The Brief

Chris Ramon’s corner office at Pasadena Humane boasts a sweeping view of the San Gabriel Mountains peaking over Pasadena and Altadena.

Ramon, the organization’s president and CEO, said this week that he couldn’t help but remember what the same window looked like a year ago, when the Eaton Fire “changed our lives forever.”

“The mountains that we're looking at right now and admiring were being engulfed in flames,” Ramon told LAist. “For us as an organization, that's what kicked off one of the most devastating situations and experiences we've ever had to navigate through.”

Chris Ramon, president and CEO of Pasadena Humane, said he couldn't help but remember what this window looked like a year ago during the Eaton Fire.

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Makenna Sievertson

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LAist

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Pasadena Humane helped more than 1,500 pets and wildlife during the fire and in the aftermath, providing shelter, medical care and emergency resources. The organization also helped reunify pets and livestock with the humans who love them.

Several animals affected by the fire are still in the organization’s care. They include four dogs at Pasadena Humane, as well as three cats and a guinea pig in foster homes.

“Several people who lost their homes are still trying to figure out what their next step is,” Ramon said. “We told the community, and everybody who was affected by the Eaton Fire, that we would be here and we would provide help.”

Pasadena Humane marked the one-year anniversary of the fire this week with a show of gratitude for another Southern California shelter who helped the organization weather the storm.

Pasadena officials are supporting San Diego Humane Society as it deals with a hoarding case by taking in adoptable dogs. They described it as a “full-circle moment.”

‘Unimaginable’ toll

In the first three weeks after the Eaton Fire erupted, Pasadena Humane took in about 1,000 animals that were injured, displaced and separated from their families.

Patients of all shapes, sizes and scales were welcome.

Reggie getting his paws bandaged for burns in Pasadena Humane's ICU during the Eaton Fire.

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Wren Louis Sell

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Courtesy of Pasadena Humane

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Reggie healed up in his new home after being adopted from Pasadena Humane.

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Courtesy of Pasadena Humane

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Bearded dragons were set-up with warming lamps, koi fish were placed into proper ponds and a horse was housed in Pasadena Humane’s garage when Ramon ran into its owner walking miles down Raymond Avenue.

Pasadena Humane search-and-rescue teams went into burn zones looking for animals in need of assistance. Those teams reunited pets with owners in an effort to make sure the organization had enough space for those that didn’t have anywhere else to go — including an Altadena neighborhood cat whom the residents named Skinny Minnie.

Pasadena Humane teams looked for pets and wildlife in Eaton burn zones, dropping off food and water along the way.

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Courtesy of Pasadena Humane

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The cat was brought into Pasadena Humane with severe injuries as the fire was still raging. Her whiskers were singed and her body was so badly burnt that staff “couldn't tell what color she was,” Ramon said.

They weren’t sure if Skinny Minnie would survive.

Riley arrived at Pasadena Humane's ICU with burns and smoke inhalation during the Eaton Fire.

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Courtesy of Pasadena Humane

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Riley was adopted after months of treatment, according to Pasadena Humane.

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Courtesy of Pasadena Humane

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The cat stayed in Pasadena Humane’s intensive care unit for several months, which by that time had become a makeshift burn ward.

Skinny Minnie endured the invasive medical treatments used to tend to her wounds, later revealing a gentle personality, seeking cuddles and scratches from caretakers or veterinary staff, Ramon said.

After months of treatment, the cat was reunited with a pair of Altadena residents.

It was the “win that we needed,” Ramon said.

Paying it forward

San Diego Humane Society took in more than 50 animals from Pasadena Humane to clear space during the fire, which officials said was critical for their operations during the crisis.

So, Pasadena Humane returned the favor Wednesday.

Sebastian was among the dogs Pasadena Humane took in from San Diego Humane Society on Wednesday.

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Makenna Sievertson

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LAist

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Sebastian is available for adoption at Pasadena Humane as of Thursday.

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Makenna Sievertson

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LAist

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It welcomed nine dogs from San Diego to free up resources as the organization deals with a large-scale hoarding case. A tenth dog was also expected to arrive, but was adopted.

Nina Thompson, San Diego Humane Society's director of public relations, told LAist the organization was bursting at the seams caring for 725 dogs before 40 more were rescued from an apartment in La Mesa.

The organization's four campuses were already operating well over capacity before the 40 dogs and puppies were removed from the 500-square-foot home, according to Thompson.

"This transport is a huge help," she said.

Pasadena Humane took in nine dogs from San Diego Humane Society while it deals with a large hoarding case.

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Makenna Sievertson

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LAist

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San Diego Humane Society officials say the transfer will free up space and resources so staff can focus on animals involved with the hoarding case.

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Makenna Sievertson

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LAist

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The San Diego dogs are available for adoption at Pasadena Humane as of Thursday. Two of those dogs have already found their forever homes, according to the organization.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman is blaming Boeing and his own agency for botching a test flight of the Starliner spacecraft, designed to take astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

A 311-page report details the issues that led to the failure of Starliner's first crewed test flight, which in June 2024 launched NASA astronauts Butch Willmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station from Cape Canaveral Space Force station in Florida.

The duo's launch was initially a success — but as their Starliner spacecraft approached the station, multiple thrusters failed, hampering the crew's ability to steer toward the station and dock.

After months of deliberation, NASA and Boeing made the decision to send Starliner back to Earth without Wilmore and Williams on board. Instead, the astronauts remained on the space station and returned home 9 months later — in SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule.

