The Brief

Pasadena and Altadena renters whose homes were covered in toxic ash during January’s wildfires are now suing local officials for allegedly failing to inspect their units and require landlords to carry out necessary cleaning.

Individual renters, along with two tenant unions, filed lawsuits Wednesday against the city of Pasadena and the L.A. County Department of Public Health. Citing previous LAist reporting, the complaints allege local officials have refused to enforce tenants’ right to a safe, habitable home.

Public health officials have warned residents that ash carried by the Eaton Fire contains levels of lead harmful to human health.

But the renters say that when they asked the city and county to intervene with landlords who refused to arrange for professional cleaning, they were told they needed to hire lawyers and pursue civil cases on their own.

“It felt like, because we weren't homeowners, we weren't really being taken seriously,” said plaintiff Brenda Lyon.

The other plaintiffs include the Pasadena Tenants Union, the recently formed Altadena Tenants Union and three other renters who allege Pasadena and L.A. County officials failed to uphold their legal obligation to enforce habitable housing conditions.

The city of Pasadena declined to comment on the lawsuits. County authorities have not yet responded to LAist’s request for comment.

Local officials told renters to take their issues to court

Lyon said she, her husband and their baby were forced to leave their duplex unit in Pasadena’s Bungalow Heaven neighborhood when the Eaton Fire ignited on Jan. 7.

After the fires died down and the family was able to return, Lyon said they found the home covered in ash and soot. When she asked her landlord about plans for cleaning, she said she was told no remediation work would be provided, and if she didn’t like it, she could move out.

Lyon said she pleaded with Pasadena officials to enforce her family’s right to a habitable home, but the city’s response was to tell her to pursue a civil case against her landlord.

“We were displaced for three months,” Lyon said. “We used our own personal money” to deal with smoke damage, she added.

Pasadena renter Brenda Lyon speaks at a podium in front of a downtown Los Angeles courthouse.

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How Pasadena and L.A. County are responding

In response to LAist’s questions about the lawsuit, Pasadena city spokesperson Lisa Derderian said in an email: “The city has not been served with the lawsuit so can’t comment at this time.”

Earlier this year, Pasadena officials told LAist that disputes over ash can lead to civil cases between landlords and tenants. They told tenants that the city will not get involved because the word “ash” is not specifically mentioned in the city’s building code.

LAist also reached out to the L.A. County Department of Public Health for comment. Officials did not respond in time for this story.

Looking ahead to future fires

Attorney Lena Silver with Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles, who is representing tenants in both lawsuits, said the goal is to obtain a court order requiring local officials to inspect rental housing and enforce habitability standards when it comes to wildfire smoke damage.

“No one here is seeking money — we're seeking enforcement of the law,” Silver said. “Unfortunately, we know that it's likely that there could be future urban fires in Los Angeles and in California. Our lawsuit would help future tenants clarify the law.”

The question of who is responsible for cleaning apartments coated in ash after a wildfire has been a source of much confusion for tenants, landlords and local government agencies.

For example, after a code enforcement director in the city of L.A. said tenants would be responsible for cleaning ash inside their own units, city housing officials later changed their guidance and said landlords are responsible for such work.

It’s standard for renters insurance policies to cover damage to a tenant’s personal property, such as their furniture and clothing. But damage to the actual home — including the walls, windows and HVAC systems — is typically addressed by landlords through their homeowners insurance policies.

However, some landlords have told tenants they fear that filing a smoke damage claim could cause their insurance costs to rise.

Where displaced renters have been staying

Landlord refusals have left some renters unable to return to their homes, forcing them to pay for temporary relocation costs on top of their usual rent.

“We hear from families who are living in their cars and edging closer to homelessness every single day,” said Katie Clark, an organizer with the Altadena Tenants Union. “Throughout all of this, Los Angeles County has been virtually silent.”

Clark said other renters have had no choice but to return to smoke-damaged units and suffer the negative health consequences.

Lyon, the Pasadena renter, was able to get her landlord to agree to finish cleaning after Neighborhood Legal Services sent the landlord a demand letter. But she said this lawsuit is needed because many tenants cannot afford an attorney or find free legal aid.

“[Renters] should feel comfortable saying, per the state of California, my property is not habitable,” Lyon said. “Their city should support them and say, ‘You know what, we're going to send someone to do a check on your property, and then if your landlord doesn't comply, we're going to do a citation.’

"That’s why we're here today — to protect tenants of the future.”

The lawsuits were filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

SEATTLE — For days, questions about the health of star winger Christian Pulisic's left calf had loomed large over the U.S. men's national soccer team: After being kicked in the leg during last week's Paraguay game, would he be available in the pivotal second U.S. game of the FIFA World Cup?

