Life+Leisure

Last Updated: Jan 26, 2026 04:02PM • Subscribe via RSS • ATOM

California State Fair Announces New Chief Wine Judge

Jan 26, 2026 04:02PM ● By California State Fair News Release

The California State Fair appointed Tim McDonald of Napa as the new Chief Judge of the California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition.

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Bridge House Café Celebrates Grand Opening

Jan 26, 2026 09:37AM ● By Gail Bullen, River Valley Times Reporter

The Bridge House, a new café, wine bar and gift shop in Murieta Plaza that has been operating since Nov. 29, marked its official grand opening Jan. 10 with a daylong celebration.

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RD 800 Receives FEMA Funds, Advances Flood Planning

Jan 26, 2026 09:32AM ● By Gail Bullen, River Valley Times Reporter

Three years after the January 2023 Cosumnes River floods upended its finances, Reclamation District 800 is finally beginning to see relief while still confronting the limits of a small assessment district responsible for aging levees.

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Elementary Educator is ABC10 Teacher of the Month

Jan 21, 2026 10:13AM ● By Gail Bullen, River Valley Times Reporter

andy Passmore, a fourth- and fifth-grade teacher of Cosumnes River Elementary School, has been recognized as Teacher of the Month for January 2026 by ABC10, a designation announced in a televised segment that aired Dec. 31.

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PTA Scores with Mother-Son Dodgeball Night

Jan 21, 2026 10:09AM ● By Gail Bullen, River Valley Times Reporter

Cosumnes River Elementary School’s multipurpose room echoed with cheers, laughter and the thud of rubber balls on Jan. 10 as the school’s PTA hosted Legends & Their Ladies in a dodgeball tournament designed to give mothers and sons dedicated time to bond.

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Post Office Lobby Hours Expected to Change

Jan 21, 2026 09:57AM ● By Gail Bullen, River Valley Times Reporter

An immediate decision to reduce lobby hours at the Sloughhouse Post Office following a break-in discovered Jan. 5 has been rescinded … for now.

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Development Moratorium Debate Began in July 2024

Jan 21, 2026 09:44AM ● By Gail Bullen, River Valley Times Reporter

Efforts to declare a water emergency began in July of 2024. Here are direct links to past River Valley Times coverage.

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Council OKs Parking Permits Near Pleasant Grove High

Jan 20, 2026 02:32PM ● By John McCallum, photos by Idaly Valencia

Acting on citizen complaints, the City Council approved a “Preferential Parking Permit Zone” for four residential streets facing the impacts of overflow parking from nearby schools Pleasant Grove High School and Katherine L. Albiani Middle School.

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CSD to Hold Hearing on Development Moratorium

Jan 19, 2026 10:46AM ● By Gail Bullen, River Valley Times Reporter

Following a divided board vote, the Rancho Murieta Community Services District will hold a public hearing on whether to declare a water emergency: a move that would temporarily halt new water connections for future development.

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Coyote Creek Solar Project Faces Uncertain Path Forward

Jan 13, 2026 12:02PM ● By Gail Bullen, River Valley Times Reporter

Despite Sacramento Municipal Utility District’s decision to walk away from a power purchase agreement, the developer of the controversial Coyote Creek Agrivoltaic Ranch says it intends to press ahead, leaving the 200-megawatt solar project facing an uncertain and potentially more complex path forward.

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Murieta Dance Company Heads to the Amazon Jungle

Jan 07, 2026 03:32PM ● By Gail Bullen, River Valley Times Reporter

With a cast of 106 dancers ranging in age from 2 to 18, Murieta Dance Company transformed an empty supermarket at Murieta Plaza into a time-traveling adventure during its 2025 year-end recital on Dec. 13 and 14.

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Association Board Cuts Committee, Approves Equipment Purchases

Jan 07, 2026 03:03PM ● By Gail Bullen, River Valley Times Reporter

The Rancho Murieta Association Board moved quickly through a relatively light agenda at its Dec. 16 meeting, with discussion centering on two items: the elimination of the Communications Committee and approval of plans to purchase new maintenance equipment at auction.

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Association Board Tightens Public Comment Rules

Jan 07, 2026 02:58PM ● By Gail Bullen, River Valley Times Reporter

The Rancho Murieta Association Board has revised how public comment is handled at its meetings, a change that narrows when residents may speak and removes the opportunity to comment on agenda items after board discussion.

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Tesla Supercharger Station Opens in Rancho Murieta

Dec 23, 2025 03:53PM ● By Gail Bullen, River Valley Times Reporter

A long-anticipated Tesla electric vehicle charging station has officially opened at the Murieta Marketplace shopping center, adding fast-charging capacity in Rancho Murieta after nearly a year of stops, starts and delays.

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Tour Visits Six Homes Looking Their Christmas Best

Dec 17, 2025 04:04PM ● By Gail Bullen, River Valley Times Reporter

Six Rancho Murieta homes were showcased during Deck the Halls – the 2025 Holiday Home Tour – presented by the Rancho Murieta Women’s Club on Dec. 13.

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Recruitment, Evacuation Are Fire Safe Council Topics

Dec 17, 2025 03:51PM ● By Gail Bullen, River Valley Times Reporter

Recruiting new board members and laying the groundwork to pursue additional grants were key topics at the Rancho Murieta Regional Fire Safe Council’s quarterly Zoom meeting on Dec. 2.

