Author: KYMA

Danyelle Burke North

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – In Tuesday’s Home Grown report, a local hemp farm in Yuma shows just how vital the plant could be for Arizona’s economic future.

They say this is one of Arizona’s first hemp fiber industry farm tours hosted by the Hemp Industry Trade Association of Arizona (HITA). Local agricultural leaders share how hemp is opening doors for sustainable agriculture and economic opportunity.

Local council members, state leaders, and farmers toured the 20-acre hemp farm.

“It was very educational. I knew nothing about him. How it’s grown. How little water it needs,” said Rep. Mariana Sandoval (D) Arizona District 23.

“It was much more than educational. It was something to take home and talk about it and experience that more and be part of it,” said San Luis Councilmember Lizeth Servin.

Farm owner Daniel Nowell says Yuma’s soil and location make it great for growing and shares some of the items the crops help make.

“We make everything from rope. You can make textiles. I’m wearing a shirt today as well and you can do all kinds of building materials, insulation, carbon composites, supercapacitors. It goes on and on and on the many uses that we can use with industrial hemp,” said Nowell.

Hemp could also be used to build the first school of its kind.

“It’s an incredible material, and it’s exciting that we’re gonna be having the opportunity to create and build the first elementary school made out of hemp,” said Daniel Turbyfill, Secretary for the Hemp Industry Trade Association.

Tour stop number 2 was the condor seed production company where seed is taken.

“We bring it into here, we receive it, and we mill it, clean it, make it a pure product. We package it, and we ship it,” said Condor Seed Operations Lead Chris Tolman.

Locals got to tour the inside of the warehouse.

“I think it is absolutely the future of Arizona. I think it’s a great crop for shade cover, and I think it’s a beautiful crop to have in the field through the summer,” said Turbyfill.

During the tour they officially announced the launch of their adopt an acres of hemp program. The next tour will be a planting and harvesting tour before the end of the year.

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Miriam Ordonez

EL CENTRO, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) – Imperial County residents are planning a “Stop the Cuts” rally this Saturday in El Centro.

Organizers say the event is part of a nationwide protest against proposed federal cuts in President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.”

The rally, hosted by Democrats United Imperial Valley and Indivisible activists in the county, will run from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. at the intersection of Main Street and Imperial Avenue on July 19.

For more information about the protest, contact Frances Beope at (442) 250-9307, or via email at Beope.Frances@gmail.com.

You can also contact Thomas Henderson at (760) 554-1901, or via email at Handsoffelcentro@gmail.com.

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Miriam Ordonez

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – Lerner & Rowe Injury Attorneys is giving away 1,000 free backpacks filled with school supplies to help Yuma students gear up for the new school year.

The giveaway will take place Wednesday, July 23 at the Yuma Fairgrounds starting at 4:00 p.m. It is first come, first served.

K-12 students must be present to receive a backpack. Families can also enjoy free entertainment, face-painting, balloons and ice cream.

This is the fourth stop on the firm’s nationwide backpack tour. To learn more about it, read the press release below.

PR-LRIA_YUMA Backpack Giveaway 2025Download

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Dillon Fuhrman

SAN LUIS, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – Arizona Western College (AWC) says, “Gadsden Elementary School Superintendent Lizette Esparza completed her first year teaching the Cultural Diversity in Education course” at the San Luis Learning Center (SLLC).

According to AWC, Esparza began teaching the course at SLLC during the spring of 2025, “which examines the relationship of cultural values to the formation of a child’s self-concept and learning styles” as well as examine the “roles of prejudice, stereotyping, and cultural incompatibilities in education.”

“Teaching my first cultural diversity class was a journey where I wasn’t just a teacher,” Esparza shared, “I realized that teaching wasn’t just about sharing knowledge—it was about creating connection, confronting bias, and learning to honor the richness each student brings to the class.”

Following the completion of the spring course, Esparza helped find her students jobs within the Gadsden Elementary School District, with one of her students, Efren Haro, landing a position teaching music as a long-term substitute teacher.

Efran Haro; Courtesy: Arizona Western College

Efran Haro; Courtesy: Arizona Western College

“Taking Lizette Esparza’s EDU 210 class was a meaningful and engaging experience that supported my growth as a new music teacher,” Haro reflected. “As someone who began teaching this year, I found the course especially valuable in helping me build a strong foundation in educational theory and classroom management. Professor Esparza created an inclusive and supportive learning environment where I felt comfortable asking questions and connecting course content to my real-world teaching experiences. Her passion for education and practical approach to teaching made the material relevant and applicable to my own classroom. The course not only helped me reflect on my teaching practices but also gave me tools to better support and engage my students through music.”

AWC says the course is offered during the spring semester at SLLC, and is for those interested in Education of working with children.

For more information, call SLLC at (928) 314-9449.

Gadsden Superintendent Esparza shapes future educators at the SLLCDownload

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Madeline Murray

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – Vehicle burglary suspects, Enrique Rios III and Clarita Carr, are scheduled to make their second appearance in court Tuesday, facing additional charges.

The break-ins happened in local neighborhoods by the Civic Center area such as La Mesa, Saguaro, Sheffield, and Ocotillo Estates. The Yuma Police Department (YPD) say thousands of dollars worth of items and money were stolen.

