Thursday, September 24, 2026

17 Independent Schools Will Meet With Pasadena-Area Parents on Saturday

The free, two-hour “Kinder and Elementary School Options Event” at The Gooden School is adults-only by design — a single room in which parents and guardians can explore kindergarten and elementary programs from across Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley

Parents and guardians weighing an independent school for a kindergartner or elementary-age child can meet admissions representatives from 17 area schools in a single room Saturday morning, when the Pasadena Area Independent Schools consortium, known as PAIS, holds its Kindergarten and Elementary School Options Event.

The complimentary event runs from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 26, in the auditorium at The Gooden School, 192 N. Baldwin Ave., Sierra Madre. PAIS has held the event for many years.

What sets the morning apart from a campus tour is its scale — and the suggested absence of children.

“We encourage parents and guardians to come without children if possible so they can focus on conversations with the schools,

Thursday, September 24, 2026

Altadena Homeowners Can Join County Rebuild Inspection Workshop Thursday

Two-hour Zoom session covers how to request inspections through EPIC-LA, how to avoid common delays and what comes next for rebuilding projects

Los Angeles County Public Works will hold a two-hour online workshop Thursday, Sept. 24, on the inspection process for rebuilding projects in unincorporated areas, including Altadena.

The session, titled “Rebuilding Together: Navigating Inspections,” runs from 1 to 3 p.m. on Zoom and requires registration. According to the county’s announcement, it will cover how inspections work, practices that keep a project on schedule and what comes next in the rebuilding process, and will include a question-and-answer portion. County representatives are scheduled to explain how to request inspections through EPIC-LA, the county’s online permitting system, and how to avoid common delays.

The process applies directly in Altadena. Because the community is unincorporated, its rebuild permits and inspections are handled by county Building and Safety rather than by a city department. Public Works directs Eaton Fire rebuilding questions to the Altadena One-Stop Center,

Thursday, September 24, 2026

Altadena Business Owners Get County Updates at Friday’s Chamber Coffee Chat

Altadena business owners can hear updates from the Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity at the Altadena Chamber of Commerce & Civic Association’s free weekly Business Coffee Chat, held online at 9:30 a.m. Friday, Sept. 25.

Organizers describe the session as an open forum where local businesses share concerns, experiences and insights about Altadena’s recovery. Sessions are also scheduled for each Friday in October.

The session comes three months after the department launched the Altadena Commercial Concierge Program for businesses, nonprofits and commercial property owners recovering from the Eaton Fire. The program offers expedited permitting assistance, individualized technical assistance and connections to business resources and capital, the county said in a June 25 news release.

“The Altadena Commercial Concierge Program brings together expedited permitting, individual technical assistance and planning, and direct connections to County and community resources so impacted businesses and commercial property owners have a clearer, faster path to recovery,” Kelly LoBianco, director of the department, said in the release.

Thursday, September 24, 2026

Altadena Library’s Mobile Library Parks Outside Kidspace in Pasadena Friday

The Altadena Library District’s weekly stop at the children’s museum lets families sign up for library cards and check out books

The Altadena Library District’s Curiosity Connection Vol. 2 mobile library will park outside Kidspace Children’s Museum in Pasadena on Friday, Sept. 25, from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., according to the museum’s online calendar.

The weekly Friday visits began April 3 as part of a yearlong collaboration between the library district and the museum, according to a press release published by Pasadena Weekendr in March.

That release listed the visits from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. The Kidspace calendar lists 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. for the Sept. 25 stop.

Visitors can sign up for a library card, check out or return books, pick up library swag and flyers for upcoming events, and use an outdoor reading space near the van, the release stated.

Visitors who open a library card receive $3 off Kidspace admission for up to four guests,

Thursday, September 24, 2026

California Home Sales End Summer on an Upswing, but the Road Ahead Looks Rougher

By EDDIE RIVERA

Firmer prices and steadier sales mask a sharp drop in pending deals as the Fed resumes rate hikes

California’s housing market closed out the summer buying season with a modest win. What comes next looks harder. 

Sales of existing single-family homes rose 2.4% in August from July to a seasonally adjusted annualized pace of 269,620, the California Association of Realtors reported this week. That was 1.4% above the year-earlier rate and marked the fifth straight month in which sales outpaced 2025 levels. 

Prices firmed as well. The statewide median climbed 1.6% from July to $901,420, pushing back above the $900,000 mark. The monthly gain beat the long-run July-to-August average of 1.2%, though it trailed the 2.2% average of the past decade. From a year earlier, the median rose just 0.1%, the thinnest annual gain in four months. 

