Sunday, June 28, 2026

Altadena Homeowners to Showcase Eaton Fire Rebuilding Progress on Nonprofit-Led Recovery Tour Monday

Neighborhood Housing Services of Los Angeles County and partner organizations will lead a guided “Rebuilding & Recovery Tour” in Altadena on Monday, June 29, showcasing the progress of residents rebuilding homes lost in the January Eaton Fire.

The tour, timed to National Homeownership Month, comes as rebuilding in Altadena remains slow more than a year after the fire and as community organizations work to keep longtime residents — many of them underinsured or displaced — from being pushed out.

Organizers say the event is meant to spotlight equitable pathways to recovery in a historically diverse community where Black families have deep roots.

NHS, the Southern California chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (SoCal NOMA), and the Restore the Legacy LA (RLA) Coalition are hosting the tour, which runs from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and begins at the property of Roosevelt Pullem at 2840 Highview Avenue, according to an announcement from NHS.

A press conference is scheduled for 10 a.m.

Sunday, June 28, 2026

After 500 Books for Others, an Altadena Editor Writes Her Own

Marisa Solis and co-author Elizabeth Dougherty bring their guide for first-time authors to Vroman’s on July 14.

For 28 years, Marisa Solis helped other people sound like authors. After editing more than 500 books across every nonfiction genre, the Altadena resident decided to become one herself. On Tuesday, July 14, Solis and her co-author, Elizabeth Dougherty, read from and sign their new book at Vroman’s Bookstore, beginning at 7 p.m.

The book, “The Complete Expert-to-Author Guide: Plan, Write, and Publish Your Nonfiction Book,” is exactly what its title promises — a step-by-step road map for experts who want to turn their knowledge into a published book. Solis and Dougherty, longtime developmental editors and book coaches who cofounded the editorial company Book Structure Pros, wrote it after a planned writing workshop fell through, channeling the disappointment into a guide that collects the advice they had spent years giving clients. Kirkus Reviews called it “a smart and stylish guide to writing and publishing a nonfiction book.”

There is a neat symmetry to the project: two veteran editors,

Sunday, June 28, 2026

Rapid Transit Line Construction Shifts Pasadena Bus Stops Along Lake, Colorado and Hill

Construction on Metro’s North Hollywood-to-Pasadena Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line is closing and relocating Pasadena Transit bus stops along Lake Avenue, Colorado Boulevard and Hill Avenue through the summer and into the fall, the City of Pasadena’s Pasadena Transit division said.

The stop changes accompany the first wave of station construction in Pasadena for the 19-mile, 22-station regional line, which broke ground in the city in April and is scheduled to open ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games.

For riders, the immediate effect is a string of closed and shifted stops near two of the city’s busiest corridors.

The Route 10 stop at the northwest corner of Lake Avenue and Colorado Boulevard is closed through July 3, with riders directed to the westbound stop at Colorado and Oak Knoll or the northbound stop at Lake and Green, according to Pasadena Transit.

Work at that intersection began the week of April 20 and is expected to run about three months, with crews starting on the northwest side before shifting to the northeast corner;

Saturday, June 27, 2026

Altadena Groups to Gather in Support of SB 1090 Ahead of July 1 Assembly Hearing

A coalition of Altadena community organizations, fire survivors and local officials plans to gather Monday at a fire-destroyed property to voice support for Senate Bill 1090, the “Keep Altadena Land in Altadena Hands” Act, days before a California Assembly committee is scheduled to take up the measure, according to the community group Beautiful Altadena.

The press 9 a.m. conference is intended to show what organizers describe as broad community support for the bill ahead of an Assembly hearing scheduled for Wednesday, July 1. SB 1090, authored by state Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez (D-Pasadena), would place a moratorium within Altadena on two state housing-density laws — SB 9 and SB 1123 — as the unincorporated community continues to rebuild from the January 2025 Eaton Fire.

SB 9, signed in 2021, allows owners in single-family neighborhoods to split lots and build duplexes, while SB 1123, which took effect in July 2025, permits the construction of up to 10 homes on qualifying vacant single-family-zoned lots.

An earlier version of SB 1090 focused on barring large investors — defined as those owning 75 or more single-family properties — from making unsolicited offers to buy property in declared wildfire disaster areas.

Saturday, June 27, 2026

Pasadena Humane Advises Owners to Prepare Pets for Fireworks

CITY NEWS SERVICE

With Fourth of July celebrations approaching, Pasadena Humane Saturday was urging pet owners to take steps to help keep their animals safe.

The organization said many pets become frightened by fireworks and run away, leading to a spike in lost animals around the Independence Day holiday.

Pasadena Humane advised owners not to bring pets to fireworks displays and instead keep them indoors in a secure, quiet room with familiar bedding, blankets and toys.

The organization also recommends walking dogs before fireworks begin, providing distractions such as puzzle toys or calming music, and considering veterinarian-approved calming aids for anxious animals.

Pet owners whose animals experience severe anxiety should consult a veterinarian before the holiday about possible treatment options, according to Pasadena Humane.

