Wednesday, July 15, 2026

Youth Campers to Stage ‘Schoolhouse Rock Live! JR.’ in South Pasadena This Weekend

A cast of summer campers will present four performances of Schoolhouse Rock Live! JR. at the Fremont Centre Theatre on July 18 and 19, closing a two-week session of Young Stars Theatre Academy’s summer camp.

The show is the culminating production of the academy’s first summer session, a program in which participants ages 6 to 18 rehearse and stage a full musical over two weeks, according to Young Stars Theatre Academy. The nonprofit youth theatre company is based in South Pasadena and has drawn campers from families across the San Gabriel Valley, according to The South Pasadenan. The session runs Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., from July 6 to July 19, and every camper appears in the closing weekend, the academy says. The four performances are divided between two shows Saturday and two Sunday.

Schoolhouse Rock Live! JR. is a junior stage adaptation of the 1970s animated series Schoolhouse Rock!, which aired on ABC beginning in January 1973 and taught grammar,

Wednesday, July 15, 2026

LA County Property Values Top $2.2 Trillion Despite Wildfires

Los Angeles County’s total assessed property value surpassed $2.2 trillion this year despite the economic fallout from the wildfires in Pacific Palisades and Altadena and a slowing real estate market, Assessor Jeff Prang announced Tuesday.

The county’s 2026 Assessment Roll reached a record $2.272 trillion in net taxable value, an increase of $96 billion, or 4.42%, over the previous year and marking the 16th consecutive year of growth, according to Prang.

The increase is expected to generate more than $27 billion in property tax revenue to support public schools, public safety, health care, libraries, parks and other local government services throughout Los Angeles County.

“When I presented the forecast to the Board of Supervisors in May, I emphasized 2025-26 was a challenging year, and the impact of January’s devastating wildfires will be felt for years to come,” Prang said in a statement. “Even so, Los Angeles County’s economy continues to demonstrate remarkable resilience. Not only did we maintain value growth, we exceeded our May forecast of 3.9%,

Wednesday, July 15, 2026

Altadena Rotary’s Free Summer Concerts Return to Fire-Renovated Loma Alta Park

A seven-Saturday series opens July 11 at the first of Altadena’s county parks to reopen after the Eaton Fire

The Rotary Club of Altadena will open its 29th season of free Saturday-night concerts on July 11 at Loma Alta Park, which the county has called the first of Altadena’s county parks to reopen after the Eaton Fire.

The seven-Saturday series, staged in partnership with the county Department of Parks and Recreation, runs through Aug. 22 on the lower lawn of Loma Alta Park, 3330 N. Lincoln Ave. It is the second summer the concerts have been held there. The Rotary Club moved them to Loma Alta after the January 2025 fire damaged Farnsworth Park, the series’ previous home, according to LA County Parks.

Loma Alta Park closed after the fire and reopened May 17, 2025, following a $3.4 million renovation, the county Department of Parks and Recreation said. The rebuild added two Dodgers Dreamfields, a gymnasium renovated by the LA Clippers Foundation,

Tuesday, July 14, 2026

Sheriff’s Department to Detail Its Military Equipment July 22

A July 22 virtual meeting will present the agency’s annual report on drones, surveillance technology and other equipment, and take questions from the public

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the agency that patrols Altadena and the surrounding unincorporated foothill communities, will present its annual accounting of the military equipment it owns and how that equipment is used at a public virtual meeting on Wednesday, July 22.

The one-hour session, required under a California transparency law, gives residents of Altadena, Northeast Pasadena and the other areas the department serves a chance to review the equipment the state classifies as military — including drones, specialized munitions and a cellular surveillance device — along with what each item costs and how often it is deployed. Attendees can ask questions and engage directly with department representatives, according to the department.

The meeting runs from 5 to 6 p.m. and will be held online. The department is presenting its Annual Military Equipment Report, a document it is required to publish each year for the preceding calendar year,

Tuesday, July 14, 2026

Free Dental Van Parks at Pasadena Library for Children Through Aug. 7

A USC mobile clinic offers screenings, cleanings and sealants to kids ages 5 to 18, by appointment, as part of the library’s summer meals program

A free mobile dental clinic has been set up at the Jefferson Branch Library, where licensed dental professionals and USC dental students are treating children ages 5 to 18 through Aug. 7.

The clinic, run by the Pasadena nonprofit Young & Healthy in partnership with the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC and the Pasadena Public Library, provides free screenings, cleanings and sealants. It operates Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and runs alongside the library’s Lunch at the Library summer program. The clinic is open to all children ages 5 to 18, according to Young & Healthy. Appointments are required.

The van does more than clean teeth. Screenings are used to identify children who need further care, who can then be enrolled in Young & Healthy’s ongoing dental clinics.