In a news conference Thursday, Isaacman said the report classified the failure as a Type A Mishap — the highest classification for a mission failure. The Space Shuttle Challenger and Columbia accidents, along with the Apollo 1 fire, were also classified as a Type A Mishap. While those accidents resulted in the deaths of crewmembers, the Starliner mission was "ultimately successful in preserving crew safety," according to the report.

The report identifies the thrusters as a key technical issue leading to the failure, although an investigation is still ongoing and a root cause has not yet been found.

"Starliner has design and engineering deficiencies that must be corrected," said Isaacman. "But the most troubling failure revealed by this investigation is not hardware. It's decision making and leadership that, if left unchecked, could create a culture incompatible with human spaceflight."

He said those organizational and leadership problems were seen at both Boeing and NASA, Isaacman's own agency.

The report identified an erosion of trust between the two organizations and leadership that was "overly risk-tolerant."

Isaacman said that the more than 30 launch attempts for this mission led to "cumulative schedule pressure and decision fatigue." When discussing whether to return Wilmore and WIlliams in Starliner, Isaacman said the "disagreements over crew return options deteriorated into unprofessional conduct while the crew remained on orbit."

Isaacman said there would be "leadership accountability," but didn't offer any details.

"These are very complex programs, and complex programs like this fail in complex ways," said Don Platt, department head of aerospace engineering, physics and space science at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Florida. "Those organizational issues are oftentimes, maybe even more important than the technical problems that they're facing."

Such a public scolding of NASA and one of its contractors by its own leader is uncommon, says Platt, who worked on the construction of the space station.

"I think it's really setting the stage for sort of the new way that NASA plans to do business here in his administration," says Platt.

He says that could mean greater transparency and oversight over NASA's contractors

Despite NASA's plans to decommission the space station by the end of the decade, Isaacman says he is still committed to flying Starliner. That would leave NASA with two options, Boeing and SpaceX, to fly astronauts to the station — something SpaceX already does with regularity.

The report offered 61 formal recommendations ahead of the next crewed Starliner mission.

"We're grateful to NASA for its thorough investigation and the opportunity to contribute to it," Boeing said in an emailed statement. "We're working closely with NASA to ensure readiness for future Starliner missions and remain committed to NASA's vision for two commercial crew providers."

Copyright 2026 NPR

The Long Beach Unified Board of Trustees on Wednesday authorized the school district to end the employment of close to 600 employees, a move the LBUSD says is necessary to stabilize its ballooning deficit.

Board members approved two separate resolutions, the first of which does not renew the contracts of 515 certificated employees, who are on temporary contracts that must be re-upped annually. Though it is common for the district to choose not to renew some temporary contracts, the non-renewal of hundreds of TK-12 teachers, early childhood education teachers and social workers represents a massive change for the next school year from the current workforce of 10,000 total employees. While schools across the district will feel the cuts, Poly and Jordan high schools may be especially hard hit; 14 and 12 teachers at each site are listed on the district’s document of non-renewals.

The second resolution authorized the district to formally lay off 54 classified district positions: non-teaching staff members ranging from office support staff to instructional and recreation aides to library media assistants to parent liaisons.

The board votes come after months of warnings from the district that costs and spending have outpaced the district’s funding, saddling LBUSD with a $70 million deficit. The district is now attempting to shrink that deficit through a fiscal stabilization plan that “has prioritized preserving core instructional, wellness, and student support services,” the district wrote in an agenda item related to the cuts.

Prior to the vote, Superintendent Jill Baker framed the proposed cuts with the historical context of significant enrollment declines, the expiration of funds following the Great Recession and COVID-19 pandemic that had allowed the district to develop a healthy reserve, uncertain federal and state dollars and low attendance numbers, for which the district is penalized — “a really grave situation, fiscally,” she said, one that many districts across California are grappling with.

Baker walked board members through the significant efforts the district has made to manage costs, saving more than $47 million, including through significant central office reductions. Despite these efforts, it’s still not enough, Baker said.

“The release of temporary certificated contracts is one way of reducing the number of employees without impacting permanent certificated employees,” the district wrote in the agenda item.

For those 515 certificated employees who will be notified that their contracts will end, it’s a way that “the district can get away with letting teachers go without calling it a layoff,” said Peder Larsen, vice president of the Teachers Association of Long Beach, which represents certificated employees in LBUSD.

Some of them could be rehired, especially if their positions are in high demand, like science, math and special education teachers, Larsen said. Yet, it throws hundreds into a tailspin of uncertainty and fear, unsure if their jobs have definitively ended and how long they will have health coverage, he added.

While he said the district has not officially announced that no permanent certificated employees will be cut (they have until March 15 to do so), he said he is “reading the tea leaves” and predicting those permanent positions will be safe this year.

In his comment to the board during public testimony, Larsen advocated for examining the money spent annually on consultants and contracts and urged the board and district to re-examine their priorities and “choose to protect the people who serve students every single day.”

On both votes, School Board Member Maria Isabel López was the lone vote against the resolutions, voicing her opinion that some of these positions could have been saved if fiscal priorities had been different and major contracts had not been approved.

Other board members acknowledged that the votes will change lives. “There’s not one of us in this room that takes this lightly,” said Board President Diana Craighead before voting in favor of the cuts. Board Member Doug Otto said he was voting to adopt the resolutions “sadly, reluctantly and necessarily.”