We are very excited to announce the next step in the evolution of Altadena's only homegrown and authentically local community news site.
Altadenablog is now a media partner with the Pasadena Sun, a new weekly paper and website that debuts Friday. The Pasadena Sun is a companion to the La Canada Valley Sun, and is operated by the Times Community News, a division of the Los Angeles Times.
The Pasadena Sun -- which will focus on on Pasadena, South Pasadena, and San Marino -- will appear on Fridays on newsstands and as inserts to the Los Angeles Times in those cities (don't know if it'll be stuffed in the Altadena papers yet). On Sundays, both Sun papers will combine as the Sunday Valley Sun, which will also be an insert in the Los Angeles Times.
The newspaper’s web sites are www.pasadenasun.com and www.the626now.com.
What this means for us is two things: One, as a media partner, Altadenablog has increased resources to share events that may not occur in Altadena but affect us anyway, such as decisions affecting the Pasadena Unified School District and Hahamongna Watershed, as well as some prep sports. We will be able to run excerpts from the Sun on our website, linking to the full story in the Sun (similar to the arrangement Hometown Pasadena has with us now). They will get to do the same, linking to Altadenablog stories as events warrant. The Pasadena Sun has attracted some first-class writers from the Los Angeles Times and the Pasadena Star-News to its bullpen, so we're glad we have them, if only virtually!
Two: while not planning to cover Altadena extensively, the Sun knows the importance of this town to its readership, and so we are writing a column for the Sunday paper: "Altadena Junction," which talks about the news and issues of our community. The name is in honor of the historic train depot that not only brought together several urban railways in our town, but also connected with Prof. Thaddeus Lowe's rail system to his mountain resort. We felt it was an appropriate way to symbolize Altadena's place "between wilderness and city," as Michele Zack's definitive history calls it.
(And we also want to acknowledge that the Altadena Junction name still has a local presence to this day, now as the name of the healing and creative arts studio owned by Dr. Marisol Martinez and Lance Anderson, one of Altadena's creative power couples).
This does not mean any change of ownership or focus -- we continue to be the sole owner of Altadenablog, and we will continue to strive to be your best source of Altadena news. We are excited about being able to give you a better news product, and having another platform to trumpet the abundant virtues of our hometown to the larger community.