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Third Water Tank is Topic at Services District Meeting

Dec 17, 2025 03:33PM ● By Gail Bullen, River Valley Times Reporter

The need for a third water tank was again the dominant topic when the Rancho Murieta Community Services District Improvements Committee met on Dec. 4.

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Golf Scores: Achievements Honored at 'Tees the Season'

Dec 17, 2025 03:30PM ● By Nancy Clevenger

The Rancho Murieta Country Club’s Women’s Golf Club went festive this week with its annual end-of-the-year holiday, themed “Tees the Season.”

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Two Directors Re-elected at Association Annual Meeting

Dec 17, 2025 03:18PM ● By Joe Wirt

The second time proved to be the charm when the Rancho Murieta Association Board held its annual meeting on Dec. 11.

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Fuel Reduction Work Expands as CAL FIRE Grant Nears Final Months

Dec 11, 2025 04:15PM ● By Gail Bullen, River Valley Times Reporter

Registered professional forester Phyllis Banducci delivered an upbeat progress report Dec. 2, telling the Rancho Murieta Regional Fire Safe Council that on-the-ground work for the $4.4 million Cosumnes Ladder Fuel Reduction Project is nearly complete and that Sacramento County has authorized additional acres for treatment before the grant ends at the end of March.

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Wilton Winter Festival Draws Crowd

Dec 11, 2025 09:18AM ● By Patsy Nemetz

The Wilton Winter Festival returned to the Wilton Community Center on Dec. 6, drawing several hundred residents despite chilly, foggy weather in sharp contrast to last year’s unseasonably warm 60-degree day.

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State Dismisses CSD Conflict Complaints

Dec 04, 2025 11:15AM ● By Gail Bullen, River Valley Times Reporter

Three Rancho Murieta Community Services District board members have essentially been cleared of conflict-of-interest allegations by the California Fair Political Practices Commission.

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E-Bikes, Barcodes are Association Topics

Dec 04, 2025 11:12AM ● By Gail Bullen, River Valley Times Reporter

Discussion of a proposed e-bike rule and non-member barcode use highlighted the Rancho Murieta Association Board’s Nov. 18 meeting.

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The Kutzers: Preserving Wilton’s Past, Protecting Its Future

Dec 04, 2025 11:10AM ● By Wilton Winter Festival

Winter Festival time has arrived in Wilton again, and with it, another opportunity to honor local people who have shaped our community over the decades. This year, the Wilton Winter Festival Parade grand marshals are Bill and Alice Kutzer.

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Turkey Drive Helps Elk Grove Food Bank

Dec 04, 2025 10:57AM ● By Joe Wirt

The first Rancho Murieta Association Frozen Turkey Pickup Donation, held Nov. 21, was a success, according to Director Tom Reimers, who worked with RMA staff to launch the event.

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Wilton Donates $12,000 to Burn Institute

Dec 04, 2025 10:51AM ● By Joe Wirt

Thanks to the overwhelming success of the Wilton Firefighters Association Chili Cookoff on Oct. 11, three community organizations donated $12,000 to the Firefighters Burn Institute.

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Association Dedicates Sports Field to Jenco

Dec 04, 2025 10:47AM ● By Gail Bullen, River Valley Times Reporter

Before there were dugouts, before the lighting towers rose over the majors’ field, before Little League District 57 coaches called Rancho Murieta the best place to play, there was Randy Jenco with an idea of what local kids deserved.

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Developer Fees, Water Plan are District Topics

Dec 04, 2025 10:43AM ● By Gail Bullen, River Valley Times Reporter

Developer fees, an emergency lift-station repair and continuing disputes over the Integrated Water Master Plan dominated the Rancho Murieta Community Services District Board’s Nov. 19 meeting, which ran more than five hours and covered a long list of other issues.

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Unsung Hero Singh Remembered at Association Meeting

Dec 04, 2025 10:39AM ● By Gail Bullen, River Valley Times Reporter

Gyan Singh, who served in the Rancho Murieta Association maintenance department for 50 years before retiring in 2023, was memorialized by General Manager Rod Hart at the RMA board meeting on Nov. 18.

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Tree Lighting Draws Crowd to Stonehouse

Dec 04, 2025 10:35AM ● By Gail Bullen, River Valley Times Reporter

The Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony at Stonehouse Park on Nov. 28 drew an enthusiastic crowd of children, parents and grandparents eager to visit with Santa. The Rancho Murieta Association Recreation Committee presented the event, a community tradition for 22 years.

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Sowing Seeds in Northern California

Dec 04, 2025 09:14AM ● By Idaly Valencia

New Chicano Bookstore Opens in Sacramento

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SacRT Holiday Bus Returns to Spread Cheer and Support Foster Youth

Dec 02, 2025 03:55PM ● By Sacramento Regional Transit News Release

The Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT) is proud to launch the 2025 Holiday Bus today, offering fare-free rides and festive cheer across the Sacramento region throughout the month of December.

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Keeping Your Peace Through the Holidays

Dec 02, 2025 01:07PM ● By MPG Staff

While many residents spend the season preparing Thanksgiving meals, lighting the menorah, decorating their homes or planning festive gatherings, others experience the holidays as a period of heightened stress.

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