The Brief

Emma Scott’s Altadena house survived the Eaton Fire, but almost every family she knows lost a home or faced so much fire damage they had to relocate for the time being.

“I mean, it feels like a ghost town,” Scott said. “Honestly, it's hard. It's really eerie.”

One bright spot has been Altadena’s main library on the historic Christmas Tree Lane, which Scott returned to for the first time Friday. The building reopened this month, the largest public space in the fire perimeter where Altadenans can meet and resume their old patterns at a time of intense upheaval.

To lure more patrons back, a grand reopening event will be held next Saturday featuring actor and Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton.

A steady trickle of patrons came through the library Friday morning. Scott pushed a stroller with her infant daughter — born the week after the fire — as she helped her two older kids search for YA titles.

“Thank God for the library,” Scott said. “We don't have our normal places, routines, parks, so we're grateful.”

One of the library's most popular offerings are computers for browsing.

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As part of unincorporated L.A. County, Altadena doesn’t have a city hall or a town square, so the main library acts as an important hub.

The light-filled, mid-century modern building has always had something for everyone: storytime, chess nights, club meetings, puppet shows.

It’s where thousands gather every year for the Christmas Tree Lane lighting celebration, then follow the high school marching band down the boulevard of glowing deodar cedars.

After the fires, the role of the main library has evolved to meet residents’ most pressing needs, hosting architects and staffers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Small Business Administration.

Nikki Winslow, director of the Altadena library district, welcomed back patrons to the main branch on March 4.

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The library has also been fund-raising to buy personal hotspot devices for people who lost their homes so they can have consistent access to the Internet. A distribution event was scheduled for Saturday.

“We've been pretty busy since we opened,” said Nikki Winslow, director of the Altadena Library District. “There's days I come in and I can barely get a parking spot already.”

Getting ready to reopen

Not only did the library survive in a burn zone that saw more than 9,400 structures destroyed, including the senior center next door, it saw relatively little damage.

“Luckily for us, when the smoke hit our HVAC vents, they closed,” Winslow said. “We didn’t circulate any of the fire air in the library. Our air filters were clean.”

A wall in Altadena's main library features award-winning photography, including the Davies Memorial Building at Farnsworth Park which was destroyed in the fire and Eliot Arts Magnet, which was heavily damaged.

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Crews came to clear ash and soot from the roof, while others did a deep clean of the interior that included washing the carpets. Rented air scrubbers and fans circulated the air inside.

The area has lacked potable water, so the library re-opened March 4 with portable hand-washing stations outside the bathrooms — the only visible change to the library since the fires. But as of Friday, it was safe again to use the water, said Winslow.

The fiber optic cables system providing internet service to the library was damaged in the fire and will not be restored for another couple weeks, Winslow said. But high-speed internet is still available at the the library which is running on two different hotspot systems, with a third one to be installed next week.

Dozens of patrons passed through the re-opened Altadena Library Friday morning.

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While many regulars are no longer living in the area, Winslow said there was urgency to reopen the library as quickly as possible. It is the only library open in town as a smaller branch, the Bob Lucas Memorial Library, remains under renovation.

“With so many structures damaged, there's only so many buildings, especially public-facing buildings, that are available for people to like, come up, meet and connect to resources,” she said.

Among those in town affected by the fires were the library district’s own staff. Out of 31 employees, 10 had to evacuate and two of them lost homes.

How safe is it? 

For many residents, questions remain about contaminants in the air and soil around the burn zone.

The library performed air quality and surface testing inside the library and “we feel very confident that the inside of the library is very safe,” Winslow said.

Altadena resident Dani Pedersen and her 3-year-old son Ace visited the library Friday for a taste of normalcy."

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She said the library has not paid for soil testing because of the high cost. Out of precaution, programs for now will not be held in the grassy area of the library.

Next Saturday’s reopening celebration with LeVar Burton will be held in the library’s parking lot, able to accommodate hundreds.

There’s no need to register for the morning event, which will also feature food giveaways, crafts and games. At 11 a.m. Burton will read from his children’s book “The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm.”

“We wanted to have a really big carnival feel,” Winslow said. “People can come inside the library and check that out as well. The more the merrier.”

Coming back home 

On Friday, two to three dozen patrons were visiting the library at any given time. Some used the library’s computers. Other sat in pairs at tables in the atrium speaking quietly.

Yvette Casillas, a youth and family librarian, says those coming back are a mix of residents still living in the area and others who have been displaced.

Family and youth librarian Yvette Casillas has seen a mix of patrons returning -- from those still living in the area to those who have been displaced and living afar.

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“We've had people coming from Topanga and Ontario, South Pas, Arcadia,” Casillas said. “People have shared that they've lost both their homes and the school, so it's been really rewarding to be able to have a hub or a space for community here at the library.”

