Thursday, June 4, 2026

Altadena-Raised Grammy Winner Joins Pasadena POPS for Summer Arboretum Series

Jazz vocalist Carmen Bradford headlines the July 25 Rat Pack concert as the POPS opens a five-show season under a new conductor

The Pasadena POPS opens its 2026 Rusnak Summer Concert Series on June 20 at the Los Angeles County Arboretum, launching five outdoor evenings of orchestral music under Resident Pops Conductor Larry Blank — the organization’s first season without Michael Feinstein leading the POPS after a tenure the Pasadena Symphony Association describes as spanning more than a decade.

Among this summer’s performers is Carmen Bradford, who grew up in Altadena and won a Grammy Award in 2024 as a featured vocalist on “Basie Swings the Blues” with the Count Basie Orchestra. Bradford performs July 25 in “A Toast to the Rat Pack,” alongside jazz vocalists Steve Lippia and Todd Murray in a program of songs associated with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Ella Fitzgerald.

Blank, a Broadway composer, conductor, and orchestrator who has been nominated three times each for the Tony Award and the Drama Desk Award,

Thursday, June 4, 2026

PUSD Cancels June Meetings Tied to Schools Consolidation

The Pasadena Unified School District announced it has canceled several June meetings tied to its school consolidation process after the Board of Education voted against accepting a draft Equity Impact Analysis report in late May.

The district emailed the school community Wednesday, June 3 with information about changes to the upcoming school board meeting schedule.

At its May 28 meeting, the Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education voted 6-1 against accepting the draft Equity Impact Analysis report presented as part of the school consolidation process.

As a result, previously scheduled public hearings, a board retreat related to the report and board action on the process will not proceed as previously planned, according to the district.

“The district and Board are taking time to consider the best path forward as we continue planning for our district’s long-term future,” the email said.

The June 11 public hearing on the draft Equity Impact Analysis Report has been canceled. The district noted that public hearings on the LCAP and the budget will take place as scheduled.

Thursday, June 4, 2026

Pasadena Nonprofit Seeks Backpacks and Supplies for 400 Students Before August Distributions

Friends In Deed’s annual drive serves families from its Food Pantry, with donation deadlines starting July 24

Friends In Deed is seeking donations to provide backpacks and school supplies to more than 400 students from its Food Pantry community, the Pasadena nonprofit said in a press release. Distributions are scheduled for two consecutive Saturdays August 1 and August 8 at the organization’s headquarters at 444 E. Washington Blvd.

The annual Back-to-School Backpack & Supply Drive targets children from low-income families in the Pasadena and Altadena areas, according to the press release. The supply list is recommended by schools in both communities. Last year, the organization distributed more than 400 backpacks and fully stocked supply bags, according to Friends In Deed; this year it is asking the community to match or exceed that number.

“There is nothing quite like handing a kid a backpack filled with everything they need for the year ahead,” said Tim Nistler, Director of the Food Pantry at Friends In Deed.

Wednesday, June 3, 2026

Colonel Green’s Great-Great-Grandson Returns to Castle Green for Annual Spring Tour

The 127-year-old Pasadena landmark opens June 14 with Eaton Fire recovery art and a family reunion more than a century in the making

More than 127 years after Colonel George G. Green opened the doors to his Moorish fantasy of a hotel, his great-great-grandson will walk through them.

Scott Drake, a descendant of the Civil War veteran and patent-medicine entrepreneur who built Castle Green in 1898, will appear as special guest speaker when the Old Pasadena landmark opens for its annual spring tour on Sunday, June 14. It is, according to the Friends of the Castle Green, the first time a member of the founding family has been featured at the event.

The self-guided tour runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., rain or shine, and includes access to the building’s original Moorish and Turkish rooms, Grand Salon, sunroom, grand staircase, and select private apartments spaces the public can enter only twice a year. Two historic talks will be offered during the afternoon.

Wednesday, June 3, 2026

Pasadena, LA County Commissions to Host Virtual Forum on Disability Inclusion

City’s disability advisory body delivers on a formal FY 2025-2026 objective with a one-hour virtual session open to all residents

Most forms of bias have a name people recognize. Ableism — discrimination rooted in prejudicial assumptions about what people with disabilities can or cannot do — is less well understood.

A free webinar Wednesday morning aims to change that for Pasadena residents, educators, and employers.

The City of Pasadena’s Accessibility and Disability Commission, along with the Los Angeles County Commission on Disabilities and Pasadena Civitan, is hosting “Ending Ableism Together: Creating Spaces Where Everyone Belongs,” a one-hour virtual session featuring Peter Mendoza, a Grants Program Analyst for the Self-Determination and Supported Decision-Making Technical Assistance Program at the State Council on Developmental Disabilities, according to the city’s official event announcement.

The commission approved a formal work plan for fiscal year 2025-2026 that set community education on anti-ableism as a specific objective under its Community Engagement priorities and Wednesday’s event is that objective in practice.