“The whole intent is to make sure that no child is getting missed in terms of their dental care,”

Tuesday, July 14, 2026

CalPERS Just Had One of its Best Years in a Decade. Why it Matters to Taxpayers

By Adam Ashton, CALMATTERS

California’s largest public pension fund just had a banner year, riding a soaring stock market to record its second consecutive double-digit annual investment return.

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System announced Monday that it gained 14.8% on its investment portfolio in the 2025-26 financial year, more than doubling its target of 6.8%.

CalPERS Chief Executive Officer Marcie Frost in remarks to the board described the return as the fund’s best year since 2014, excluding 2021 when markets rebounded from a crash caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

“Our team has maintained a disciplined approach to building the health of the pension system, and our improved funded status shows this effort is paying off for our 2.4 million members,” she said in a written statement.

CalPERS finished the budget year with a portfolio valued at $637.1 billion — about $80 billion more than a year ago.

The investment return is an important number to California government agencies because they have to cough up more money to cover losses when CalPERS comes up short.

Tuesday, July 14, 2026

A Performer Who Toured as ‘Agnetha’ Headlines a Free ABBA Night in San Gabriel

The Swedes, a Los Angeles–based group of Swedish musicians, play the Mission Playhouse’s outdoor summer series a short drive from Pasadena

Before she fronted an ABBA tribute band in Los Angeles, Linda Frithiof spent years on stage as “Agnetha,” touring alongside the musicians who once recorded and performed with the Swedish supergroup itself.

On Thursday, July 23, Frithiof and her band, The Swedes, bring that pedigree to Playhouse Plaza at the San Gabriel Mission Playhouse for a free outdoor concert of ABBA songs, from “Dancing Queen” to “Mamma Mia.”

The 7:00 p.m. show sits a short drive south of Pasadena, through neighboring San Marino, putting a widely recognized pop songbook within easy reach of Pasadena and Altadena audiences. Pasadena is the cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley, and San Gabriel is a neighboring Valley city just beyond San Marino.

The concert is one stop on the city’s Summer in San Gabriel series, a run of free outdoor concerts and movies staged across the city through the summer.

Tuesday, July 14, 2026

Tongva Artist’s Water-Themed Installation Runs Through 2029 at the Huntington

A site-specific work traces regional freshwater springs through photography, ceramics and Tongva poetry

A large-scale installation by Tongva artist Mercedes Dorame examining the region’s historic freshwater springs opened March 22, 2026, at the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, where it will remain on view through March 2029.

“Deliquescence: Sites of Transformation” grew out of Dorame’s 2023-24 residency at the Huntington and combines her own photographs of the Southern California landscape with historical images of regional springs, alongside sculpture, painting, ceramics and a soundscape of Tongva poetry, according to the museum.

Dorame is a member of the Gabrielino Tongva Indians of California and served as the Huntington’s 2023-24 artist-in-residence. The installation’s title refers to a process in which a substance absorbs atmospheric moisture until it dissolves into a new solution, according to Huntington.

The work opened as part of a broader reinstallation of the museum’s Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American Art, alongside two other new presentations: Laura Aguilar’s “Body and Landscape”

Tuesday, July 14, 2026

LA County Officials Urge Mosquito Precautions After First Human West Nile Case

CITY NEWS SERVICE

Los Angeles County health officials were urging residents Tuesday to take precautions against mosquitoes after confirming the county’s first human case of West Nile virus this year.

The Antelope Valley resident was hospitalized after developing West Nile virus encephalitis following the onset of symptoms in late June, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

“The first human cases of West Nile virus are an important reminder that we all need to take steps to prevent mosquito bites and mosquito breeding,” Los Angeles County Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis said in a statement. “Mosquitoes thrive in hot weather, increasing the risk of bites and mosquito-borne diseases.”

Davis urged residents to use insect repellent, eliminate standing water around homes where mosquitoes can breed and ensure window and door screens are properly installed and maintained.

Officials also encouraged residents to report neglected swimming pools that could serve as mosquito breeding grounds and to notify authorities when dead birds are found,

Monday, July 13, 2026

Langham to Pay $320,000 to the District Attorney’s Office, County Counsel to Settle Price Gouging Lawsuit

Langham Hotels Pacific Corporation must additionally pay at least $216,795 in restitution to eligible Pasadena hotel guests for illegal overcharges

Langham Hotels Pacific Corporation will pay $320,000 to settle a consumer protection civil lawsuit brought by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and Los Angeles County Counsel’s Office alleging the company price gouged wildfire victims and other guests who stayed at its Pasadena hotel during the January 2025 wildfires and resulting state of emergency.

“It is reprehensible to overcharge and take advantage of wildfire victims who were in desperate need of housing as they fled their homes from raging fires last year,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said.

“During a time when our community was meant to come together to help those in need, Langham Hotels Pacific Corporation profited from other people’s tragedies. Since the devastating fires, my office has been working closely with our law enforcement and consumer agency partners to combat price gouging, looting,