Eduardo Morales
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – The Yuma County Cooperative Extension hosted a meeting talking about pest management.
The extension held its annual fall integrated pest management meeting.
Over 30 pest control advisors and eight University of Arizona extension educators shared updates on their latest research.
These advisors helped agriculture by writing recommendations for products used to combat weeds, insects, and plant pathogens.
Marcos Icahuate
IMPERIAL COUNTY, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) – A man died after being ejected during a crash, according to California Highway Patrol (CHP).
On August 19, at about 5:38 a.m., a 34-year-old man was driving a Ford F-350 northbound on Dogwood Road south of Fawcett Road.
The driver was about to turn left onto a dirt road when a 30-year-old man on a motorcycle attempted to overtake the Ford.
The motorcyclist was thrown off his vehicle as it hit the left side of the Ford.
CHP says the motorcyclist was pronounced dead on scene.
The driver of the Ford did not sustain any injuries.
Marcos Icahuate
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – The San Luis Police Department is asking for the community’s help in locating a missing person.
71-year-old Carlos Sanchez was last seen Monday afternoon leaving his home in his vehicle.
Sanchez drives a green 2001 Ford Excursion.
He is identified as slim, five-feet, seven-inches tall and suffers from dementia.
If you have any information on Sanchez, please call the San Luis Police Department at (928) 341-2420.
Eduardo Morales
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – Locals are reacting to President Donald Trump’s comments on wanting to end mail-in ballots.
President Trump claims mail-in ballots are corrupt and open to fraud.
“We, as a Republican Party, are going to do everything possible that we get rid of mail-in ballots,” Trump remarked.
In Yuma County, there were over 49,000 mail-in ballots out of almost 69,000 total ballots cast in the last presidential election, meaning more than 70% of all ballots cast were mail-in ballots.
Yuma County Recorder David Lara agrees with Trump, but one local, Carl Chrastensen, says he doesn’t want it to happen.
“It’s convenient for senior citizens to just be able to mail them in and not have to go down and fight a crowd, strand all day in line, to cast a ballot,” Chrastensen explained.
“People will adapt. The people that really want to vote will make the time to come to the Recorder’s Office and vote early, or they’ll come on Election Day, it would cause a little bit of a hiccup in the beginning,” Lara said.
Despite the president’s claims to mail-in voting contributing to his 2020 election loss, no major evidence has been found.
Abraham Retana
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – A local restaurant is hosting a fundraiser to take kids on the trip of a lifetime.
Raising Cane’s of Yuma will be donating one dollar of every Box Combo sold on Tuesday, August 26.
Proceeds will go towards the non-profit Kidd’s Kids that takes children with life-altering conditions to Disney World.
The goal is to raise $75,000.
“We love to be part of the mission since Kidd Kraddick, he is local to Yuma, and it’s huge for us because it’s on our culture and our values,” said Chris Bolles, Raising Cane’s restaurant leader.
The fundraiser will be all day.
Raising Cane’s is located on 16th Street across the street from the Yuma Palms Mall.
Adrik Vargas
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – Two raptors are getting a second chance at Vida Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center in Yuma after being transferred from a facility in Lake Havasu that couldn’t care for them.
The birds were flown to Yuma by Major Scott Myers of the Civil Air Patrol. One raptor has a broken wing, while the other’s flight muscles aren’t fully developed yet.
Staff say Myers’ experience in handling the birds made a big difference in keeping them calm during the trip.
“We rely on the help of the community and the community has really helped us out here,” said Albert Ustaszewski of Vida Wildlife. “Scott knows how to place them in the aircraft so that they’re not disturbed that much, as far as like getting bumped around, moved around, so they came down really good.”
Thanks to the support of the Civil Air Patrol and the local community, both raptors now have a safe place to heal.
With proper care, they are expected to make a full recovery and eventually return to the wild.
Adrik Vargas
IMPERIAL COUNTY, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) – The Imperial Irrigation District (IID) is giving local residents a chance to add shade, beauty, and cooler summers to their homes with its Tree for All program.
