Monthly Archives: June 2025
Jun 18 2025
ICE Raids in Pasadena, CA Continue Wednesday June 18, 2025 Six Apprehended in Latest Raids

Raids by ICE agents continue in the Pasadena area. As of Wednesday morning, several agents are spotted and reports are that at least six individuals had been taken away.

 

What to do if ICE comes to your home or approaches your vehicle, click here.

We could hear and see a helicopter circling around the area when the raid was taking place.

Plain clothes, face coverings, unmarked cars. I would assume I was being kidnapped.

Some speculate that

They are not ice. They are bounty hunters. That don’t have the right to pull you over. They need a warrant. They are getting paid 1500 per person. They dont have the right training.

Here’s a video from near the Winchell’s Donut:

https://neighbors.ring.com/n/VrQEM4vtmZ

Per Judy Chu

As you can see, these ICE agents are pointing guns at innocent individuals, no warrants, no explanations, just fear and intimidation. These raids in my district are absolutely vile. Masked and armed like a militia, they’re terrorizing families and destroying any sense of safety in our communities. This is not law enforcement it’s a gross abuse of power, and I will not stand for it. Video Credit: @ausiime, footage from this morning in Pasadena (6/18)

Jun 17 2025
Pasadena Rose Bowl Club World Cup 2025 Soccer Fans Miserable Conditions

The management of the Pasadena Rose Bowl, has not learned lessons about how to take care of visitors of the Rose Bowl, many paying a lot of money.

This past Sunday June 15, 2025, with temperatures well above 90 degrees, the Rose Bowl made patrons empty water bottles and if they wanted water would have to stand in lines that took 45minutes just to buy a bottle of water.

Where are the hydration stations? Why not allow visitors to bring in water bottles?

This situation after seeing the fiasco a year ago with soccer fans lighting fireworks in the stands at the Rose Bowl.  What is really going on here?

Read about the reports of experiences at the Guardian.

 

Jun 16 2025
Pasadena PWP EV Chargers DC Fast Chargers at Marengo Plaza June 15, 2025

On a Sunday afternoon, while attending the Pasadena Chalk Festival I decided to park and attempt to charge at the DC Fast chargers offered at the city owned parking garage.

While most of the Tesla Superchargers are operational, one look at the PWP chargers and the majority of them are blocked off.  Although the app shows there are 12 available there are nowhere near that many available, perhaps 4 as 4 had been in use whey I attempted to charge. Attempts to charge at one charger was unsuccessful when one person left I was able to attempt to charge, but had to wait for the PowerFlex app to update that the charger was no longer in use.

Most of these chargers at the Marengo Plaza do not have the updated signage that shows that only cable per charger is usable at a time.

If a cable is not in the holster, there may be a trigger that prevents the charger from functioning properly which may be another issue altogether.

When I created a CSC request for maintenance of the chargers at Marengo Plaza parking and the issue with having to pay for parking this is the response I received.

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Thank you for contacting the CSC. As of this morning the PowerFlex app shows 18 charging stations in our system. The “available” language means that there are no faults online that give a reason that the charger will not work. The fact that a charger is blocked physically at the location will not automatically change this on the app. Chargers #3-#8 are expected to be available to the public on 6/20/2025. These are replacement units and still have some additional commissioning and testing before they will be available. The other chargers were blocked off for safety reasons during the installs last week. Chargers #9-#20 should be available for use this afternoon. As of Friday, Chargers #1, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 19, and #20 were all tested and provided charging sessions. This is 9 chargers that were working as of Friday. If you do have issues using the app, please call the support line at PowerFlex with any issues while you are charging . That is the fastest way to receive help as well as log in issues that can be addressed quickly. You may not be aware, but many stores within the Paseo do validate parking including Starbucks. You can get a coffee while you wait and park for free. Lastly, the City does not exclude any EV from charging at a PowerUp station. Any EV is welcome to charge on a first-come, first-served basis and this includes Tesla vehicles.

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While it is good to hear that the six new chargers that are apparently show as powered on and available are slated to be available on June 20, 2025, that doesn’t help that the chargers are showing as available on the app but when you arrive they are blocked off.

 

 

Jun 6 2025
Gas Tax Moving Full Steam Ahead in California

As democratic legislators vote against a bill to halt the increase in gas tax, consumers will be faced with an increase in gas at the pump. California already has one of the highest prices on gas.

Now prices could jump 65 cents or more in a matter of months.  While some insist that the prices will not be more than a few added cents. Every little increase chips away at the budgets families in one of the most expensive states to live in just keeps getting more expensive.

The debate of why there is the gas tax increase and the move to EV’s and away from gas powered vehicles. Some say that by 2030 we could see gas approaching $10 a gallon.  Some sights are well over $6. With recent declines, but prices fluctuate with the price of crude oil either domestic or imported.

Senate Bill 2 had aimed to halt proposed changes to California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) that were approved by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in November

Senate Bill 2 Roll call

Jun 3 2025
Pasadena Chalk Festival Welcomes Out of Towners for Creation of 200+ Murals June 14 & 15, 2025

Pasadena Chalk Festival Welcomes Out of Towners for Creation of 200+ Murals

Pasadena, CA (June 3, 2025) – Pasadena’s beloved art event celebrates its 32nd year on June 14 & 15. Over 500 artists from all over Los Angeles, Southern California, and beyond will gather to create spectacular murals on over 2 football fields of pavement.