Dani Pedersen was back at the library for the first time Friday, chasing after her 3-year-old, Ace. Their family had evacuated for a little over a month. Asked why she had returned to the library, Pedersen started out saying she wanted her son to enjoy himself. Then she cut that thought short.

“Honestly?” she said. “I wanted to come back just to be with our community and just to feel that normalcy and go back to some place that we've known prior to the fires, you know? And that's what I feel like we've gotten today.”

Library district’s future 

More change is afoot. The main library is scheduled to undergo a major renovation later this year that will last 15 to 18 months, and involve some layout changes and earthquake retrofitting and fireproofing.

By then, renovation of the Bob Lucas branch on Lincoln Avenue should be completed.

When that smaller library re-opens, scheduled for May, it will be able to absorb some foot traffic. There also are plans to reopen a satellite branch at Loma Alta Park, also in May.

The main library is expected to undergo a major renovation at the end of the year.

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Winslow said the park’s “social hall” could be furnished shelves of books, a computer lab, and other equipment found at the main library including a 3-D printer.

This location could be set up in the park for the duration of the main library’s renovation – and possible longer.

“I don't know if down the road we’ll continue to have a satellite site there or not, but I do think it will be important to the recovery efforts of the community,” Winslow said.

About the Altadena libraries celebration

When: Saturday, March 22, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
What to expect: Readings, arts & crafts, games, music and more. At 11 a.m. LeVar Burton will read from his book The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm.
Where: 600 E. Mariposa Street, Altadena

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Since 1977, Richard Santillan has been to every Opening Day game at Dodger Stadium. 

“The tradition goes from my father, to me, to my children and grandchildren. Some of my best memories are with my father and children here at Dodger Stadium,” Santillan told The LA Local, smiling under the shade of palm trees near the entrance to the ballpark Wednesday morning. He was there to protest the team less than 24 hours before Opening Day.

Santillan, like countless other loyal Dodgers fans, is grappling with his fan identity over the team’s decision to accept an invitation to the White House and owner Mark Walter’s ties to ICE detention facilities.

More than 30 people joined Santillan on Wednesday morning for a press conference held near 1000 Vin Scully Drive to convey a message directly to the team. 

“We are demanding the Dodgers stop participating in funding of inhumane treatment of families and do not go to the White House to celebrate with the criminal in chief,” Evelyn Escatiola told the crowd. “Together, we have the power to make a change.”

Escatiola, a former dean of East Los Angeles College and longtime community organizer, urged fans to flex their economic power by “letting the Dodgers know that we do not support repression.”

Jorge “Coqui” Rodriguez, a lifelong Dodgers fan, spoke to the crowd and called on Dodgers ownership to divest from immigration detention centers owned and operated by GEO Group and CoreCivic.

Jorge Coqui H Rodriguez speaks at a press conference outside Dodger Stadium on March 25, 2026, to demand the Dodgers not to visit the White House following their 2025 World Series win.

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In a phone interview a day before the protest, Rodriguez told The LA Local he did not want the Dodgers using his “cheve” or beer money to fund detention centers. 

“They can’t take our parking money, our cacahuate money, our cheve money, our Dodger Dog money and invest those funds into corporations that are imprisoning people. It’s wrong,” Rodriguez said. 

Rodriguez considers the Dodgers one of the most racially diverse teams and said the players need to support fans at a time when heightened immigration enforcement has become more common across L.A.

The team’s 2025’s visit to the White House drew ire from the largely Latino fan base, citing the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on immigrants. 

In June, the team came under further scrutiny when rumors swirled online that federal immigration agents were using the stadium’s parking, which immigration authorities later denied in statements posted on social media accounts.

The team again came under fire after not releasing a statement on the impacts of ICE raids on its mostly Latino fan base at the height of immigration enforcement last summer. The team later agreed to invest $1 million to support families affected by immigration enforcement.

When he learned the Dodgers were pledging only $1 million to families in need, Rodriguez called the amount a  “slap in the face.” 

“These guys just bought the Lakers for billions of dollars and they give a million dollars to fight for legal services? That’s a joke,” Rodriguez said. “They need to have a moral backbone and not be investing in those companies.”

According to reporting from the Los Angeles Times, former Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershawsaid last week that he is looking forward to the trip.

“I went when President [Joe] Biden was in office. I’m going to go when President [Donald] Trump is in office,” Kershaw said. “To me, it’s just about getting to go to the White House. You don’t get that opportunity every day, so I’m excited to go.”

The Dodgers have yet to announce when their planned visit will take place. 

Santillan sometimes laments his decision to give up his season tickets in protest of the team. His connection to the stadium and the memories he has made there with family and friends will last a lifetime, he said. On Thursday, he will uphold his tradition and be there for the first pitch of the season, but with a heavy heart.

“It’s a family tradition, but the Dodgers have a lot of work to do,” he said.

A local favorite mom-and-pop bookshop in Eagle Rock is facing displacement due to a steep rent hike. The owners say theirs is just one of several small businesses along Eagle Rock Boulevard struggling to keep up with lease increases.

