Author: KYMA

Miriam Ordonez

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – With fireworks just around the corner, Yuma officials are working to keep pets safe this Fourth of July.

The City of Yuma, Yuma County and the Humane Society of Yuma (HSOY) are hosting two free microchipping events this month. They’ll take place June 21 at the HSOY and June 28 at Carver Park.

No appointment is needed and pet owners from anywhere can participate.

The goal is to help lost pets get back home quickly during a time of year when fireworks often lead to pets escaping.

In addition to microchipping, there will be adoption specials and food trucks on site.

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Karina Bazarte

IMPERIAL COUNTY, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) – The El Centro Fire Department (ECFD) and Imperial County Fire Department (ICFD) now have an automatic aid agreement which will add additional resources to the City of El Centro.

ECFD Battalion Chief Eduardo Ainza says instead of them requesting for help ICFD will automatically arrive to the scene.

They are currently training for the automatic aid before it launches.

“The importance of an agreement like this really comes down to the level of service that each agency is providing to its citizens and with this as simple as it is we are providing more resources in a more timely manner,” said Chief Ainza.

ECFD says it also has an automatic aid agreement with the private agency A.M.R.

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Dillon Fuhrman

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – The Yuma Rotary Club has announced the recipients of its 2025 scholarships.

The club says, “A total of $14,000 was awarded to support these students in their pursuit of higher education.”

This year’s scholarship recipients are:

Hennessy Padilla, Cibola High School – $5,000

Camila Oyosa, Yuma High School – $5,000

Blake Sterling, Kofa High School – $2,500

Two active members of the Cibola High School Interact Club, which the Rotary sponsors, each received a $500 one-time scholarship, and they are Kaylee Vega Covarrubias and Katelyn Gallardo.

Courtesy: Yuma Rotary Club

In addition, Savannah Molenar, a graduating senior from Kofa High School and daugher of Rotary Club member Matt Molenar, received a $500 scholarship.

“Supporting education and youth leadership is one of the most important things we do as Rotarians,” said a spokesperson for the Yuma Rotary Club. “These scholarships are not just awards…they’re investments in the future of our community.”

Yuma Rotary Club Scholarships Press Release (1)Download

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Jalen Fong

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – The Yuma man charged with trying to murder several people outside a local strip club in March of last year has accepted a plea deal.

34-year-old Abraham Espinoza pled guilty to one count of aggravated assault. Espinoza originally faced seven felonies, including three counts of attempted first-degree murder.

Yuma deputies say Espinoza shot a firearm at a group of people outside of Platinum Cabaret on March 30, 2024. 

Espinoza will learn how long he will serve behind bars at his sentencing this Friday.

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Abraham Retana

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – A night of laughter is coming back to Yuma.

By popular demand, the local nonprofit Merry Heart Incorporated is hosting a comedy show featuring comedian Don Friesen and his “Laughter Works Like Medicine” show.

The event is this Saturday, June 14, and is taking place at the Historic Yuma Theatre. It starts at 6:00 p.m., with the doors opening at 5:30 p.m.

Richard Marsh, President of Merry Heart, says it’s a family-friendly show filled with laughs and inspiration.

“It’s about family. It’s a way to bring husband and wife, significant others, children because it’s clean and hillarious,” Marsh shared. “It’s a way to bring our community together to unite in the spirit of unity and harmony for our wonderful county of Yuma.”

Since it’s Father’s Day weekend, admission is free for dads. For tickets, click here.

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Danyelle Burke North

SOMERTON, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – A local Somerton family is trying to rebuild part of their farm after a fire destroyed their beloved family workshop.

The family was on a trip away when they said they received frantic calls from neighbors about a fire. When they rushed back, they found a fire crew had put out the fire, but their family workshop was destroyed.

The shop was built for their dad, who has been a handyman for years.

“And he even, on his days off, he was out there working and building on various projects. And it’s just a definitely a passion for him,” said son Steele Stancu.

The family says they built their lives and the shop on the farm and are devastated by the loss.

“Yeah, it was kind of surreal, and as the pictures came through, and we were discovering the tools that we’ve used 100 times just kind of like rusted hulks and finding puddles of melted metal and everything was complete total loss,” said Stancu.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Everyone is safe and no animals lost. They say they are appreciative of all the community support.

If you would like to help them rebuild, you can donate at the GoFundMe link here.

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Dillon Fuhrman

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – The Yuma County Sheriff’s Office (YCSO) is reminding the community to take precautions as dangerously hot temperatures get underway.

YCSO says, “Prolonged exposure to heat can lead to heat stroke which can be life-threatening,” with pets, children and elderly people posing greater risk of “deadly heat exposure” if it goes unnoticed.

To combat this, YCSO is asking the community to follow these safety tips:

Drink water before you get thirsty to prevent dehydration.

