On April 15th, voters in Council District 5  — which includes the communities of Woodbridge, Westpark, University Park and Rancho San Joaquin — elected Betty Martinez Franco to fill the Council seat vacated last November by Larry Agran, who was elected Mayor of Irvine.

According to her campaign website, Franco’s top priorities include: expanding affordable housing options; finding solutions to traffic congestion; advocating for small businesses; improving our City’s libraries and parks; investing in green projects; connecting the City’s most vulnerable families to essential resources; and building the long-promised Veterans Cemetery at the Great Park.

Six local high school bands — Pelargoniums, 25 After Midnight, Eastla, Chaos Theory, Groundwire,...

Six Irvine schools have been recognized as 2025 California Distinguished Schools, which is the state’s highest honor for schools.

California Distinguished Schools are selected based on key indicators tied to the California School Dashboard, which is the state’s primary school accountability and improvement tool. Indicators reflect test scores, suspension rates, conditions and school climate.

During his State of the City address last month, Irvine Mayor Larry Agran discussed his goal to make Irvine the “safest, smartest, greenest, healthiest, and kindest city in America.”

Although Irvine is already considered the “Safest City” in the nation based on FBI violent crime data, Mayor Agran sees an opportunity to do more by addressing other public safety concerns. For example, the City recently lowered speed limits on nearly 100 Irvine streets. And, in his State of the City remarks, Mayor Agran called for stepped-up traffic enforcement by the Irvine Police Department (IPD) — to crack down on speeding, street racing, red-light runners, and drunk drivers.

Congratulations to University High School student Aryan Mukherjee for receiving the Congressional...

In addition to protecting our City from criminal activity, the Irvine Police Department (IPD) responds to nearly 2,400 mental health-related calls each year.

Now, IPD has established a new resource, the Irvine Community Alternative Response and Engagement (I-CARE) Team.

In celebration of Women’s History Month, State Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris hosts an annual “Women of the Year” event to publicly honor women throughout the 73rd Assembly District for their extraordinary leadership and community service achievements.

Yulan’s dedication and leadership have resulted in significant strides in Chinese education and cultural exchange, impacting thousands of parents and students.

Location plays a hand in how bright or gloomy our days are. For years, researchers have studied the science of happiness and found that its key ingredients include a positive mental state, healthy body, strong social connections, job satisfaction and financial well-being.

The study found that the majority of Irvine residents have a remarkably positive mental state, good physical health, low divorce rate, longer life expectancy, strong social connections, high job satisfaction, and financial well-being.

When Larry Agran was elected Mayor of Irvine last November, his District 5 Council seat was left...

Last year, the Irvine City Council unanimously voted to transition library services from the Orange County Public Libraries (OCPL) and, instead, establish our own Irvine Public Library System.

By establishing its own public library system, the City will save millions of taxpayer dollars; existing Irvine libraries will be expanded and modernized; and two new libraries will be built (at the Great Park and in Woodbridge).