Month: September 2025

Andrea Turisk

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – As kids head back to school, it’s just a matter of time before we start to see a rise in respiratory infections, from the common cold to the flu and other more serious viruses.

Close contact in classrooms can cause respiratory viruses to spread quickly.

Dr. Donald Hubbard, Medical Director and Emergency Medical Physician at Exceptional Community Hospital, says this is due to proximity.

“People are together, they’re close, so if one gets it, everybody’s exposed to it. These don’t really go away in the summertime, but the people are generally not together as much,” he said.

Dr. Hubbard adds there are common symptoms to look out for.

“I would say if somebody has a little cough, they have a runny nose, maybe a little bit of a sore throat, that’ll probably get better by itself within a few days. When you have to start worrying is if they start having trouble breathing, if they have a severe sore throat, they probably need to be seen,” Hubbard shared.

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Abraham Retana

SAN LUIS, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – A local health care provider broke ground Thursday on a new birthing center.

Regional Center for Border Health started the construction of the San Luis New Vida Birthing Center.

The $2.5 million state of the art project will provide baby delivery and neo-natal services.

“It’s a good package for women at a reasonable price for people to deliver their babies in a very comfortable environment, friendly environment for the moms to choose and the families to be there accompany the mom,” said Amanda Aguirre, CEO of the Regional center for Border Health.

The San Luis New Vida Birthing Center will be located on Oak Avenue next to the San Luis Medical Mall.

Construction is expected to be completed in February of next year.

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Adrik Vargas

IMPERIAL COUNTY, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) – A new community-led effort is focusing on life around the Salton Sea.

Residents and local groups are coming together to make their voices heard.

The Campaign for Thriving Salton Sea Communities is led by Alianza Coachella Valley. It brings together residents, nonprofits, researchers, and agencies to support the community’s well-being.

One of the big projects is a trail network connecting communities throughout the region. The idea is to improve access, mobility, and create more opportunities for local economic growth.

As Aydee Rodriguez from Alianza explains, “We’re talking about a network that would, include, not just, you know, like, like sidewalk or pavement, but then also lights, electric charging stations to prepare our community for, the transition to cleaner vehicles, broadband, and electric, grid stability.”

The group is also using community science to collect data on air and water quality.

“We’ve been doing collection of water samples and testing them for various, like, nutrients, or like chemicals,” Aydee said. “And then what we’ve done is we’ve also installed, two hydrogen monitors right above the water, one in the north and the south end to monitor how much hydrogen sulfide is coming out of the sea at what times.”

Challenges remain, and Alianza hopes to work through them this fall at a roundtable.

“What does it look like to, work together in collaborative funding? Because sometimes, like, we’re forced to compete against each other for certain funding buckets,” Aydee said. She also emphasized the need for more data. “Linking emissions coming out of the Salton Sea to public health consequences, illnesses, sicknesses. Because if we had that, then I think that we could hold more accountability to those responsible.”

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Adrik Vargas

EL CENTRO, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) – When the Cancer Resource Center of the Desert closed earlier this year, many cancer patients in Imperial County felt lost.

Now, thanks to community support and new technology, the El Centro nonprofit is open again.

“We want to, just reassure people that were available and we’re going to work as a team with our patients because we need to work as a team,” said Helen Palomino of CRCD. “We can’t do as much as we used to because we’re small, but we’re still extremely effective.”

Before shutting down, the center partnered with Pear Suite, a case management system that helps track services and handle billing.

Palomino said the system has made reimbursements faster and reporting much easier.

“It’s an amazing experience to see everything that was billable, that it automatically picked up,” she said.

But it wasn’t just technology that made reopening possible.

“We brought together a group of very powerful women who came together with the bandwidth of either health care experience or the ability to fundraise,” said County Supervisor Martha Cardenas-Singh. “It was very important and urgent that cancer fighting patients have the Resource Center as their champion.”

For patients across Imperial County, the reopening means hope and help are once again close to home.

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Abraham Retana

WELLTON, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – An east Yuma County town is getting ready in case there are any chances of rain activity following last week’s powerful storms in our area.

Starting Thursday, September 4, there will be sand and sandbags available for Wellton residents.

You can pick up your sandbags at the fire department on Los Angeles Avenue near William Street at anytime.

You can also go to the Ace Hardware store on Wellton-Mohawk Drive near Avenue 30 1/2 E from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“This is just a coordinated effort between us and the Wellton Mohawk Irrigation District to better come, better protect the town and protect our citizens,” said Richard Marsh, Wellton Town Manager.

There will also be sand available at the empty lot on Helen Avenue, next to the National Bank of Arizona.

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