonprofit that organized the trip, described as the country’s first conjoined twin separation.

That career — running from a practice steps from one of the region’s largest hospitals to surgical missions across multiple countries — is what Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger recognized Tuesday at the Board of Supervisors public hearing, presenting Panossian with a commemorative scroll of commendation as Armenian History Month drew to a close.

Panossian, a board-certified plastic surgeon whose practice at 39 Congress St. is affiliated with Huntington Hospital, has spent nearly two decades in Pasadena treating patients with facial paralysis, cleft lip and palate, and vascular birthmarks. According to a press release from Supervisor Barger’s office,

Wednesday, April 29, 2026

Guest Opinion | Liliana Coronado: The Future of PUSD Requires a Shared Vision

As a member of the Superintendent’s School Consolidation Advisory Committee and a parent in Pasadena Unified, I have spent the past several months reviewing data and participating in conversations about school closures. What has become clear is that we are being asked to make high-stakes decisions based on large volumes of raw information, much of it only recently analyzed, and on a compressed timeline. What we need instead is a true visioning process.

A visioning process brings together students, families, educators, and community members to define what we want for our schools and our children over the long term. It asks: What should a PUSD graduate know and be able to do? What kinds of schools do we want in our neighborhoods? How do we align resources to those goals? Districts like San Francisco and Long Beach have taken this approach—engaging their communities over time to build shared visions that then guide difficult decisions, which sometimes includes consolidation. Vision comes first. Decisions follow.

Pasadena Unified has already closed 11 schools,