MUSD board approves new middle school boundaries

Menifee Union School District Governing Board held its annual organizational meeting demonstrating the district’s growth and progress and approved new attendance boundaries for Kathryn Newport Middle School students.

“This is an exciting milestone on our journey to the opening of Kathryn Newport Middle School,” newly appointed Board President Morgan Singleton said at the Dec. 13 meeting. “I am grateful to the residents of Menifee who, through their generous support of Measure Q and Community Facilities District funding, made this possible for our students.”

With the opening of the new middle school in August, boundaries had to be reconfigured so as to determine which homes fall within the new school’s attendance area. To do so, the district convened a boundary committee. The committee consisted of district parents, teachers, classified staff, administrators, a member of the superintendent’s cabinet, a community organization member and a city representative. The district’s facilities department presented various options to the committee. Based on those options, the committee made a recommendation to the governing board.

Along with the approval of the new boundaries, the governing board also appointed Nicholas Stearns the new principal. Stearns will be at the helm for the opening of this much-anticipated school. He currently serves as the principal at Oak Meadows Elementary and will transition to his new role

The orange area depicts the boundaries for Kathryn Newport Middle School. Valley News/Courtesy image in February.

Superintendent Jennifer Root said, “Our staff has worked diligently to get us to this point in MUSD’s history, and I am confident that we will make the start of Kathryn Newport Middle School a successful one.”

To learn more about Kathryn Newport Middle School, visit www.menifeeusd.org

ARPA funding allocated to Boys and Girls Club for Alberhill Ranch Clubhouse

Joe Naiman Writer

The Riverside County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday, Jan. 24, included allocating $1,800,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funding to the Boys & Girls Club of Southwest County for improvements to the Alberhill Ranch Clubhouse in Lake Elsinore.

The supervisors voted 5-0 to authorize the use of ARPA funds for the Alberhill Ranch Clubhouse Improvements project and to direct the county’s Executive Office to initiate the ARPA agreement with the Boys & Girls Club. The Alberhill Ranch Clubhouse is in the 16200 block of Grand Avenue.

The Alberhill Ranch Clubhouse is in Alberhill Ranch Community Park and comprises 5,500 square feet. Its past activities have provided high-quality youth development programs and services for children between the ages of 6 and 17 including before-school and after-school care, homework support, educational camps during the school year and summer camps where healthy and nutritious snacks were provided daily.

In 2017, the clubhouse experienced extensive water intrusion which caused structural damage in multiple locations and created an unsafe condition for the youth members and staff. The clubhouse was closed in 2019 and its members and operations were relocated to Lakeland Village. The lack of access for youth deprived them of productive activities and affected not only the youth and their progress but also parents, including single parents and foster parents, with work responsibilities.

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 included $362 billion of Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds allocations for eligible state, territorial, tribal and local governments. The funding addresses the public health emergency and economic impacts of the coronavirus epidemic and can be utilized for four eligible categories: mitigation of negative economic impacts, premium pay for eligible workers performing essential work, provision of government services lost revenue would have eliminated, and necessary infrastructure investments including water, sewer and broadband. The county will receive $479,874,599 of it. The first installment of $239,937,299 was received in May 2021 and the second $239,937,299 installment was received June 6, 2022. The funds must be committed by Dec. 31, 2024, and spent by Dec. 31, 2026.

The ARPA funding for the Alberhill Ranch Clubhouse will support the re-opening of the clubhouse after the necessary site and structural improvements are complete. The Boys & Girls Club of Southwest County will continue to operate the facility.

Joe Naiman can be reached by email at jnaiman@reedermedia. com.

Single-engine plane crashes during forced landing in French Valley

City News Service Special to Valley News

A single-engine airplane crashed into a gully just southwest of French Valley Airport Friday, Jan. 27 as the pilot was maneuvering to make a forced landing at the field, leaving him and his passenger injured.

The crash happened about 8:30 a.m. along Sky Canyon Drive, near Borel Road, according to the Federal Aviation Administration and Riverside County Fire Department.

According to the FAA, the pilot of the Cessna 210N Centurion, tail No. N4758C, was attempting to make an emergency landing on Runway 36 for reasons still under investigation, but apparently didn’t have the power or altitude to extend his glidepath. remained officially closed until Friday, Jan. 27.

The Cessna went down along a rocky slope in the canal and flipped onto its back before coming to rest, according to officials. No homes were in the immediate vicinity.

Both the pilot and passenger self-extricated from the wreckage. There was no post-crash fire, according to the fire department.

The victims were taken to a regional trauma center for treatment of minor injuries, officials said. The plane had reportedly originated from Long Beach, but no other details regarding the itinerary were available.

FAA records indicate the plane was manufactured in September 1979.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators were sent to the crash site that day and were expected to release preliminary findings on the accident in about a week.

The remaining Plateau Reserve trails and Visitors Center on Clinton Keith Road in La Cresta have been closed to the public since the devastating Tenaja Fire raged through parts of the reserve and took the outdoor stage several years ago. The stage has been rebuilt but the reserve will remain closed until Riverside County Parks and Recreation can declare it again open.

TRAILS from page A-1 awaiting the renewal of its native flora and fauna since the fire and a return of local wildlife. Recently, biologists planted the plateau’s streams and pools with the endangered California Red-Legged Frog eggs (Rana draytonii), hoping they will return in the years to come. The native grasses have been slow to return.

The Nature Conservancy, California Fish and Wildlife and Metropolitan Water District, with major interests in the reserve, are

Rob Hicks, Riverside County Parks and Recreation’s SRPER naturalist, recently reported they hoped to fully reopen the reserve hiking trails “soon” but no specific date was known. The reserves, nearly 9,000 acres, hold a number of endangered plant and animal species protected in California. Those include many Engelmann Oak trees (Quercus engelmannii). It also is the historical land of the Cahuilla Mission Indians and was once owned by Vail Ranch and later by Kaiser Corp. Land and MWD. Old adobes remain on the Reserve today.