Thursday, March 5, 2026

Pasadena Unified Opens Community Survey on School Closures as District Faces $30 Million Deficit

The 15-question form, part of a consolidation process heading toward a June board vote, asks respondents to weigh closures

The Pasadena Unified School District on Tuesday opened a community survey asking parents, staff and residents how open they are to consolidating or closing schools, the latest step in a process that could result in the Board of Education voting to shutter campuses on June 25.

The survey, sent by Superintendent Elizabeth Blanco on March 3, arrives less than a week after the board unanimously voted to approve preliminary layoff notices affecting 161.35 full-time equivalent certificated positions and scores of classified positions — and amid a fiscal crisis driven by years of declining enrollment and a structural budget deficit exceeding $30 million.

“As we plan for the district’s long-term future, your voice is essential,” Blanco wrote in a message accompanying the survey. “The decisions ahead involve balancing programs, facilities, and financial sustainability to best serve our students.”

The survey can be accessed by clicking here.

Thursday, March 5, 2026

Nineteen Pasadena Venues Open Free Friday for ArtNight’s Asian Arts Showcase

The biannual citywide cultural open house features Japanese basketry, taiko drumming, and a pan-Asian mythology exhibition among its broadest lineup

Nineteen cultural institutions across Pasadena will swing open their doors Friday evening for ArtNight Pasadena, offering four hours of free admission to an eclectic program that threads Japanese bamboo art, taiko drumming, and pan-Asian mythology through a lineup spanning jazz, student exhibitions, and community mural-making.

The spring 2026 edition of the city’s signature biannual open house, scheduled for March 13 from 6 to 10 p.m., connects museums, galleries, and neighborhood arts centers on four free shuttle routes. Several of this season’s exhibitions anchor the evening’s prominent Asian arts programming — an emphasis the City of Pasadena’s press release frames around the Year of the Horse celebration.

At the Gamble House, visitors will walk through “From Strand to Sculpture: Contemporary Japanese Basketry,” an exhibition of bamboo art on loan from the collections of Carl and Marilynn Thoma and the Thoma Foundation.

Thursday, March 5, 2026

Economic Uncertainty Deepens as Iran Conflict and Tariffs Pressure Housing

By EDDIE RIVERA

Rising mortgage rates and geopolitical tensions cloud outlook for California real estate

Renewed geopolitical tensions involving Iran, along with persistent and confusing tariff-related issues, all from the current administration, are injecting fresh volatility into financial markets and threatening to slow the U.S. economy, economists say—developments already rippling through the housing sector as mortgage rates climb again.

Mortgage rates have moved back above 6% in early March after briefly dipping below that level in late February, a shift tied to rising Treasury yields, as investors look at inflation risks linked to both global energy markets and trade policy. That movement has now interrupted a modest improvement in housing affordability earlier this year.

“The housing market remains extremely sensitive to mortgage-rate swings,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors. “Even a small increase in rates can sideline potential buyers, particularly in high-cost states like California.”

The rate volatility arrives as financial markets digest the potential economic consequences of a widening Middle East conflict.

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Leadership Pasadena Cohort Collects Recipes Lost in the Eaton Fire for Community Cookbook

The 2026 class invites residents to submit dishes and reflections for a printed volume honoring the area’s food culture

A group of community leaders enrolled in Leadership Pasadena’s 2026 program is asking Eaton Fire survivors to share recipes and short personal stories for a community cookbook that the cohort plans to print and distribute for free to contributors.

The project is one of the community impact efforts undertaken by this year’s Leadership Pasadena cohort, a class of local professionals who complete civic service projects as part of the six-month leadership program. The cohort is inviting residents to submit a meaningful dish along with a brief reflection about what the recipe represents, according to the group.

Among the losses during the Eaton Fire were personal belongings that no insurance check can replace — including handwritten recipe cards, annotated cookbooks and the culinary records families had built over generations.

The cohort says many neighbors lost those recipe collections in the fire. The organizers say the cookbook project is intended to rebuild a shared record of the region’s food traditions while giving contributors a way to tell their own stories through the dishes they prepare.

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Four Men Accused of Looting Altadena Home During Eaton Fire Face Pretrial Hearing

Defendants charged with stealing property, including an Emmy Award, from an evacuated residence are due in Pasadena Courthouse on Wednesday

Four men charged with burglarizing an evacuated Altadena home during the Eaton Fire are scheduled to appear Wednesday for a pretrial hearing at Pasadena Courthouse, nearly 14 months after the alleged crime.

Roy Sims, Ryan Sims, Naquan Dewey Reddix, and Pierie Obannon face one count each of first-degree residential burglary in Case 25PDCF00019, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. The hearing is set for 8:30 a.m. in Department B of the Pasadena Courthouse, 300 E. Walnut St.