In the end, it didn't matter.

The U.S. dominated Friday's match against Australia, winning 2-0 even as Pulisic, who was ultimately deemed unavailable before kickoff, watched his teammates from the sidelines.

The scoring started early when American striker Folarin Balogun streaked down the left side of the field and powered a pass into the penalty area, where Australian defender Cameron Burgess booted it into his net for an own goal in the 11th minute.

"I want to be dangerous. I want to create opportunities. And it might not always be myself that scores, but if I can force an error that gives us the lead, for me that's like a goal as well," Balogun said. "It was a special start to the game to give us the momentum, and then I think we carried it out."

The U.S. added a second goal when defender Alex Freeman knocked in a header just before halftime. The chippy match resulted in seven total yellow cards, three for the U.S. on defenders Antonee Robinson and Chris Richards and Balogun.

After the game, U.S. head coach Mauricio Pochettino praised his team and their approach. "We build the victory in our attitude," he said.

The win guarantees that the U.S. will advance to the knockout stage of the tournament, and it puts the Americans in the driver's seat to win Group D. That would set up the team for a more advantageous path through the knockout round, which begins Sunday, June 28.

Cristian Volpato #20 of Australia and Weston McKennie #8 of the United States battle for the ball during the team's World Cup Group D match on Friday in Seattle.

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About 90 minutes before kickoff, Pochettino told Fox that Pulisic would be unavailable due to the nagging left calf injury suffered last Friday. "It is hoped, as soon as possible, [that he] can be ready to be selected again to be part of the team," Pochettino said.

In his place, forward Ricardo Pepi made the start on the left side. For Freeman, his first career World Cup goal was the latest step in a remarkable trajectory for a 21-year-old player who made his first appearance for the U.S. national team just over a year ago. 

It was unclear whether Pulisic would be available for the third and final U.S. group stage game, a match against Turkey set for next Thursday.

Whether that game will matter depends on the outcome of Friday night's Turkey-Paraguay matchup; if Turkey draws or loses, the U.S. is guaranteed the top spot. If Turkey wins, that sets up next week's head-to-head game to determine the group winner.

Turkey, whose roster features stars like Arda Güler of Real Madrid and Kenan Yıldız of Juventus, had been considered by some analysts to be the strongest team in the group.

The U.S. victory over Australia was the second win in the group stage — the first time the American men have done that in a World Cup since 1930.
Copyright 2026 NPR

Bernard Brown grew up going to parties all around Los Angeles. Maybe a little before he was supposed to.

“I won't say my age. I don't wanna get nobody in trouble,” he joked. “But I went to clubs like The Catch — The Catch One — and The Study on Hollywood and Western and places like that that are no longer with us.”

Brown went on to become a contemporary dancer and choreographer, and he remembers watching those dancers, and the tenderness they had for each other. He told LAist that was exactly what informed his new art installation and dance performance, “Sissies: Something Perfect Between Ourselves,” at the Pieter Performance Space this Juneteenth weekend.

“ I thought a lot about how intergenerational learning was starting to slip away, and what does it mean to learn how to be a Black queer person?” Brown said. “Where are those spaces, and how did I learn how to be this way? And so making this work has been about this labor, this love, this intergenerational learning, and also community.”

What to expect

“Sissies” has two components: an installation on view Friday through Sunday, and a dance performance featuring some of L.A.’s most prominent dancers and voguers this Saturday night at 8:30 p.m.

Rosalie Tucker, director of Pieter Performance Space, said this will look a little different from other dance performances you may have been to.

“The invitation to everyone who is a guest in the show, who has bought a ticket is: Let it go,” she said. “Let yourself be in the club. React. You don't have to be quiet. This isn't a silent setting. This is not a traditional theater setting, and that is intentional.”

That’ll culminate after the performance, when the audience will also be invited to join the dancefloor.

If you can’t make it to the performance, the installation will also be on view in the afternoon throughout Juneteenth weekend. Brown told LAist he also hopes to find a permanent home for the archives and exhibits he’s amassed.

The inspiration behind ‘Sissies’

Normally, projects of this kind involve archival research, and that’s certainly a big part of the work. But for Brown, who was actually there at clubs watching vogue practitioners work the dancefloor, the research process looks a little different.

Brown calls the work “autoethnographic” — that’s to say, a big part of what you’ll see is based on his own experiences watching others over the decades.

“ We're talking about vogue, all of the elements: hand performance, floor performance, catwalk, duck walk,” Brown said. “All of those things appear in the work, but it's based on the truth, uh, and the authenticity of our people.”