Lovingly referred to as A Museum Without Walls, the festival will be staged at The Paseo, the front concourse of the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, and on Garfield Avenue, extending toward City Hall.

This year, artists boast hometowns in Nevada, Colorado, Oregon, Texas, Florida, and even Mexico! Thousands of art lovers, family members and visitors will experience the creation of images in every style and artistic genre; these will include animation, renderings of masterpieces, fantasy, humorous and inspirational art, icons of popular culture, and 3-dimensional illusionary art. All of these will be completed over the two-day weekend in brilliant technicolor.

Siete Foods will be on site handing out free bags of their chips to patrons for a fun summer treat. Chick-fil-A will also be present with lunch deals for artists and art lovers alike.

The Pasadena Chalk Festival benefits the arts & educational programs of Light Bringer Project, a Pasadena-based nonprofit that has produced this unique public art event since its inception. A silent auction of affordable art, created by festival participants, will benefit Light Bringer Project programs.

On Saturday, June 14, The Classic Car Show will take place on Colorado Blvd., adjoining the festival, featuring hundreds of classic custom automobiles throughout the decades. The event is produced by the Pasadena Police Department.

Pasadena Chalk Festival will be open to the public from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on both weekend days. We are always free to the public. It will feature a live deejay and other concessions, along with the retail entertainment opportunities at The Paseo.

 

WHEN: Father’s Day Weekend, Saturday and Sunday, June 14 & 15 from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Saturday only, June 14, Classic Car Show from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

 

WHERE: Pasadena Chalk Festival at The Paseo 300 E. Colorado Blvd. 91101

Classic Car Show on Colorado Blvd. in front of The Paseo, adjoining the festival

COST: As always, the event is free-of-charge to the public

 

PARKING: Public parking lots by Civic Auditorium and The Paseo underground lot. Schoolhouse Parking Lot in Old Pasadena. Consider bicycling or ride-sharing.

 

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: The LA Metro A Line’s Del Mar Station. Pasadena Transit bus lines conveniently stop in close vicinity.

 

For more information go to: http://www.pasadenachalkfestival.org

Photos Available Upon Request

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DOWNLOAD PRESS RELEASE PDF
Jun 3 2025
City of Pasadena PWP State of DC Fast Chargers June 3, 2025 – 27% Operational

As many know the state of DC Fast charging in Pasadena has declined significantly.  While efforts are being made, the improvements have been minimal at best.

A recently provided report on the state of DC Fast chargers paints a picture that is worse than has been reported…  Pasadena Now refused to approve a comment made on their story, that claimed that PWP reports 60% of chargers are working and that ZERO DC Fast chargers are operational in Glendale.  Both of which claims are blatantly false.

The data provided through a PRA request   There are some obvious missteps the city is taking regarding the control and management of the DC Fast charger systems.  Hopefully we see some adjustments and corrections made.

Several people have sent in correspondence related to the City Budget for 2025-2026 related to the state of EV Charging.

PRA last week.

I converted the pdf into an Excel file to more easily digest the
information and it is worse than what I have experienced.

The summary on the bottom of the Excel says it all.

45 Total
12 Operational
28 Non Operational
5 Partial- Not operational
33 Total not functioning properly
27% Percent Operational
73% Percent Non Operational

1. The new parking of 2 hours on fast chargers is not acceptable, it
is not a best practice to "allow" a 2 hour use of a fast charger.  Del
Mar has a 30min posted limit.  That's what we need at all locations.
If you leave and come back or switch to another charger, that's ok,
but at least give someone else a change to charge.

2.  The rate PWP is charging is low, to the point that many charge on
PWP chargers vs at home because the rate can be less.   The rate is
about half of what others including Tesla, charge.  Why? The rate
seriously needs to be increased to at least a 25% increase.  Still
competitive and have funds to properly maintain chargers.

3. Someone needs to ask where all the money went? Where did the millions go?

4. Overstay fees need to be implemented, if you are fully charged or
over the 30 minutes on DC fast charging you should be charged 50cents
a minute or more. Tesla charges $1 per minute.  This is a precious
resource that needs property use rules. And those that don't follow
should be penalized.

5. Parking enforcement needs to better patrol the EV charges and
enforce CVC 22511 which is posted.

6. We need to stop comparing with other cities that may or may not
have worse charging situations.  Why not compare to cities that have
better charging and have partnerships with EV charging companies like
IONNA and Gravity and EVCS and others...

7. On point 6, the bottom line may be that PWP/Pasadena should not be
in the EV charging space. Mismanagement challenges and other issues
have plagued the project.  Perhaps it makes sense to engage multiple
vendors/providers to install / replace those charger locations that
are not working, like Glanarm/Arroyo. That site has been mostly out of
service for many months. There is basically one working charger and it
is a handicap parking spot.
Most of the chargers PWP has deployed are slower than the slowest
Tesla Supercharger at 50Kw from PWP to 72kW from Tesla... The latest
generation of common DC Fast Chargers are upwards of 250kW and even
much higher.  That's where we need to be.

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