The more telling number may be the one that looks forward. Pending sales, which track contracts signed but not yet closed,

Wednesday, September 23, 2026

Representative Maxine Waters to Headline Black Community Forum in Pasadena

The inaugural State of the Black Community forum is set for Saturday at First African Methodist Episcopal Church, with panels on housing, health, education and Eaton Fire recovery

U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters is scheduled to deliver the keynote address Saturday at a Pasadena forum examining housing, health, education, public policy, faith, wealth and the continuing effects of the Eaton Fire on Black residents of Pasadena and Altadena, according to event organizers.

The inaugural State of the Black Community forum is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Sept. 26 at First African Methodist Episcopal Church, 1700 N. Raymond Ave. The Black Clergy & Civic Alliance and Community Women Vital Voices are organizing the event. Organizers have published conflicting closing times of 2 and 3 p.m.

Panel discussions and Waters’ address are scheduled from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Seating for that portion of the program is limited and requires advance registration. Organizers ask participants to register by Thursday, Sept. 24.

Wednesday, September 23, 2026

Six Homes, Six Months: A Corner of Altadena Comes Back

By EDDIE RIVERA

In La Viña, six families who lost their homes in the Eaton Fire returned after a unique rebuilding effort shrank a process that has taken far longer for much of Altadena.

Richard Kang stood outside his new home in Altadena on Monday with his young daughter tucked close beside him, a pair of scissors in his hand, and a yellow ribbon stretched across the front entry.

Across from him, Adrian Foley, president and chief executive of Brookfield Residential, held the other end. Then came the cut, applause and something that has remained stubbornly elusive for thousands of families displaced by the Eaton Fire: a return home.

For the Kangs, it had taken six months.

“Gosh, I think the idea of this seemed so impossible,” Kang said. “And in fact, even the fact that it happened so quickly seemed so impossible. And the fact that we’re here now, we’re incredibly grateful.”

The Kang home is one of six completed this month by Brookfield Residential in La Viña,

Wednesday, September 23, 2026

Pasadena School Board to Weigh Textbook Sufficiency, Hear MTSS Update

Trustees to take up a state-required hearing on classroom materials, a tiered-support progress report and eight closed-session items

The Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education will hold a public hearing Thursday on whether every student has sufficient textbooks and instructional materials for the 2026-27 school year, then vote on a resolution certifying that they do.

The hearing is an annual step required by state law to keep the district eligible for instructional materials funding, and it arrives on an agenda that also carries a Multi-Tiered System of Supports update. Together the two items give families in Pasadena, Altadena and Sierra Madre a look at what is in their children’s classrooms and at the system the district uses to decide which students need more help.

The meeting is to be called to order at 5 p.m. Thursday, September 24, in the Elbie J. Hickambottom Board Room, Room 236, at 351 S. Hudson Ave., Pasadena. Trustees recess to closed session at 5:10 p.m.

Wednesday, September 23, 2026

District Attorney: Eaton Fire Criminal Investigation Remains Active

By EDDIE RIVERA

Hochman tells NAACP town hall that prosecutors are pursuing contractor fraud, scams and other crimes targeting fire survivors

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman told Eaton Fire survivors Tuesday evening  that his office is actively investigating Southern California Edison and pursuing contractors, scammers and others accused of taking advantage of residents struggling to rebuild after the devastating January 2025 fire.

Speaking at a town hall presented with the Pasadena Branch of the NAACP at the Eaton Fire Collaborative, Hochman described an evolving wave of crimes that began with looting and impersonation of first responders in the days after the fire and has shifted toward contractor fraud, financial scams and other schemes targeting recovery money.

“As long as money is coming into this community to rebuild, there’ll be people wanting to steal it,” Hochman told residents.

Hochman said his office has prosecuted more than 50 people for crimes connected to the Eaton and Palisades fires,

Wednesday, September 23, 2026

LA County Parks Foundation Names Inaugural Executive Director

CITY NEWS SERVICE

Yvette Lopez-Ledesma was named Tuesday as the inaugural executive director of the Los Angeles County Parks Foundation, where she will oversee fundraising, philanthropic partnerships and efforts to expand access to parks and recreation across the county.

Lopez-Ledesma will begin the position Nov. 1 as the foundation’s first full-time executive director, according to the foundation.

She brings 20 years of experience in philanthropy and nonprofit leadership, including 13 years focused on increasing access to parks and open space in Los Angeles County and other communities with high park needs, officials said.

“Yvette brings exactly the combination of leadership, experience and commitment to park equity that we envisioned for the LACPF’s first Executive Director,” foundation board Chair Joe Mendoza said.

Lopez-Ledesma most recently served as the Greening America’s Cities Community Fellow at Community Partners. She previously held leadership positions with Pacoima Beautiful and The Wilderness Society.

“I am grateful to the Board of the LA County Parks Foundation and excited to have the opportunity to serve as the Foundation’s inaugural Executive Director,”