The themes in Brown’s work resonated with Tucker, especially in this political moment.

“What we're seeing is our histories being not just erased, but violently erased, and, uh, excluded and lied about,” she said. “So we really have, I think, a responsibility to the future, to ourselves, to claim the truth of, this is what happened then, this is what's happening now.”

Brown’s collaborators

Los Angeles has a long history of queer Black underground clubs and events, one that continues to this day in underground parties and warehouse shows.

“ Bernard has built this with the people who are the Black underground in Los Angeles as well, so it's not just like a theoretical thing,” Tucker said.

Many of Brown’s dancers have performed with people like Beyoncé, but they’re also artists doing their own thing. The score for the show is by DJ DeFacto X, a co-founder of Black Bass Collective, a staple of L.A.’s warehouse scene.

“They are creating their own work,” Brown said. “They are making spaces where people congregate, and they're doing the Lord's work in that regard, finding their way to the movement of our queer ancestors.”

Though Brown won’t be performing in the show, he said he’s moved when he sees younger people go through the same movements as the voguers and other dancers he used to see in clubs.

“I am filled with joy — literal joy — and sometimes tears at how beautiful it is to see Black queer men being together intimately, folding into each other their individual kikis and lalas that happen during performance, the authenticity of their visceral connection to each other,” he said.

LOS ANGELES — James Burrows, who helped create volumes of laughter as director of more than a thousand episodes of such classic television comedies as "Cheers," "Taxi," "Friends" and "Will and Grace," died Friday. He was 85.

His family confirmed his death in a statement to People, saying he "passed away peacefully today surrounded by his family." No location or cause of death was provided.

Burrows spent his career behind the camera specializing in situation comedies. Few viewers recognized him or knew his name, other than to see it flash quickly on the screen in the opening credits. But they knew his work.

Burrows got his start in television relatively late at age 35 in 1974, directing episodes of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "The Bob Newhart Show," and "Laverne & Shirley."

He co-created "Cheers," directing 243 of the 273 episodes, as well as all 246 episodes of "Will and Grace."

He also helmed multiple episodes of such hits as "Frasier," "Friends" and "Mike & Molly," and the pilots of "Two and a Half Men" and "The Big Bang Theory."

"When I direct a television show, I try to reach that sweet spot where the best script meets the best performance and the best chemistry between performers," Burrows wrote in his 2022 memoir "Directed by James Burrows." "Hitting that exact moment, where these factors land in combination, results in the sweetest and most enduring laugh."

His family said, "Burrows understood that great comedy was never simply about laughter. It was about humanity, connection, and truth. That understanding became the foundation of a career that forever changed television.

"But beyond his remarkable achievements, Burrows will be remembered for something even greater: his kindness, generosity, and unwavering belief in the people around him. He possessed a rare ability to make everyone better and was known for remembering every person he met by name, making colleagues at every level feel seen, valued, and appreciated," the family statement said.

Born James Edward Burrows on Dec. 30, 1940, in Los Angeles, he moved to New York when he was 5 years old. He spent five years in the Metropolitan Opera Children's Chorus until his voice started to change. He attended LaGuardia High School of Music & Art.

His father was writer, director and producer Abe Burrows, whose Broadway hits included "Guys and Dolls" and "Can-Can." The elder Burrows also mentored Larry Gelbart, future creator and producer of the TV show "M(asterisk)A(asterisk)S(asterisk)H."

The younger Burrows spent hours of his youth in theaters and studios watching his father work, dining with him at such famed New York haunts as Sardi's and Gallagher's and meeting celebrities who attended his father's New Year's Eve parties.

After earning a bachelor's degree from Oberlin College, Burrows attended the graduate program of the Yale School of Drama, where his classmates included actor-comedian Robert Klein, playwright John Guare and film director John Badham.

At Yale, he was required to take directing classes and he got hooked.

Burrows' first sitcom experience was as Burl Ives' dialogue coach on "O.K. Crackerby!" which was directed by his father and ran for one season on ABC in 1965.

From there, he was an assistant on "The Patty Duke Show." He moved back to New York and worked for Broadway producers Lee Guber, Frank Ford and Shelly Gross. He first met actor Moore while working on the Broadway production of "Holly Golightly," an adaptation of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" that was directed by his father.

Burrows eventually worked as a stage manager for various road productions, where he met such actors as Hugh O'Brien, Zsa Zsa Gabor and Julie Harris.

By 1974, after working in dinner theater and summer stock, he turned on his television and saw Moore's eponymous TV show. He wrote her a letter asking if there was any opening "small or smaller" at her production company that he could fill, according to his memoir.

