Thursday, March 26, 2026

San Gabriel Valley Economy Grinds in ‘Neutral’ as Small Businesses Bear the Brunt, Forecast Finds

Cal Poly Pomona report identifies Pasadena as the region’s primary office market and forecasts Eaton Fire rebuilding will add construction jobs in 2026

The San Gabriel Valley’s economy is growing but barely moving forward, constrained by the highest levels of economic policy uncertainty on record and rising costs that are hitting small businesses harder than anyone else, according to a new forecast to be released Thursday.

The 2026 San Gabriel Valley Economic Forecast, co-authored by Cal Poly Pomona economists Anthony Orlando and Gerd Welke and produced in partnership with the San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership, describes the 31-city regional economy as “stuck in neutral” — avoiding recession but unable to gain speed. The report identifies Pasadena as the region’s primary office market and forecasts that Eaton Fire rebuilding in Altadena will generate more than 1,600 construction jobs this year, even as rent pressures near the fire zone persist.

The report was presented Thursday at the 2026 San Gabriel Valley Economic Forecast Summit at Diamond Bar Center.

Thursday, March 26, 2026

School Board to Consider Indoor Testing at Altadena Arts Magnet Before Students Return

The Eaton Fire spared the school, but wildfire smoke and ash concerns have kept it empty for 14 months

The Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education will consider tonight whether to approve a $33,226 contract for indoor environmental testing at Altadena Arts Magnet, the Altadena elementary school that survived the Eaton Fire but has sat unoccupied for more than 14 months while its students attend classes elsewhere.

The contract with Verdantas Inc., an environmental consulting firm, would fund testing for metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, asbestos, and wildfire-related particulate matter inside the school before students return to the campus in August, according to Board Report 1933-F. The school at 743 East Calaveras Street was not directly damaged by the fire but was surrounded by approximately 75 burned properties within 250 yards, the report states.

If approved, the testing would represent a step the district is taking voluntarily. No state or federal agency has established formal requirements for indoor environmental testing following urban wildfire events,

Thursday, March 26, 2026

PUSD Eyes Bond Refinancing That Could Save Taxpayers Up to $13.4 Million

Financial advisor presents two options for replacing higher-interest 2016 bonds at Thursday board meeting

The Pasadena Unified School District could save taxpayers between $11.6 million and $13.4 million by refinancing two bond series issued a decade ago, the district’s financial advisor will tell the Board of Education at its meeting Thursday.

Dale Scott & Company, the San Francisco-based municipal advisory firm that has served as PUSD’s financial consultant since 2019, is scheduled to present a debt management strategy outlining two refinancing alternatives for $150.26 million in outstanding principal on bonds first issued in May 2016.

The process — similar to a homeowner refinancing a mortgage at a lower rate — would replace older debt carrying an average interest rate of 3.89% with new bonds at estimated rates of 2.57% to 2.61%, according to the presentation.

If realized, the savings could reduce property tax levies for homeowners and businesses within the district, which spans Pasadena, Altadena, Sierra Madre, and unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County.

Thursday, March 26, 2026

California Governor’s Race Gets Weirder With Debate Cancellation, New Poll

By Dan Walters, CALMATTERS

Just when we thought the campaign for California’s governorship couldn’t get any weirder, it did.

A Tuesday night debate at the University of Southern California was cancelled late Monday amid allegations of racism because all the candidates invited to participate are white while the four Democrats who were left out are Latino, Black or Asian.

USC chose debaters on the basis of their standing in the polls or the amounts of money raised or being spent. It meant, for example, that San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan was included because of his heavy financial support from Silicon Valley, even though he is in the lower tier of candidates as measured by polling.

While the racial divide might have been a result of USC’s methodology, it is what political pros call “bad optics” for a party that embraces identification politics. Democratic leaders in the state Legislature had backed the four excluded candidates, saying in a letter,

Thursday, March 26, 2026

Pasadena Community Foundation Reports $83 Million Raised for Eaton Fire Recovery in 2025

Impact report details $24 million disbursed to more than 110 nonprofit partners and the first Altadena home rebuilds now underway

The Pasadena Community Foundation raised $83 million for Eaton Fire recovery in 2025 and disbursed $24 million to more than 110 nonprofit partners serving fire survivors across Altadena, Pasadena, and Sierra Madre, according to the foundation, which released its 2025 Impact Report this week.

The 32-page report documents the 73-year-old foundation’s response to the January wildfire, which killed 19 people and destroyed more than 9,000 structures—including over 6,000 homes and rental units—in what President and CEO Khanh Duy Russo described as a year that “called us to pivot and respond to a disaster of unprecedented scale.” Donations came from all 50 states, the foundation said.

PCF established its Eaton Fire Relief & Recovery Fund on the morning of January 8, as the fire continued burning. In April, the foundation created the Altadena Builds Back Foundation, a supporting organization focused on long-term residential rebuilding.

