Author: KYMA

Danyelle Burke North

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) – Yuma Elementary School District One designated October 20 through October 24 as School Bus Safety week. The goal is to raise awareness and reinforce their commitment to student safety.

The district says this school year, drivers have reported over 300 incidents of people failing to stop for school buses. In one school year, drivers reported over 900 incidents.

The district reminds people to stop when you see those flashing red lights and the stop arm extended.

“Kids…they get focused on their friends that are across the street and just run across the street to go talk to them and tell them about what they’ve done, and they don’t really pay attention to traffic. And it’s our responsibility as drivers to make sure that those environments are safe for them,” said District One governing board president Keith Ware.

Yuma Transportation Department employees drive 180 buses across the county every day and travel two million miles annually.

The district also put together school site brochure information pamphlets to spread awareness.

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Karina Bazarte

IMPERIAL COUNTY, Calif. (KYMA) – There are new developments in the crash which left a child dead and one man arrested over the weekend.

According to the California Highway Patrol (CHP), the four-year-old girl who died and the 36-year-old man who was arrested are a father and daughter from Riverside County.

CHP says the crash happened Saturday, October 18 at around 6:20 p.m. in an open desert north of State Route 78, near Old Mine Road.

CHP said the man was driving a 2024 Can-Am Maverick “in an easterly direction at an unknown speed.”

For reasons unknown, CHP said the man hit a “raised dirt berm” and overturned “onto the terrain within the desert.”

As a result, CHP said the man suffered minor injuries while the girl ejected from the Can-Am. The girl died at the scene, CHP said.

During the investigation, CHP said the man was the only person wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, and said he was arrested for “suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.”

The investigation remains ongoing.

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Paul Vozzella

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) – The Yuma Police Department (YPD) says they were awarded two grants from the Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS).

The grant money, totaling $41,062, will be used to “cover overtime costs for Selective Traffic Enforcement Programs and DUI/Impaired Driving Enforcement Details,” YPD says.

With the assistance of the GOHS, YPD says they will continue to make the community a safer place to travel in.

“We do have a lot more traffic in the winter time with more winter visitors coming in, so to be able to get extra officers out there on the road, to be able to pay them overtime through the grant money…it helps the community. It helps us, and it saves lives,” said Sgt. Lori Franklin with YPD.

GOSH Grant 2025Download

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Marcos Icahuate

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) – A local fundraiser raised money to support playground improvements on campus.

Mary A. Otondo Elementary School celebrated raising over $10,000 through The Kindness Challenge.

Students earned prizes for participating, while also engaging in acts of kindness.

A check was presented to Otondo Elementary School on October 21.

“Our Kindness Challenge Fundraiser was an incredible success, thanks to the kindness and excitementof our amazing students,” stated Otondo Dean of Students Megan Knueppel. “Their enthusiasm inspired our entire school community to come together in support of one another, turning every act of kindness into a celebration of school spirit. And they loved the prizes, too!”

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Dillon Fuhrman

EL CENTRO, Calif. (KYMA) – El Centro Library is hosting Halloween at the Library next week in honor of Halloween.

According to a press release, the event is taking place at the library, located at 1198 N. Imperial Avenue, on Thursday, October 30 from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Courtesy: City of El Centro

Courtesy: City of El Centro

“Halloween at the Library is one of those events that truly captures the community spirit of El Centro,” said Mayor Sonia Carter. “It’s a safe, creative, and joyful way for our families to celebrate together, and I encourage everyone to come out and enjoy this special event.”

The event will feature arts and crafts, music and other activities for families to participate in, as well as a costume contests for kids 13 and under.

Courtesy: City of El Centro

“Halloween at the Library is one of our favorite family events,” said Library Director Carla Mason. “It’s an opportunity for children and parents to celebrate together, enjoy creative activities, and experience the library as a fun community space.”

To learn more about the event, read the press release, written in English and Spanish, below.

HalloweenatLibraryPREngDownload

HalloweenatLibraryPRSpaDownload

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Marcos Icahuate

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) – An event is taking place in Yuma to support local groups.

Bridget’s Gift is having a Pink Party Takeover at Wheezy’s on Wednesday, October 22, starting at 11 a.m.

50/50 drawings and raffle tickets from local donators are planned to be at the event, as well as local firefighters.

Live music is also planned to be played at 6 p.m.

All proceeds will be going towards the Bridget’s Gift foundation.

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Joaquin Hight

TACNA, Ariz. (KYMA) – The City of Tacna held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday for a brand new water facility.

The new facility will be replacing a 40-year-old system and will guarantee safe, clean water for many years.

Chief Operating Officer Kirk Perkins shares more on this achievement.

“We’ve been part of the Yuma community for almost 60 years now, and we cherish every project. You know, every project we start, you never know how it’s gonna turn out. We’re truly proud to be part of this project, and be part of the team with Yuma County,” Perkins expressed.

The project, costing about $14.3 million, will service 200 homes. 

Jonathan Lines, Chairman of the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona, discusses the process of this new system.

“To be able to create this opportunity to install and maintain a water system for the people of Tacna was an important step forward in ensuring that the demands of the Safe Water Act were met,” Lines shared.

Ann Taylor, a small business owner, talked about how helpful the new water project is for businesses in the area.

“It’s providing safe drinking water to our community. We got water pressure, water that doesn’t stink when you turn the faucet on, it’s wonderful,” Taylor explained.

This new water facility will keep its promise for a healthier water system for residents.

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Abraham Retana

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) – Local casinos give back to the community with a donation to a local non-profit.

Quechan and Paradise Casinos donated eight pallets of different items to Amberly’s Place.

The casinos’ chief marketing officer hopes this contribution helps the non-profit to continue with its mission of helping victims of violence and domestic abuse.

“We are about taking care of our community, that’s where your customers are and they do such a good work, we want to make sure we can provide them some additional tools to work with to continue providing the outreach they do,” said Steve Neely, Quechan and Paradise Casinos chief marketing officer.

Quechan Casino is looking forward to helping the Yuma community in the future.

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Danyelle Burke North

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) – Onvida Health hosted their annual Quality Hall of Fame judging event Tuesday. The event celebrates the continuous efforts of employees and providers to improve service, operations, care delivery, and cost efficiency.

89 projects hospital-wide were submitted focusing on quality improvement and patient care. Teams have three minutes to present their projects and findings to community judges. One of the presenters shares how it allows cross collaboration from different departments and services.

“Anyone within the organization can stand up and say, ‘Let’s make this better for our community,’ and that’s really what these are. All these posters around us are all the projects that have been done throughout the health system from all different avenues of the teams, really showing how we’re making things better here at Onvida for our community and for our patients,” said Hall of Fame presenter Matt Southmayd.

The hospital says the event is an example of how they strive to provide the best for patients.

“That’s the opportunity then to always be looking at how we can be better. Never satisfied with status quo- always looking for more,” said Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing & Communications Officer Machele Headington.

The hospital will announce the winners of the various categories on November 5 during Innovation Week.

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Eduardo Morales

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) – Harvest Preparatory Academy’s Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program is receiving help from a local university.

The school’s stem program was in need of a laboratory to conduct experiments.

Luckily, the University of Arizona’s Cooperative Extension allowed them to use their equipment.

Now the Harvest Prep students are working on DNA extraction.

“The main goal is to create an application like a mobile app where it can detect whether the rot an Saguaro Cactus is progressing and find ways to mitigate the problem,” said Alfred Santos, the District Program Coordinator for the school.

The local staff and students are extremely thankful to the local university because without them, they would have to travel to Tucson to conduct their experiments.

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