Moore's husband and business partner, Grant Tinker, invited Burrows to Los Angeles to direct an episode of the comedy. He apprenticed for MTM Enterprises, which had four sitcoms on the air at the same time.

Burrows cited his theater background for learning how to give actors direction and block out scenes. He's credited for being one of the first sitcom directors to increase the typical multi-camera television shoot from three to four cameras.

The common thread between Burrows' shows were the bonds between friends and unrelated families, whether it was the motley crew of regulars meeting at the bar in "Cheers" or the drivers working toward a better life in "Taxi" or the 20-somethings sharing the same apartment building in "Friends."

"The best sitcoms transcend the screen and reach out and grab the audience by the throat and by the heart," Burrows wrote in his memoir.

He relished discovering new acting talent while directing more than 75 pilots that were picked up as series.

"Having directed over a thousand shows means that almost any night you can turn on your television or go online and find a show that I directed. I'm very proud of that," he wrote in his memoir.

In 2019, Burrows was an executive producer on live productions of "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons" with famous actors re-creating episodes of those 1970s comedies.

Burrows was married in 1997 to Debbie Easton, whom he met when she worked as a hairstylist on "Frasier." Daughters Kat Schatzow, Ellie Gluck and Maggie Burrows, who followed her father into directing, are from his first marriage to Linda Solomon, who died in 2004. His stepdaughter Paris is from his wife's previous marriage. He has a sister, Laurie Burrows Grad, and seven grandchildren.
Copyright 2026 NPR

Pasadena residents fighting a school district plan to remove nearly 200 trees scored a win Thursday night.

Pasadena Unified School District officials had said 193 trees across 11 campuses need to be cut down to clean up soil contaminated by the Eaton Fire. But on Thursday, the district’s board voted unanimously to attempt to save up to 57 of those trees.

The adopted motion is no guarantee trees will be saved, but directs staff to evaluate other ways to remediate soil around certain mature, protected trees.

The vote came after public outcry from local residents, including a Pasadena teen who spent more than eight hours in the branches of an oak tree slated for removal at the district’s headquarters.

Why is the district trying to remove trees?

Last May, the school district released the results of soil tests taken after the Eaton Fire, which found elevated levels of toxic metals, primarily lead and arsenic, at 13 campuses. (You can see the reports for each campus here).

Then, late last month, the district announced it planned to remove nearly 200 trees to excavate one to 4 feet of contaminated soil at the remaining 11 campuses it has to clean up. Officials said they need to get the work done before students return from summer break.

The plan angered many residents.

Chapman University soil scientist Christine Sierra O’Connell said removing contaminants is critical, but cutting down too many trees could swap out one problem for another.

“You could easily imagine taking down all these trees, and the next time there's a big heatwave before the end of the school year, these campuses are super hot,” she said.

She said areas like sports fields and open soil playgrounds make sense for excavation, but a variety of methods can be used to remediate soil near trees, including phytoremediation, in which plants are used to take up metals in the soils.

“In my opinion, PUSD should not be moving forward with a wholesale excavation strategy without circling back and deeply investigating whether or not alternative soil remediation strategies can be utilized around the root beds of these large, mature, important trees,” O’Connell said.

District has concerns about additional costs

The district’s facilities director, Michael Dunning, said at the Thursday board meeting that he and his staff will assess 57 mature, protected trees where it may be possible to use an “air excavation method” to clean the soil at their base.

“It does take longer periods of time,” Dunning said. “It does come with some risk. We could go through the cost of trying this method at each tree and still not come to a conclusion.”

If the district doesn’t clean up the soil to accepted levels, they’d have to enter into a “land use covenant” with the state’s Department of Toxic Substances Control. That would require certain areas to be permanently closed off, or possibly made impermeable with concrete, as well as additional training and staff for maintenance, which could cost the district $30,000 per year in perpetuity, Dunning estimated.

“I’m not certain that our budget could withstand such a thing,” said Boardmember Michelle R. Bailey.

The original full excavation plan is estimated to cost $6.6 million, though the district would be reimbursed by the state if the contamination is reduced to public health standards.

Benjamin Stanphill, Southern California division chief at the state Department of Toxic Substances Control, told board members that the agency is "somewhat agnostic” about the method of contaminant removal and that they’d consider approving a plan involving bioremediation or phytoremediation methods.

Meanwhile, the district said in a statement that staff and arborists “will continue refining site-specific approaches, site by site, tree by tree… with the goal of maintaining as many protected trees within the removal areas as possible.”