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.

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

LA County Board Honors Slain Caltech Astrophysicist Who Worked in Pasadena for Nearly 30 Years

Supervisor Kathryn Barger adjourns Tuesday meeting in memory of Carl Grillmair, fatally shot at his Antelope Valley home in February

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday adjourned its meeting in honor of Carl Grillmair, a Caltech astronomer who spent nearly three decades at the institute’s Pasadena-based IPAC — Infrared Processing and Analysis Center — and was fatally shot last month at his Antelope Valley home. He was 67.

Fifth District Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents Pasadena, moved the March 3 adjournment in memory of Grillmair, whose research helped detect water in the atmosphere of a planet outside our solar system and who discovered dozens of previously unknown stellar streams in the Milky Way, according to Caltech.

“Dr. Carl Grillmair was a brilliant scientist and a proud member of our Antelope Valley community,” Barger said in a statement. “His life’s work expanded humanity’s understanding of the universe. Today, we pause to honor his extraordinary legacy and to extend our deepest condolences to his wife and all who loved him.”

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

LA County Supervisors Move to Challenge New SBA Rule Limiting Loans to U.S. Citizens

Los Angeles County supervisors voted Tuesday to pursue legal options challenging a new federal rule that would prevent lawful permanent residents — green card holders — from obtaining Small Business Administration-backed loans.

The Board of Supervisors approved a motion directing the county’s legal staff to explore litigation after the SBA announced the policy change.

Under the SBA policy change, businesses seeking SBA-backed loans must be 100 percent owned by U.S. citizens or U.S. nationals, which means businesses owned by lawful permanent residents are no longer eligible

The agency announced the rule Feb. 4 at the request of the Trump administration, according to the motion. The policy was scheduled to take effect March 1.

Supervisors said the rule reverses a longstanding practice under which both U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents — including green card holders — were allowed to apply for SBA-backed loans.

Supervisor Hilda L. Solis said the change could affect immigrant entrepreneurs who operate small businesses throughout the county.

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Altadena Already Covered as County Finalizes Expansion of Large-Vehicle Parking Ban

Altadena remains one of the unincorporated communities where Los Angeles County bars oversized vehicles from parking on public streets — a restriction that was not only affirmed but expanded to many more county areas following a final vote by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

The ordinance, approved Tuesday, expands the list of places where “nonconforming vehicles” — defined as those exceeding 8 feet in width, 7½ feet in height or 20 feet in length, such as RVs — cannot park on county roadways.

County law had already prohibited such parking in unincorporated areas in or near Ladera Heights, View Park/Windsor Hills, Altadena, Long Beach, South Whittier/East Whittier/East La Mirada, West Whittier/Los Nietos and Whittier. Such parking was also barred during overnight hours in Marina del Rey without a permit.

Under the extension approved Tuesday, the restriction will be expanded to unincorporated areas around Azusa/Charter Oak/Covina, Del Aire/Lennox, East Los Angeles, East Rancho Dominguez, El Camino Village, Florence-Firestone/Walnut Park, Hawthorne, Rancho Dominguez,

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

LA County Looks for Oversight of Homeless Services Funding

CITY NEWS SERVICE

Days after announcing a review of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s financial and operational practices due to what the county called “serious gaps” in oversight, the Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved a motion calling on the county to directly oversee payment of funds to contracted service providers.

According to the motion by Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, there are “significant balances of county funding still to be processed by LAHSA and distributed to providers contracted to perform county-funded programming through June 30, 2026.”

The motion directs county administrators to “develop and directly oversee” a plan to pay homeless-services providers until all county funds have been paid to the contracted agencies.

The county has already created its own Department of Homeless Services and Housing, pulling much of the funding it previously provided to LAHSA. Beginning with the 2026-27 fiscal year, the county will directly contract with service providers — rather than going through LAHSA — for most programs,

Tuesday, March 3, 2026

Pasadena Students Compete, Then Explore as Science Olympiad and Community Fest Share One Campus

JPL, Caltech and Carnegie Observatories among exhibitors at free Saturday event at John Muir High School

Hundreds of Pasadena Unified School District students will compete in hands-on science and engineering challenges Saturday morning at John Muir High School, and by noon the same campus will open to the broader community for a free festival featuring exhibits from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech, and Carnegie Observatories.

The two events — the PasadenaLEARNS 2026 Science Olympiad and the annual PUSD ScienceFest — share the John Muir Early College Magnet campus at 1905 N. Lincoln Ave. on March 7, filling it with science from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Science Olympiad, organized by the district’s PasadenaLEARNs expanded learning program, runs from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and brings together students in grades 2 through 8 for team-based competition. The ScienceFest, organized by the PUSD PTA Council, runs from noon to 4 p.m. and is open to everyone at no cost, according to the event’s website.

The ScienceFest draws on Pasadena’s concentration of research institutions,

Tuesday, March 3, 2026

UCLA Historian Keynotes African American Parent Council Event Honoring Six PUSD Black Educators in Altadena

The parent council’s “Black Educators Matter” gathering takes place tonight at the Eaton Fire Collaborative

The Pasadena Unified School District’s African American Parent Council tonight will honor six Black educators tonight at a gathering in Altadena featuring Robin D.G. Kelley, a UCLA Distinguished Professor whose scholarship on Black history and social movements has earned him a Guggenheim Fellowship and membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The Tuesday event, called “Black Educators Matter,” reflects the AAPC’s ongoing work to recognize the educators who serve Black students across the district. The AAPC, chartered by the PUSD Board of Education since 2010, has been a driving force behind the district’s equity initiatives, including Board Resolution 2566, adopted in 2020, which committed PUSD to addressing disparities affecting Black students. Kelley’s appearance brings a nationally prominent voice to a community-level celebration — one held at a venue that doubles as a recovery hub for families affected by the Eaton Fire.

The six honorees span the district’s schools and administrative offices.