English Bulldog Puppies for Sale in Murrieta, CA

"This revalidation is a testament to the work happening in classrooms across our school campus every single day," the MVUSD district says.

MURRIETA, CA — Murrieta Mesa High School has been officially revalidated as an AVID National Demonstration School as of Wednesday, according to the Murrieta Valley Unified School District's recent announcement. The title is held by less than 3% of the thousands of AVID partner schools worldwide.

On Wednesday, 30 visiting educators and four AVID national representatives evaluated the campus. The revalidation immediately followed.

That visit included a schoolwide presentation on AVID systems and culture, classroom walkthroughs showing the integration of AVID methodologies across subject areas, collaborative panels with students and staff, and a systems review examining how Murrieta Mesa prepares students — including those traditionally underrepresented in higher education — for success after high school.

Deputy Superintendent Darren Daniel spoke on the achievement.

“This revalidation is a testament to the work happening in classrooms across Murrieta Mesa’s campus every single day. When families enroll their children in Murrieta, they can count on us providing exceptional education and a rich academic experience," he said.

Principal Scott Richards shared thoughts on the program's success.

“The systems we’ve built and the relationships we form are making a tangible difference in the lives of our students,” he said.

The revalidation process was led by AVID co-coordinators Denise Guzman and Letty Krogh, along with AVID counselor Lisa Amstutz. Their work, supported by teachers and college tutors, has helped maintain AVID as a schoolwide program at Murrieta Mesa, according to the release.

According to AVID Center, National Demonstration Schools are “centers of teaching and learning” that exhibit a college readiness system across the campus. Visitors during the validation noted high levels of engagement and a “culture of support and opportunity” at the school.

Patch is highlighting young people who are excelling in sports. Meet Josh.

MURRIETA, CA — Behind every standout student-athlete is a story worth sharing. Through Patch’s Local Athlete of the Week, we’re highlighting young people who are excelling in sports while also showing up for their communities.

This submission comes from Robert Glaser, who nominated Joshua, a student-athlete from Murrieta.

What is the athlete's name?

Joshua

What grade is the athlete in?

12th Grade

What sport does the athlete play?

Lacrosse and JROTC Raider Team

How has the athlete excelled in their sport?

Josh is a student athlete and has been part of the Lacrosse and Raider teams for the past four years. He juggles both sports simultaneously and is also part of the command staff for the Murrieta Valley USMC JROTC. He is a leader both on the field and off the field. Whether he is on the sidelines or running plays, Joshua has a positive attitude and leads his teammates through his encouragement and positive attitude.

Why do you think the athlete should be recognized?

He is an IB Diploma Student, plays two sports simultaneously, maintains his student-athlete status, and is in the delayed entry program for the United States Marines.

What’s one thing you want everyone to know about this person?

He is a team player and knows his positive attitude is infectious.

Keep up the great work, Joshua!

If you know a local athlete who deserves the spotlight, we’d love to hear about them. Click here to nominate someone for a chance to be featured as Patch’s Local Athlete of the Week.

Butters held his own at #1 during the latest round of voting, but Murrieta remains proud of the orange Flame Point Siamese and owner Robyn.

MURRIETA, CA — A Murrieta cat has finished 2nd in the quarter-finals of a national contest this week, owner Robyn Hargrove says of her orange feline, Butters. The flame point Siamese cat was up for Modern Cat Magazine's 2026 America's Favorite Pet falling short of the mark but not in our hearts.

A total of 47,000 cats entered the contest for Colossal Paws Charity, organized by Donnie Wahlberg and Jenny McCarthy.

"I was grateful butters made the 1% and stayed in the contest as long as he did! But Donnie Wahlberg and Jenny McCarthy will never know how hard I really truly worked."

Hargrove is a retired Stater Brothers employee, and used her social media prowess to get her kitty the most likes possible.

"I worked my butt off literally worked my butt off publicity wise, getting them in the newspaper taking the perfect pictures, checking the status of the contest everything 15 minutes from the day it started January 5 till it ended last night," she tells us.

Butters was in first place for much of the last week, but as the clock wound down, it was neck and neck until the end.

"It ended in a nitty-gritty knockdown dollar fight at about 6:59 Butters was in first place the whole time but second place cat must’ve put in $500 at the last minute," she told us. "It's unfortunate

As disappointed as we were for Butters to not make it to the next round, we're pretty sure he remains Murrieta's favorite cat.

"I’m very excited to learn learned so much in to meet so many kind people along the way," she told us. "Literally people off the street voted for him, my friends, my family and it was very exciting."