Wednesday, June 3, 2026

California Chooses Next Watchdog Amid Wildfire Insurance Crisis

By Levi Sumagaysay, CALMATTERS

Two Democrats may be duking it out on the November ballot for one of the toughest jobs in the state: insurance commissioner.

Jane Kim, the former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and state Sen. Ben Allen, who’s about to term out of the Legislature, were leading in early returns Tuesday night.

The commissioner is responsible for regulating the nation’s largest property insurance market that includes home and auto, plus health, pet, ride-hailing and life insurance, as well as workers’ compensation.

But the hot topic in the past few years as climate change has caused wildfire risk to rise has been home and fire insurance. The next commissioner will face many challenges that include trying to balance property insurance availability with affordability. Some insurance companies that had stopped renewing policies or writing new ones in the past few years are now taking advantage of new regulations that allow them to use new tools in setting their rates.

Wednesday, June 3, 2026

Free Concerts Return to Altadena’s Renovated Park for 29th Summer Season

Seven Saturday evening shows at Loma Alta Park run July 11 through August 22, all free to the public

Loma Alta Park, renovated after sustaining damage in the Eaton Fire eighteen months ago, will host seven free Saturday night concerts this summer the 29th year the Rotary Club of Altadena has brought live music to the neighborhood at no charge.

The Rotary Club, in partnership with Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation, will stage the series at 3330 N. Lincoln Ave. every Saturday from July 11 through August 22. Concerts begin at 7 p.m. The park was renovated following fire damage in January 2025 and reopened on May 17, 2025, following a $3.4 million renovation the first county park to reopen after the Eaton Fire, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation. In announcing the 2026 lineup, the Rotary Club noted it is “incredibly grateful” to Supervisor Kathryn Barger and the county Parks and Recreation Department “for their support in making it possible to keep the series going as Altadena recovers from the Eaton Fire,” according to the organization’s website.

Wednesday, June 3, 2026

Pasadena Voters Help Put Countywide Healthcare Sales Tax Measure on Track for Defeat

BASED ON A STORY BY CITY NEWS SERVICE

City would receive about 1 percent of the measure’s revenue

A proposed half-cent Los Angeles County sales tax increase intended to support healthcare services was trailing Wednesday, with early returns showing voters countywide opposing the measure as ballots continued to be counted.

Pasadena, which operates its own Public Health Department, would receive about 1% of the measure’s revenue under the measure’s allocation formula

Known as the Essential Services Restoration Act, the measure would raise the county sales tax from 9.75% to 10.25% for five years through Oct. 1, 2031. Supervisors Holly Mitchell and Hilda Solis placed the measure on the ballot, saying it was needed to offset reductions in state and federal healthcare funding.

Preliminary results showed 47.16% of voters supporting the measure and 52.84% opposing it. County officials estimated the tax would generate about $1 billion annually.

Mitchell said the county faces significant losses following what she described as the largest federal Medicaid funding cut in the nation’s history.

Wednesday, June 3, 2026

Three Convicted in Angeles Crest Highway Killing Investigated by Pasadena Police

Two Others Convicted in Related Double Homicide

Three reputed MS-13 gang members were convicted Tuesday, June 2, in the July 22, 2023, robbery and killing of a man at an Angeles Crest Highway lookout in Pasadena Police Department jurisdiction — a case investigated and brought to charges by the Pasadena Police Department’s Robbery/Homicide Unit.

Two additional gang members were convicted in a separate double homicide committed less than 48 hours later with the same firearm.

In all, a Los Angeles County jury deliberated just over a day before returning guilty verdicts against five defendants in the linked cases.

Marco Antonio Hernandez, 21, was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder, two counts each of second-degree robbery and attempted second-degree robbery, and one count of conspiracy to commit a robbery. Hernandez was charged in both the Angeles Crest Highway killing and the later double homicide, and had faced a personal firearm-use allegation along with special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder during the commission of a robbery or attempted robbery.

Wednesday, June 3, 2026

Average LA County Gas Price Drops For 14th Time in 15 Days

By STEVEN HERBERT, City News Service

The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Los Angeles County dropped Tuesday for the 14th time in 15 days, decreasing 2.3 cents to $6.049, its lowest amount since April 27.

The average price has fallen 16.5 cents over the past 15 days, including three-tenths of a cent Monday, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service. It dropped six consecutive days, rose two-tenths of a cent May 25 and resumed decreasing last Tuesday.

The average price is 11.6 cents less than one week ago and 11.7 cents lower than one month ago, but $1.30 more than one year ago.

A decrease of one-tenth of a cent to $5.983 extended the run of dropping prices.

The national average price dropped for the 12th consecutive day, falling 3.2 cents to $4.29. It has dropped 27.4 cents over the past 12 days, including 1.4 cents Monday.