Goodbye from Your Editor

Stay classy, Murrieta.

Borrowing a line from the movie, “Anchorman,” I’m writing to say goodbye as the editor of Murrieta Patch as well as thank the community in which I remain a resident.

You may have heard by now that the majority of Patch editors were laid off on Jan. 29, myself included, as part of a company restructuring.

It is hard to capture in words my thoughts as I look back on the last three years and three months of my life. First it was building the site and preparing for launch, which happened in mid-December 2010. Then it was writing, videoing and photographing the news day in and day out.

Fires, accidents, and crime news also kept me busy. I also loved bringing stories about the great people of our community, some whom passed on.

Then there were the historic moments such as the City Council and School Board elections, the opening of the improved Clinton Keith and Cal Oaks freeway interchanges, the widening of I-215 through Murrieta, a new Christmas tree for Town Square Park this past holiday season, and a CIF Championship Win for Vista Murrieta High School Football. The list goes on and I am sure I have missed some.

What I found in all of this was that the community my family and I moved to in 2004 because of the great schools and family-friendly environment went way beyond that; it is a caring community. I hope that I helped it connect and stay informed through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Thanks for your patience, news tips, photos and support through it all.

It is my understanding that for the time being, some editors remain and are managing the sites. So please continue to support this hyper-local news platform by uploading your events, announcements and blogs.

I am grateful for the writers and bloggers who faithfully contributed to the site. I hope they will continue to do so.

I am unsure of what my immediate future holds work-wise. A break sounds nice right about now. But if you see me around town, please say hi. 

—Maggie Avants