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Life+Leisure

Last Updated: Feb 25, 2026 10:43AM • Subscribe via RSS • ATOM

Pickleball, South Gate Work, E-bike Rule are RMA Topics

Feb 25, 2026 10:43AM ● By Gail Bullen River Valley Times Reporter, photos by Gail Bullen

Requests from the Rancho Murieta Pickleball Club, final approval of new e-bike safety rules, long-awaited improvements at the south gate entrance, and an update on the search for a new general manager were among the primary topics at the Rancho Murieta Association board meeting Feb. 17.

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Top Concert Acts Coming to the 2026 California State Fair

Feb 23, 2026 04:19PM ● By California State Fair News Release

Weekly Announcements Begin in March

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Terrata Cuts Ribbon on Murieta Hills Model Home

Feb 20, 2026 04:14PM ● By Gail Bullen, River Valley Times Reporter

About 30 people gathered Feb. 12 for the grand opening and ribbon-cutting of the Terrata Homes model home and sales office at Murieta Hills in Rancho Murieta.

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sutter health park

River Cats Unveil ‘Festival of Baseball’

Feb 16, 2026 12:18PM ● By Sacramento River Cats News Release

The Sacramento River Cats recently announced the launch of the River Cats Festival of Baseball at Sutter Health Park, a season-long marketing campaign that transforms each homestand into a uniquely curated music-festival-style experience, celebrating the spirit, culture and community that defines Sacramento.

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Water Emergency Declaration Stalls after Packed, Divided Hearing

Feb 13, 2026 12:50PM ● By Gail Bullen, River Valley Times Reporter

Following a year and a half of organized community efforts urging a development moratorium, the Rancho Murieta Community Services District board took no action Feb. 10 on whether to declare a water shortage emergency.

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CSD Board Reviews Options for Lake Clementia, Recycled Water

Feb 11, 2026 11:29AM ● By Gail Bullen, River Valley Times Reporter

The Rancho Murieta Community Services District Board on Jan. 21 held a wide-ranging discussion on what it would take to convert Lake Clementia into a drinking water source, revealing both the regulatory complexity of the process and differences over whether the effort is worth pursuing at all.

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Full Plates, Full House at Kiwanis Crab Feed

Feb 11, 2026 11:24AM ● By Gail Bullen, River Valley Times Reporter

A sellout crowd cracked crab, cheered teen servers and raised money for youth programs at the 12th Annual Crab Feed presented by the Rancho Murieta Kiwanis Club on Jan. 31 at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church.

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CSD Board Debates Groundwater Numbers

Feb 11, 2026 11:08AM ● By Gail Bullen, River Valley Times Reporter

A long-running debate over Rancho Murieta’s water future shifted to groundwater wells at the Jan. 21 meeting of the Rancho Murieta Community Services District board, as directors and advisers wrestled with a fundamental question: how much well water the community actually needs, and how confidently that number can be determined before millions of dollars are spent.

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Speaker Brings Humor, Soil Science, Camellia Expertise to Garden Club

Feb 11, 2026 11:04AM ● By Gail Bullen, River Valley Times Reporter

Greg Gayton of Green Acres Nursery & Supply returned as a popular guest speaker at the River Valley Garden Club’s Jan. 27 meeting, delivering an hour-long, question-driven talk that ranged from camellias and fertilizer to deer pressure, fog-related diseases and the challenges of growing plants in Rancho Murieta’s notoriously poor soil.

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RMA Board Tackles Gate Traffic, E-Bike Rules, GM Search

Feb 11, 2026 10:59AM ● By Gail Bullen, River Valley Times Reporter

The Rancho Murieta Association board spent much of its Jan. 20 meeting focused on access and enforcement issues, approving changes to gate-pass procedures, advancing barcode controls and tabling a proposed e-bike rule that directors agreed needed more work.

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Community Donors Step Up at Blood Drive

Feb 11, 2026 10:56AM ● By Joe Wirt

Donor Elizabeth Myers and Vitalant nurse Kristen Graves help supply badly needed blood during the Rancho Murieta Women’s Club quarterly blood drive at St. Vincent de Paul Church on Jan. 26.

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Kiwanis Club Collects 300 Toys for Holiday Drive

Feb 11, 2026 10:51AM ● By Joe Wirt

The Kiwanis Club of Rancho Murieta offers a belated thank-you to the community for its generous response to the Toys for Tots campaign.

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CSD Discusses Repairs to Gate Arms, Culverts, Lift Station

Feb 11, 2026 10:42AM ● By Gail Bullen, River Valley Times Reporter

Although the agenda appeared light, the Rancho Murieta Community Services District Board discussed a range of issues at its Jan. 21 meeting, including repairs to a lift station and gate arms, as well as the need to update the district’s water conservation plan in the event of a drought.

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sacramento choral society and orchestra

Rarely Performed Masterpiece Comes to Sacramento

Feb 06, 2026 11:21AM ● By Sacramento Choral Society & Orchestra News Release

Dvořák’s Requiem Presented by the Sacramento Choral Society & Orchestra at SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center

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formal dance kimono worn by Japanese singer Agnes Yoshiko Miyakawa

‘Kokoro’ Explores Lost Japantown

Feb 03, 2026 04:11PM ● By Abbey Wicks

When you think of downtown Sacramento today, you might think of DoCo or the Capitol Mall. But did you know that downtown Sacramento was once home to a thriving Japantown?

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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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