Though she's sad he's not going to the semifinals, she told us the cost of another victory for Butters would have been prohibitive. Of the contest, she told us: "I have nothing negative to say about America’s favorite pet. They ran a competition. I followed the rules and it was exciting. Exhausting, but exciting."

Now that the voting is done, it's time for Butters to get a solid cat nap.

"I love my cat," Hargrove said. "He’s the most amazing beautiful flame point Siamese and he is just heaven-sent."

The Thursday meeting council members discussed the prioritization of the community pool, sports park additions, the new fire station & more.

MURRIETA, CA — The Murrieta City Manager and City Council Thursday juggled the importance of numerous issues and projects and events for the coming year in a working session held Thursday.

The council session, that began at 8:30 a.m. was still in full swing at 2 p.m. as they discussed a hierarchy of projects. The plan was to discuss possible next top priorities to guide the council going forward, according to City Manager Justin Clifton. Each project will be prioritized as a Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3 project during the session.

The tone of the meeting was "take care of what we have," as the council members grapple with tiers, priorities and funding.

Council member Lisa Deforest said. "We have all these wants, and that's when we need to know how much we have to spend."

Items up for discussion included a 23 page list of priorities from last year's session. During the conversation, the large scale projects of Fire station 6 and the Murrieta Pool appeared to be to the greatest priority, according to City Manager, Jack Clifton.

With the fire station, the city has acquired the property, estimated operating costs, and is working to confirming utilities and annexation. More work is needed toward pursuing grants and funding, as well as designing and building the new station.

During the 2025 priorities session, that sitting Murrieta council downgraded the importance of the redesign and build of the community pool. The redesign did not get beyond extensive community outreach, as its projected $10 to 13 million budget was de-prioritized. Now, the sitting council has upped its importance.

Councilwoman Lori Stone discussed the tier program, in this her fifth city council session.

"This is just our wish list. If we can carry this forward for the future, this is a snapshot of where we are, but it is important for the city manager to carry on with our wishes."

Among the large scale city projects currently underway or completed are: Fire Station 6 project; the Amphitheater Parking Lot project which has been completed; the Los Alamos Soccer Complex which is in process; the Keller Road Interchange to the I-215, which is in process; the Library Expansion, which is in process; and numerous others.

One community member wrote in, supporting the new community pool, at the site of the previous community pool off California Oaks Road.

"We have had to use the Temecula pools quite a bit between the CRC and Margarita Park, but it's a drive with traffic," Jeffrey Garrett said in an email. "I live right by Murrieta Town Hall and having a pool down the street would be great."

Next steps will be a thorough examination of the priorities, budgets for achieving goals and further council decisions and review.

"Realistically, I want the moon, too, but what's my budget? If you told me I had $10 million bucks and let's go, get a project together and let's go," said

See the full meeting in the livestreamed video on facebook:

Stone recalled previous sessions, and said that this year she felt things were actually moving forward.

"This is my fifth goal session meeting. This is the best goal setting meeting to date," Stone said. "This has been an amazing conversation and it starts at the top."

MURRIETA, CA — Acts of kindness happen every day in Murrieta, and we want to hear about the moments, big or small, that show how neighbors support one another. Patch has partnered with T-Mobile on Good Deeds, Great Communities, a nationwide initiative that spotlights acts of kindness in communities across the country. If you’ve done a good deed, experienced one or seen one recently, we invite you to share it.

At the end of the submission period, Patch will select one community, at Patch’s discretion, and make a charitable donation of $500 to a local nonprofit.

You can submit a recent act of kindness — whether it was something you did yourself or something you witnessed. If you’re submitting a kind act done by someone else, please be sure you have their permission before sharing their story.

As part of the submission, you’ll be asked for your state and ZIP code. This information helps power our real-time leaderboard, which is updated throughout the submission period so readers can follow along and encourage others in their community to participate.

You’re welcome to submit more than one act of kindness, helping highlight the many ways people in Murrieta show up for one another.

If you’d like to share a story, submissions remain open through March 31, 2026. Submit your good deed here, and consider sharing this opportunity with others in Murrieta so more acts of kindness can be included.

Patch may select your good deed to appear in an article as part of the Good Deeds, Great Communities project.

Kindness is happening in Murrieta — tell us about a good deed you’ve seen or experienced.

Leaderboard results are for engagement purposes only. Any donation associated with the project will be made by Patch, and the recipient will be determined by Patch.