The shelter also urged owners to make sure pets wear collars with current identification tags and that microchip registration information is up to date to improve the chances of being reunited quickly if an animal becomes lost.

Saturday, June 27, 2026

FoodieLand Returns to the Rose Bowl, Trading Fireworks for Drones

A three-day food festival anchors a Fourth of July weekend at the edge of Altadena, with $12 admission and a July 4 aerial show

FoodieLand, the traveling multicultural food festival, returns to the Rose Bowl Stadium from July 3 to 5, bringing more than 200 food, drink, and artisan vendors to the Pasadena landmark for Fourth of July weekend, according to the organizer’s listings.

The festival gives Pasadena and Altadena residents a ticketed holiday option at a venue that sits in the Arroyo Seco at the edge of Altadena, a community devastated by the January 2025 Eaton Fire. Among its featured elements is a synchronized drone show set for Saturday, July 4, which Visit Pasadena describes as a special Independence Day program for attendees.

FoodieLand opens Friday from 3 to 10 p.m. and runs from 1 to 10 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday at Rose Bowl Stadium, 1001 Rose Bowl Drive, the organizer’s site states. General admission is $12 for a single-day ticket,

Friday, June 26, 2026

Guest Opinion | Calmatters’ Dan Walters: Voters in Deep Blue California are Souring on Ballot Measures that Add New Taxes

By Dan Walters, CALMATTERS

California is a blue state, and one of the manifestations of its political orientation has been a tolerance for one of the nation’s highest levels of taxation.

The state’s tax rates on retail sales and personal and corporate incomes are among the highest of any state. Although tax rates on real estate are relatively moderate, high property values still translate into high bills for their owners.

Specific taxes, such as those on fuel, utilities, cigarettes, liquor, medical care, gambling, guns and ammunition, contribute even more. Overall, state and local governments and school districts collect around $400 billion in taxes every year, more than $10,000 per Californian, according to the Tax Foundation. That’s the fifth-highest per capita burden nationwide.

The state budget now being hammered out behind closed doors contains a raft of relatively minor taxes, such as a new one on managed health care services, and another on software.

Meanwhile,

Friday, June 26, 2026

School District “Transformation” Resolution Gets Green Light

[Editor: An earlier version of this article misstated the given name of a student board member. It has been corrected. We offer a sincere apology to Kathryn Bleeker.]

[Updated]   The Board of Education on Thursday approved a resolution setting an Aug. 13 study session on “district transformation” — a process critics called out as campus consolidation under another name.

The board adopted Resolution No. 2894 (Revised), which rescinds the district’s earlier “optimal school size” framework, Resolution 2852, and directs staff to assemble enrollment, capacity and demographic data for the August session, where trustees will decide how to move forward.

The measure passed over the “no” votes of trustees Jennifer Hall Lee, Patrice Marshall McKenzie and Michelle Richardson Bailey, three of the board’s seven members.

It also passed over an advisory no vote cast by student board member Kathryn Bleeker, who said the student assembly was unanimous in its opposition.

The three dissenting trustees opposed the resolution on overlapping grounds: that it moved to a vote before the board had repaired what several called a broken public trust,

Friday, June 26, 2026

Supreme Court Ruling Deals Major Blow to Roundup Cancer Lawsuits

By ANDRÈ COLEMAN, Managing Editor

Cancer patients seeking to sue a pesticide company whose product may be linked to cancer suffered a major setback when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled this week that federal law shields manufacturers from certain state failure-to-warn claims involving Roundup weed killer.

In a 7-2 ruling, the court held that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act preempts state-law failure-to-warn claims seeking to require cancer warnings on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-approved Roundup labels, handing Monsanto parent company Bayer a significant legal victory.

The city of Pasadena stopped using Roundup on city property in 2018.

The following year, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors banned its use after it was discovered the herbicide had been sprayed near a heliport in unincorporated Pasadena.

Roundup also was used during sediment removal work at Devil’s Gate Dam before county officials discontinued its use.

In 2019, Caltech prohibited the use of glyphosate-based herbicides at its student housing facilities after a landscaper applied a generic version of the chemical in playground and courtyard areas.

Friday, June 26, 2026

California Sets Aside June 26 as ‘I Love SGV Day,’ and It Names Pasadena and Altadena

A Senate resolution keyed to the 626 area code recognizes the San Gabriel Valley, with a Pasadena senator among its coauthors

The number on the calendar is also the number locals dial. On June 26 — 6/26 — California is recognizing the place that made the 626 area code a point of pride.

The state Senate has designated the date “I Love SGV Day,” a statewide nod to the San Gabriel Valley.

The resolution names a region of 31 cities and unincorporated communities — among them Pasadena, the valley’s largest city, and Altadena, the unincorporated community rebuilding from the January 2026 Eaton Fire.

One of the measure’s coauthors, State Senator Sasha Renée Pérez, represents Altadena and Pasadena from a district office at 215 North Marengo Avenue, Suite 380.

The measure, Senate Concurrent Resolution 189, was authored by State Senator Susan Rubio, a West Covina Democrat who chairs the San Gabriel Valley Legislative Caucus. It encourages Californians to mark the day by celebrating the region’s contributions to the state.