Prosecutors allege the four men entered a home in Altadena at approximately 5 p.m. on January 8, 2025, while the area was under mandatory evacuation during the Eaton Fire, and stole property, including an Emmy Award belonging to the resident. The Emmy Award was later recovered by law enforcement.

The defendants were arrested on January 8, 2025, and charged two days later.

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Ten Conductors Lead PUSD Students in Annual Instrumental Music Festival

Bands and orchestras from middle and high schools across Pasadena, Altadena, and Sierra Madre perform together Wednesday at Pasadena High School

Ten conductors will lead bands and orchestras from across the Pasadena Unified School District in the annual All District Secondary Instrumental Music Festival on Wednesday at the Pasadena High School Auditorium.

The concert brings together student musicians from PUSD’s middle and high schools — spanning Pasadena, Altadena, and Sierra Madre — for a single evening of band and orchestral performance. The festival begins at 6 p.m. at the auditorium, 2925 E. Sierra Madre Blvd.

The festival is directed by PUSD faculty, who also serve as the conductors. Student musicians from each school are invited to perform together, with participation geared toward those playing at an intermediate level or higher, according to the PUSD Arts Education department.

PUSD’s instrumental music program begins with whole-class violin instruction in third grade, with band and orchestra options in fourth and fifth grades.

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Pasadena Unified Brings City, County and Community Groups Together for Summer Programs Fair

The district’s third annual event gives families one-stop access to summer resources tonight at John Muir High School

Pasadena Unified School District will host representatives from the County of Los Angeles, the City of Pasadena and local community organizations tonight at its third annual Summer Programs Resource Fair, according to the district.

The fair, scheduled from 6 to 7 p.m. at John Muir High School, 1905 N. Lincoln Ave., is designed to give families and caregivers a single stop to learn about summer programs and resources across multiple agencies, according to PUSD.

Representatives from each agency will be available to answer questions about their summer offerings, the district said. Adults can ask about ways to support summer learning, while students can explore enrichment opportunities.

PUSD’s Family and Community Engagement team, known as FACE, will also be at the fair. The district said families can connect with the FACE team for ongoing support, upcoming events and parent education opportunities available throughout the school year.

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Supervisors Fund ADU Grants for Altadena Fire Survivors

The $3.8 million program will help 35 to 50 homeowners build backyard homes on Eaton Fire-impacted lots — a fraction of the more than 9,000 structures destroyed

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved $3.8 million in state grant funding to help homeowners in the Eaton Fire burn zone build accessory dwelling units on their properties, giving a limited number of Altadena households a new tool for recovery more than 14 months after the fire leveled their community.

The program will provide direct grants to between 35 and 50 qualifying homeowners in unincorporated areas, with priority given to properties within the Eaton Fire perimeter, according to a statement from Supervisor Kathryn Barger’s office.

San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity will serve as the implementing partner. 

The money comes from the state’s Regional Early Action Planning 2.0 grant program and requires no county taxpayer funding, according to Barger’s statement. It will cover both homeowner grants and limited administrative costs.

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

They Laid Carpet and Called It Home

By THERESE EDU

Masjid Al-Taqwa’s congregation observes its second Ramadan without a permanent mosque, in a Pasadena church space they have made their own

On the third night of Ramadan, the congregation of Masjid Al-Taqwa broke its fast in a leased space where members had laid carpet and done their own construction. Board member Kameelah Wilkerson does not call the space borrowed. 

“We don’t like to think of it as a borrowed space because we’ve taken ‘ownership’ of the space,” Wilkerson said. “We have done construction to the space, we’ve laid carpet in the space. We have really made the space our own. It is leased space. We have made it our home.”

The congregation’s mosque, at 2183 Lake Avenue in Altadena, burned in the Eaton Fire; all that remained was a sign bearing its name.

This Ramadan — their second without a permanent mosque — the congregation has leased a prayer space from Pasadena Covenant Church and a second space across the street for nightly iftars,

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Schiff Bill Would Block Big Investors From Buying in Disaster Zones, but Eaton Fire Properties Are Not Covered

The proposed federal law targets only future disasters — while corporate purchases continue reshaping the fire-ravaged community

U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff introduced federal legislation this week that would temporarily bar large institutional investors from making offers to purchase property in disaster areas, a response to corporate land buying that has reshaped Altadena in the 14 months since the Eaton Fire. But the bill would not apply to properies impacted by the Altadena or Pacific Palisades. wildfires of 2025.

The measure, S.3961, would prohibit investors who own 75 or more single-family homes from making offers on any property in a federally declared major-disaster area for six months after the declaration, according to the bill text filed March 2. Schiff is pushing to include the bill in a bipartisan housing package under consideration by Congress, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

Because of its timeline, the law apparently would apply only to future disasters — not to the January 2025 Los Angeles County firestorms that destroyed thousands of homes in Altadena.