Don’t rely on fans as your primary source of cooling once the temperature gets higher than 90 degrees.

Come indoors frequently to an air-conditioned location to cool your core body temperature

Wear lightweight clothes.

Seek medical care immediately if you have, or someone you know has, symptoms of heat-associated illness like muscle cramps, headaches, vomiting, confusion, no longer sweating, and rapid heart rate.

They also said to not leave children and/or pets alone in hot cars and check-in on their elderly neighbors.

If anyone is need of water or a cool resting area, click here to see where they can get water or go to a cooling site.

YCSO is also asking all senior citizens or people with disabilities to use the “Are You Ok?” program.

Tania Pavlak, a Public Affairs Specialist at YCSO says, “The Yuma County Sheriff’s Office does offer a free program that does an automatic welfare check on people that live alone and might not have those friends and family nearby to check on them on a daily basis.”

To learn more about the program, click here.

PR-2025-28-Heat-WarningDownload

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Karina Bazarte

IMPERIAL COUNTY, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) – A San Diego man crashed his vehicle on Interstate 8 (I-8) while holding a machete.

The California Highway Patrol (CHP) says the man was traveling on the interstate heading eastbound Sunday. He then crashed into a guardrail and rolled over.

CHP says the man got out of his vehicle holding a machete.

“We believe the crash was intentional based on the things that this man was telling us. We do believe that he did it on purpose crashing into the guardrail. He wanted to kill himself,” said Cmdr. Ernesto Ruedas.

CHP says the man than got out of his vehicle holding a machete.

“He also on scene advised the officers that he wanted to get shot by them, but thankfully no force was used,” said Ruedas.

Law enforcement says the man was the only person in the vehicle at the time of the crash.

“We believe that he traveled to Imperial Valley to hurt himself based on his statement that is what we believe,” said Ruedas.

Law enforcement says the westbound and eastbound lanes of I-8 were closed for about two hours.

The man was taken to El Centro Regional Medical Center with head injuries. The man is now receiving care from Imperial County Behavioral Health.

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Adrik Vargas

IMPERIAL COUNTY, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) – The protests and immigration raids are hitting close to home in the Imperial Valley, where locals have some strong opinions.

In a region with a large immigrant community, some locals say the tension seen in Los Angeles and across the state have them concerned.

Others feel the protests, while important, need to stay peaceful to protect the cause.

“I mean we’re not just gonna go and start burning and making all this mess. For me, it doesn’t feel fair. It’s not good ’cause you’re just making it worse for the people who do not have legal documents,” said Jaime Flores, a local resident.

Others say the raids themselves are necessary and the protests shouldn’t be happening.

“I just think we need to keep it up, we need to keep going, we need to safe and securely remove the people that need to be removed, and the people that don’t need to be removed can remain here in America,” Kimberly, another local resident.

Some activists in the Imperial Valley, like Raul Ureña, say local leaders should be speaking up.

“I think it is unfortunate that political leaders in the Imperial Valley are not talking enough about this issue, they are staying silent,” Ureña expressed.

Ureña believes that silence sends the wrong message in a region where immigrants make up a large part of the community.

“A majority of the Imperial Valley are either sons of immigrants or immigrants themselves. To not take a public stance on this issue as a mayor of Calexico, El Centro, etc, is to say that the issues affecting a big part of the imperial valley do not matter to them,” Ureña added.

The protests and immigration raids continue and in the Imperial Valley, so does the conversation.

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Eduardo Morales

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – Local, state, and university agriculture leaders discussed problems, solutions, and hot topics in the industry.

From water, to climate, to artificial intelligence, Monday’s meeting served as a think tank for the state’s agriculture industry.

Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, and the University of Arizona all shared some of the work they are undergoing.

The Arizona Board of Regents has started this “Future of Arizona” series to tackle some hard-pressing industry issues.

“We don’t just have research projects from this professor at this university, and this one at that university, but how do we leverage the sort of the special abilities at each university,” said Paul Brierly, the director for the Arizona Department of Agriculture.

Arizona Senator Tim Dunn was also in attendance, and he shared some of the major talking points discussed amongst the group.

“What is the intensive farming that we’re doing, which we do with everything really good here in Yuma now, but what are we looking into the future. What is that going to have as we’re using less water for soil health, that’s one of the things, just health for employees is another potential, so we’re just collaborating with the universities, getting ideas together today,” Sen. Dunn says.

Fred DuVal, a member on the board of regents, shares how this meeting could lead to a grant that provides more funding for research in agriculture.

“This is really a pioneering grant in order to make an investment in agricultural sustainability that we hope will proliferate and grow into state wide support,” DuVal said.

This summer there will be a similar collaboration to address challenges facing forestry.

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