Are You New to Patch? Check Us Out

Are you discovering Patch for the first time? If so, you might be interested to know a little bit about it.

Patch is a news site with information specific to Rancho Santa Margarita. There's other news too that should be of interest, such as county, state or maybe even some pop culture items that engages people in conversation.

That's what Patch really is—the town water cooler.

What can you do on Patch?

• Keep up with news and events
• Check out photos and videos from around town submitted by you—or your neighbors
• Learn more about local businesses and the people behind them
• Participate in discussions
• Share your perspectives via our Local Voices blogging platform
• Submit your own announcements, photos, and reviews
• Find or post a volunteer opportunity

RSM Patch is one of more than 800 communities nationwide, including most cities in south Orange County, that has its own Patch (you can find the Patch cities at Patch.com). Although the URL is technically RanchoSantaMargarita.patch.com, you can get to Patch by typing RSM.patch.com—saving you a full 17 keystrokes.

Rancho Santa Margarita Patch has a local editor, Martin Henderson, who previously wrote sports for the Los Angeles Times. His coverage of Tesoro and Santa Margarita Catholic football in 2011 won first- and third-place in the Los Angeles Press Club Awards earlier this year.

You don't have to be a professional writer to blog for us. We want engaged people from our communities and our world. If you want to contribute, just click the icon on the homepage under the Local Voices blog. Local voices are an important part of Patch. A couple of clicks and you can be blogging!

It's just as easy to post Announcements (wedding, births, graduation, honor roll, etc.) and Events for your organization. Best yet, it's all free—and how often do you get something free?

Patch is interested in contributions from everyone. Pics and Clips is a great place to share interesting photos that you have taken.

If you're a business owner or manager, you should definitely claim your directory listing on Patch so that you can update it with employees or patrons of the month, price guides, menus and photos. If your business isn't listed in the directory, click the icon that says "add it" and jump on board. And same with announcements and events listings, it's free too.

Even though the FBI considers RSM the safest city in the state for its size, there's still police news happening. Patch provides weekly Police Blotters. It also covers city government, business, schools and sports, and we also have a column dedicated to Moms, though Dads are invited to tag along. It's called Moms Talk, and it's written by Karen Koczwara.

Oh, and if you have a child attending the Capistrano Unified School District, Patch is the place for the most in-depth coverage of CUSD.

Don't forget to follow RSM Patch on Facebook and Twitter.

If Patch isn't part of your routine, be sure to sign up for the daily Patch Newsletter, which will arrive in your inbox every day with a listing of some of the most recent stories published on the site.

Look around and join us. Here are links to some relevant stories that have appeared recently in Patch that you might have missed because of the holiday, and after that are a few other things that we've done just to whet your appetite.

• Sneak Peek: Go Inside Cinépolis
• Police Blotter: Black Friday Shoppers Threaten Line Cutters
•  Moms Talk: Black Friday—Irresistable Bargains or Irrational Behavior?
• Schools Make Changes in Testing for Gifted Students
• Slideshow: In-N-Out Begins the Build Phase
• Strange Crime and Misdemeanors in South OC
• Library Exhibitionist Goes It Alone

Here are some stories from awhile back.

• Flags Retired in A Blaze of Old Glory
• Tesoro Graduates Offer A Surprise Ending
• Trabuco Hills Graduation
• Hossler Wins Fans But Not the U.S. Open