Over the past 19 years, many in the neighborhood have come to love READ Books for its eclectic collection of used titles and shop dog Florence.

Co-owner Jeremy Kaplan said it’s been a delight to grow with the community over the years.

“Like seeing kids come back in, who were in grade school and now they’re in college,” Kaplan said.

But the building where Kaplan and wife Debbie rent was recently sold, and the rent increased by more than 130% to $2,805 a month, Kaplan said. He told LAist it was an increase his small business simply could not absorb.

Kaplan said he originally was given 30 days notice of the rent increase. After some research, assistance from Councilmember Ysabel Jurado’s office and some pro-bono legal help, Kaplan said he pushed back and got the 90-day notice he’s afforded by state law.

California Senate Bill 1103 requires landlords to give businesses with five or less employees 90 days’ notice for rent increases exceeding 10%, among other protections.

Systems Real Estate, the property management company, did not immediately respond to LAist’s request for comment.

What can small businesses do? 

Nadia Segura, directing attorney of the Small Business Program at pro bono legal aid non-profit Bet Tzedek said California law does not currently allow for rent control for commercial tenancies.

Outside of the protections under SB 1103, Segura said small businesses like READ Books don’t have much other recourse. And even then, commercial landlords are not required to inform their tenants of their protections under the law.

“There’s still a lot of people that don’t know about SB 1103. And then it’s very sad that they tell them they have these rent increases and within a month they have to leave,” Segura said.

She said her group is seeing steep rent hikes like this for commercial tenants across the city.

“We are seeing this even more with the World Cup coming up, the Olympics coming up. And I will say it was very sad to see that also after the wildfires,” Segura said.

Part of Bet Tzedek’s ongoing work is to advocate for small businesses, working with landlords who are increasing rents to see if they are willing to give business owners longer leases that lock in rents.

What’s next 

After READ Books posted about their situation on social media, commenters chimed in to express their outrage and love for the little shop.

While he looks for a new spot, Kaplan says he’s forming a coalition of local businesses and activist groups to see what can be done to help other small businesses facing similar displacement. He wants to address the displacement issue for businesses like his, which have made Eagle Rock the distinctive neighborhood that it is today.

Owl Talk, a longtime Eagle Rock staple selling clothing and accessories in a unit in the same building as READ Books, is facing a “more than double” rent increase, according to a post on their Instagram account.

Kaplan said he’s been in touch with the office of state Assemblywoman Jessica Caloza and wants to explore the possibility of introducing legislation to set up protections for small businesses like his, including rent-control measures or a vacancy tax for landlords. Kaplan said he also reached out to the office of state Sen. Maria Durazo.

By his count, Kaplan said there are about a dozen businesses within surrounding blocks that are at risk of closing their doors or have shuttered due to rent increases or other struggles.

When READ Books was founded during the Great Recession, Kaplan said he knew it was a longshot to open a bookstore at the same time so many were struggling to stay in business.

“It was kind of interesting to be doing something that neighborhoods needed. That was important to me growing up, that was important to my children, that was important to my wife growing up,” Kaplan said.

“And then somebody comes in and says, ‘We’re gonna over double your rent.”

Topline:

Frozen budget: Most of the city’s Bureau of Street Lighting budget comes from an assessment that people who own property illuminated by lights pay on their county property tax bill. The amount people pay depends on the kind of property they own and how much they benefit from lighting. A typical single-family home currently pays $53 annually, and in total, the assessments bring in about $45 million annually for the city to repair and maintain streetlights. Changing the amount the Bureau of Street Lighting gets from the assessment requires a vote among property owners who benefit from the lights.

Ballots: L.A. City Council’s vote gives city staff the green light to prepare and send out those ballots. Miguel Sangalang, who oversees the bureau, said at a committee meeting earlier this month that he expects to send out ballots by April 17. Notices about the ballots will be sent out prior to the ballots themselves.

Near unanimous vote: L.A. City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez was the only “No” vote Tuesday, saying she wanted to see a more current strategic plan for the bureau. Sangalang said the bureau developed a plan in 2022 that lays out how money will be spent. Councilmember Imelda Padilla was absent for the vote.

Vote count: Votes will be weighted according to the assessment amount. Basically, the more you’re asked to pay yearly to maintain streetlights, the more your vote will count. Ballots received before June 2 will be tabulated by the L.A. City Clerk.

How much more money: According to a report, the amount needed in assessments from property owners to meet the repair and maintenance needs of the city’s streetlighting in the next fiscal year is nearly $112 million.

Use of the money: Sangalang said at a March 11 committee meeting that the extra funds would be used to double the number of staff to handle repairs and procure solar streetlights, which don’t face the threat of copper wire theft. That would all potentially reduce the time it takes to repair simple fixes down to a week. Currently, city residents wait for months to see broken streetlights repaired. The assessment would come with a three-year auditing mechanism.