Since 2022, the initiative has planted thousands of desert-adapted shade trees across the Imperial and Coachella Valleys, helping improve air quality, reduce energy costs, and make neighborhoods more inviting.
This fall, IID will plant 1,300 trees for residential customers. To ensure fairness, participants will be selected through a lottery system, with sign-ups opening August 25 at 10 a.m. and closing September 2 at 5 p.m. One tree per household is allowed every 12 months.
“Trees provide not only the shade that I mentioned that can help lower your electric bills, they help a thriving community. The more green there is, the more peaceful things are. It’s something that benefits the environment, there are multiple benefits which is why we do this,” says Robert Schettler with IID.
Each tree is chosen to thrive in the region’s arid climate and, when planted strategically, can cut home cooling costs by up to 20%.
Winners will be notified 4-6 weeks after the sign-up period closes. For more information and to register for a tree, click here.
Karina Bazarte
EL CENTRO, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) – The first group of El Centro firefighters are back after 14 days of fighting two fires in California.
The El Centro Fire Department (ECFD) says 16 firefighters returned home Sunday after assisting with battling the Gold Fire in San Bernardino County and the Gifford Fire in San Luis Obispo County.
ECFD says it was a tough journey, but they’re glad they were able to help.
“Usually the main difference in a fire when you talk about going from the difference between one assignment to another. You’re assignment are pretty much going to be the same. If you’re on a type six, you’re going to have the same type of work. If you’re on one fire or the other one, the main difference is the terrain you’re going on and fuel types.”
Eduardo Ainza, Battalion Chief, El Centro Fire Department
As of Tuesday, the Gold Fire is currently 85% contained and has burned 1,036 acres. At the same time, the Gifford Fire is 95% contained and has burned 131,589 acres.
The rest of the fire task force returned home Monday evening.
To keep up-to-date on the Gold Fire, click here. To keep up-to-date on the Gifford Fire, click here.
Madeline Murray
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – Onvida Health says it saw a big leap in ratings online.
The hospital has gone from 2.4 stars to a four-star rating on Google. They say this is a milestone achievement.
Dr. Robert Trenschel, President and CEO of Onvida Health, talked about what the rating means to the hospital.
“That’s really exciting for us to see because we take all the feedback, that our patients and our visitors that come to our campus give us, and we take it all to heart, and we make changes that we need to make,” Dr. Trenschel explained.
Onvida Health would like to shout out their staff and also the Yuma community for bringing them to where they are today.
Madeline Murray
YUMA COUNTY, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – During the Board of Supervisors meeting, they approved for consideration the renewal CrowdStrike Falcon, which has provided Yuma County with advanced threat detection, response, and protection against cyberattacks since 2021.
The renewal cost is $160,108.73, with coverage through August 6, 2026.
The Yuma County Board of Supervisors approved to renew software that uses artificial intelligence to neutralise cyber-threats.
The security needs of Yuma County are focused on prevention, and renewing this new software will help keep online records safe.
Jonathan Lines, Vice Chairman of the Yuma County Board of Supervisors, said, “It’s a threat intelligence based platform that prioritizes, and is able to act swiftly and respond to every single threat almost, in a ground zero setting, immediately as it’s detected.”
The platform Crowdstrike Falcon prioritizes prevention and rapid response to threats.
Lines says it’s important to safeguard the entire system, which includes the Recorder’s Office, elections, and the Assessor’s Office.
“I think it was july last year, there was a breach, but 97% of the effected computers or sensors were back online, I believe, in less than a week,” says Lines.
Lines says this software detects any direct threats, but they still ask everyone to be cautious online explaining, “We still ask people not to click on suspicious links, and all of that, and that is still a threat.”
We also asked the community how they prevent cyber hacks online.
One local, Amanda Sandoval, says in order to prevent online cyber attack, they avoid anything suspicious.
“Don’t open any links. If you see any emails, don’t click on them…you have to read the top of the bar first, if you don’t read that, then it’s easy,” Sandoval expressed.
Once the final details of the budget for the software are approved, they can deploy it.
