Author: KYMA

Adrik Vargas

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – With spring projects picking up, Southwest Gas is reminding people to call before they dig.

A free call that could prevent a costly or even dangerous mistake.

“There are utility lines, all different kinds: Natural gas, electricity, water, cable,” said Amy Washburn with Southwest Gas.

Southwest Gas says avoiding an accident starts with knowing what’s underground before you start digging.

“It’s all running underground, so you potentially would have damages which can cause service outages throughout your community. Nobody wants to be that neighbor,” said Washburn.

Local plumber Jorge Luis Carbajal, owner of Jorge’s Plumbing, shares how making that call to 811 helped prevent a much bigger problem

“It ended up that the gas line was on top of where we needed to do the repair, so we managed to get around the gas line to prevent any breaks. Something worse could have happened, so that’s the importance of calling 811,” said Carbajal.

Southwest Gas says the message is catching on.

Washburn says, “More people are inquiring to make sure they have their lines marked before they start digging. When we compare numbers from last year to the year prior, we’re seeing that number going up, and in turn, the damages to underground lines going down.”

To be safe, experts say call 811 at least two working days before your project.

Karina Bazarte

CALEXICO, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) – The Calexico Police Department (CPD) is raising awareness by wearing Autism Awareness patches for the first time in its history.

CPD say in the past they have shown awareness by putting ribbons on their police vehicles, but this time they have designed their own Autism Awareness patches.

Calexico Police Chief Armando Orozco say it is a great way to show support for people with autism and their families.

“It is important to show awareness, so we can begin the conversion by us wearing these patches. It starts a conversion, ‘Why are we wearing it?’ It is so important to talk about autism and how it’s important to show support to people with Autism and their families who are going through this with them,” Chief Orozco shared.

Orozco says they will be wearing the patches for the whole month of April.

Miriam Ordonez

EL CENTRO, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) – Construction is underway at several intersections across the City of El Centro. It is part of ongoing improvement projects across the city.

Work is happening now at Ocotillo and Allen Drive, as well as Octoillo Drive and Waterman Avenue.

Crews are also active along Imperial Avenue, including Pepper Drive, Holt Avenue and Barbara Worth Drive, where demolition starts this week.

Drivers are urged to use caution and follow posted signs. Work is expected to last for the next few weeks.

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

RoadConstructionPSAEngDownload

RoadConstructionPSASpaDownload

Miriam Ordonez

EL CENTRO, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) – Food, music and family fun return to El Centro this Friday for the Second Annual Fiesta del Valle Flavor Friday.

Courtesy: City of El Centro

Courtesy: City of El Centro

The free event runs from 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Sports Pavilion parking lot, located at 770 Park Avenue.

Local food vendors, live entertainment and a beer garden will all be part of the celebration and everyone’s invited.

Courtesy: City of El Centro

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

FiestaDelValleAprilEngDownload

FiestaDelValleAprilSpaDownload

Eduardo Morales

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – One of the original owners of local popular Mexican food restaurant, La Fonda, is back in charge.

“La Fonda” had a soft opening in February and is currently open from Thursday through Sunday. However, they plan to open seven days a week beginning next Monday.

The owner, Franchesca Ramos, shares how thankful they are for the community’s support.

“This was a part of my life for so long and so having to say goodbye, it kind of broke me, but reopening, it’s healing those broken pieces,” said Ramos.

“La Fonda” will have a hard-launch opening in the fall with new merchandise including the new restaurant logo, so you’ll want to be on the lookout for that!

Eduardo Morales

TUCSON, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – Locals from the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension traveled to Tucson to take part in “U of A’s Drone Day.”

Drone day allows participants to share knowledge and innovations of unmanned aerial vehicles, otherwise known as drones.

The extension shared how this technology is being used in modern agricultural practices.

The drones can be used in farming in a variety of areas.

“Target spraying and that’s really good in the orchards and things like that. When you go right over the plant, you’re not wasting a bunch of spray around them, you’re just spraying that plant,” said local Yuma County Cooperative Extension videographer Donald Dinwiddie.

According to the local extension, experts say drone use in agriculture has increased from 500 to around 35,000 in the past five years.

The agriculture drone market helped bring in over $2 billion in 2022 and is projected to earn over $20 billion by 2030.

Andrea Turisk

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – Here in Yuma, we rely on the Colorado River, but instead of looking upstream for solutions, experts say we should also look at the water we’ve already used.

UCLA Environmental Science Practicum Director Noah Garrison says the Colorado River is facing a two-to-four million acre feet shortage projected for future years.

A new report from UCLA and The Natural Resource Defense Council says wastewater recycling could help solve the west’s water crisis.

“If were facing a shortfall on the Colorado River, creating additional water supply based on municipal wastewater can really offset that loss were facing,” Director Garrison shared.

According to the report, Arizona recycles about 78% of wastewater. In Yuma, the city says wastewater plays a growing role in the conservation strategy.

Jeremy McCall, the City of Yuma Utilities Director says, “About 40% of the water we treat ends up at the waste water plants. Those go through different processes and both wastewater plants discharge to the environment. One discharges into the Colorado River. One discharges into the aquifer.”

Arizona leads the region in wastewater recycling. If other basin states followed suit, the west could save up to 1.3 million acre- feet of water each year.

McCall says wastewater is the source for a lot of environmental accounting: “In our community and I’d say even outside the City of Yuma. Our friends in Somerton and San Luis, they also discharge into waterways of the U.S. and that water is recycled into their communities.”

Experts say water reuse is one of the most powerful tools we have to protect the Colorado River, cities like Yuma are showing whats possible when you make every drop count.

Danyelle Burke North

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – Yuma Mayor Doug Nicholls announced Tuesday that an Amazon facility is being built in Yuma County.

During his State of the City address, Mayor Nicholls said the project will bring over 250 jobs within the delivery service station including delivery drivers.

The facility construction started in January and the project is expected to launch by the end of October on Avenue 4E and 36th Street.

“This is a delivery center as opposed to fulfillment center. Fulfillment center is what you have in really really big cities. This is the last mile as they call it where the big semis will come in, the product will get redistributed to the delivery vehicle. So, it’s already ready to go. It just needs to be put in the vehicles that go to our neighborhoods,” said Mayor Doug Nicholls.

The project is expected to be completed by the end of the year. It comes with an investment of $23 million.