Thursday, March 26, 2026

Economic Warning Signs Mount as Housing, Inflation and Growth Falter After Year One

By EDDIE RIVERA

CAR report points to rising rates, slowing home sales, weaker investment returns and persistent inflation pressures

A convergence of troubling economic signals—from an unpopular war, to elevated interest rates, and stubborn inflation to weakening housing demand and declining investment returns—is casting a long shadow over the U.S. economy one year into the current administration, according to the latest report from the California Association of Realtors (CAR).

At the center of the concern is a familiar but unresolved tension: inflation remains stubborn enough to keep borrowing costs high, even as key sectors of the economy show signs of fatigue. The Federal Reserve’s recent decision to hold its benchmark rate steady reflects that bind. Policymakers, facing renewed inflation pressures tied in part to rising oil prices and geopolitical instability, have scaled back expectations for rate cuts and raised their 2026 inflation forecast to 2.7%, up from 2.4% .

Fed Chair Jerome Powell has signaled that while the labor market remains broadly balanced,

Thursday, March 26, 2026

Scientists Turn to Ecology To Rethink Eaton Fire Recovery

A free Pasadena library panel brings a county biologist, a prescribed burn advocate, and a Caltech researcher together to discuss what the burned landscape needs next

The Eaton Fire consumed more than 9,000 structures and 14,000 acres of the San Gabriel foothills. It also burned through one of Los Angeles County’s most ecologically sensitive habitats — and 15 months later, the canyon that gave the fire its name is still closed to the public, still raw, still recovering.

On April 4, a free panel at the Pasadena Public Library’s Hastings Branch will turn the conversation from what residents lost to what the land requires. The discussion, titled “Ecological Perspectives: On the Eaton Fire Recovery Process,” brings together a county biologist overseeing habitat restoration in Eaton Canyon, the founder of a fledgling prescribed burn association for Los Angeles County, and a Caltech graduate student with wildland firefighting experience to examine the fire through a scientific lens that official recovery efforts have rarely foregrounded.

The panel’s lineup connects directly to the ecological questions that the Eaton Fire raised.

Wednesday, March 25, 2026

Students Step Forward

By EDDIE RIVERA

Altadena children receive new shoes following Eaton Fire recovery efforts; community partners deliver comfort, confidence and support

More than a year after the devastating Eaton fire in January 2025 upended lives across Altadena, a simple but powerful gesture unfolded Friday morning at Odyssey Charter School: 505 students were fitted with brand-new athletic shoes, each pair a small step toward normalcy.

The March 20 event, held on campus, was made possible through a partnership between nonprofit Shoes That Fit and the Pasadena Community Foundation. For many families still navigating the financial and emotional aftermath of the wildfire, essentials like new shoes remain out of reach.

Organizers said the giveaway was designed not only to meet a practical need, but to restore confidence for children returning to classrooms shaped by disruption.

“One in seven children in the United States lives in a low-income family, and shoes are one of the most expensive items for families to provide,” said Amy Fass,

Wednesday, March 25, 2026

Free Breast Cancer Survivorship Program Opens Registration With April 14 Deadline

Pasadena-founded organization offers eight weeks of clinician-led support, exercise, and workshops at no cost

Registration is open through April 14 for a free, eight-week breast cancer survivorship program offered by Cancer Support Community Greater San Gabriel Valley in partnership with City of Hope, according to a press release from the organization.

The Spring 2026 “Return to Wellness” program, which runs April 21 through June 11 at CSC SGV’s Sierra Madre location, is designed for breast cancer survivors between six weeks and two years post-treatment.

The organization, founded in Pasadena in 1990 and based there for more than three decades before moving to Sierra Madre in 2023, describes the program as addressing the gap between the end of active treatment and long-term wellness. The session concludes with a celebration dinner hosted by The Langham Huntington, Pasadena.

Sessions meet Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., according to the press release. Tuesday programming includes a clinician-led support group and exercise and strength-training class.

Wednesday, March 25, 2026

Third No Kings March Expected to Bring Thousands to Colorado Boulevard on Saturday

Organizers say the Pasadena demonstration is one of more than 3,000 nationwide protests planned for March 28

San Gabriel Foothills Indivisible plans to stage its third “No Kings” march along Colorado Boulevard on Saturday, sending participants from Pasadena City College to City Hall in what organizers say will draw thousands to the city’s main commercial corridor during peak weekend hours.

The demonstration marks the third time in nine months that the volunteer group has organized a mass protest in Pasadena, following events in June and October 2025 that drew more than 4,000 people. The march is part of more than 3,000 protests planned nationwide for March 28.

Participants will gather at 11 a.m. at the PCC Reflecting Pool near Colorado Boulevard and Marion Avenue. The march to City Hall begins at 11:15 a.m., led by National Day Laborers musicians, and is expected to reach the Garfield Avenue steps by noon, according to the organization’s announcement. Those who prefer not to march can go directly to City Hall at 100 N.