Rios and Carr were taken into custody Wednesday, July 9, and initially seen in court last week.

Reporter Madeline Murray will have more on this story this afternoon.

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Jailene Aguilera

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – A local church spread kindness and acts of service over the weekend.

Over 250 volunteers from Church for the City participated in the annual Serve Day while wearing “We Love Our City” T-shirts.

Volunteers gave thanks by doing many things like buying strangers coffee, holding doors open, and cleaning up local schools.

They also packed 500 school supply boxes with the United Way.

The event shows church’s commitment in inspiring others to spread kindness in simple but powerful ways.

To learn more about the event, read the press release below.

Serve Day Press ReleaseDownload

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Eduardo Morales

YUMA COUNTY, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – Tuesday is the Arizona Special Primary Election, and voters across Yuma County will have their voices heard on who advances to the General Election in September.

Voting centers across the county opened at 6:00 a.m. for the Special Primary Election in Congressional District 7.

Mary Lackey, a local voter, shared why she thinks it’s important to come out and vote.

“I think voting is a civic responsibility and if you want to have a say in your government, in what’s happening in your country, in this country, it’s very important to vote,” Lackey.

Several candidates are on the ballot to fill the seat one held by the late Congressman Raul Grijalva, including five Democrats, three three Republicans, candidates from other parties and several write-ins.

Voters can cast their ballots at any of the six voting centers:

Martin Luther King Jr. Youth Career Center

Yuma Main Library

Arizona Western College’s Schoening Conference Center

Somerton Community Center

San Luis Library

The Cesar Chavez Cultural Center

Voters were able to cast their final votes at the 7 p.m. deadline at these locations:

Yuma County Recorder’s Office

Main Library

Foothills Library

Wellton Library

San Luis Library

Somerton Library

The projected winners for the race are Adelita Grijalva and Daniel Butierez respectively.

Butierez shared some words of encouragement as the race came to an end.

“I think we all need to come together and work together and set parties aside which is why we’re coming together tonight, bringing party Democrats, Republicans, we’re all coming together to show unity,” he said.

Meanwgile, Grijalva shared the response she received from the public.

“We’ve had a really wonderful opportunity to talk to thousands of voters and we drove all over CD-7 and had really good responses from people everywhere we’ve gone,” Grijalva says.

Once the two winners are formally announced they will head to the General Election in September.

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Danyelle Burke North

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – There’s a vending machine for firefighters, but it’s not for sodas or snacks. It’s for items that help save lives.

The UCapIt machines work like vending machines but for medical supplies and some pharmaceuticals.

“They allow us to restock medications faster,” said Yuma Fire Department Captain David Padilla Jr.

In the past, Padilla says firefighters would have to spend about 45 minutes traveling to a hospital pharmacy to restock. Now, they can restock quickly right at the station.

Instead of having to manually count supplies like in the past, their new operative IQ program also helps them digitally keep track of inventory and more efficiently restock and purchase.

“Now the guys show up, they have a scanner in their hand. It immediately downloads with RFID all of the information right to it, and then it sends that information up to our inventory specialist,” Padilla shared.

Everything is tracked and requires a code, fingerprint access, and one to two-person authentication depending on the item.

“Both members will have to place their fingerprints on the system, and then the system will dispense whatever’s needed. Everything is tracked and requires authentication. All of that is tracked and all of that information once dispensed is sent to the EMS division, so they know immediately when something has been dispensed and what we’ve tracked out of it, and they can track each item out of there,” said Padilla.

The vending machines are located at every fire station in the city.

“And so overwhelmingly, it’s been a positive for the fire department and again for the budgets in the EMS division. They’re able to now very specifically order what they need, we’re reducing waste as a whole, and we’re being great stewards of our taxpayer dollars,” said Padilla.

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Dillon Fuhrman

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – The military has now officially taken over a portion of the U.S.-Mexico border in Yuma as part of a newly-formed National Defense Area.

The U.S. Marine Corps. confirmed Monday that Marines and sailors now have control over this part of the southern border.

The Marines will work alongside U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Border Patrol.

This is one of two additional expanded military zones at the border set up by the Trump Administration.

The goal is to militarize the boundary with Mexico to help reduce migrant crossings and keep the border safe.

Migrants who enter the areas can be detained by the military until Border Patrol agents arrive.

To learn more about this, read the press release below.

Press Release – Task Force Forge relieves Task Force Sapper at southern borderDownload

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Manoah Tuiasosopo

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – In hopes to explore our military’s history, the Territorial Young Marines are asking for the community’s help.

The group plans to travel to Hawaii this December to attend the annual Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.

To help cover their costs, the Young Marines have been holding car washes and various fundraisers.

A leader of the program, Chas Johnson, says the trip will have a great impact on them and be an unforgettable experience.

“This is a great opportunity for them to see, [in] real life, what happens in the military so they can understand why we teach them, what we teach them, and why they learn what they learn so they can become better people and give back to the community,” Johnson expressed.

They’re holding a fundraiser next Thursday, July 24, at Sage and Sand Cocktail Lounge starting at 5:30 p.m.

If you would like to donate, click here.

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