Category: kyma-local-news

Eduardo Morales

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – Throughout the City of Yuma, locals are trying to recover from the damage done by Thursday night’s storm.

Winds as strong as just over 60 miles per hour left multiple trees down throughout the City, closing down some roads.

“Well honey, I’m just sick, just sick,” said Yuma local Ann Stewart.

A sinkhole appeared on South Ridgeview Drive and Parkway Drive near Sonora Quest Laboratories.

A local near the hole shares how it feels to lose a tree of 100 years old.

“These old trees were so magnificent and the wind just picked them up and tore them out by the roots, I lost two last night, the big giant one in the front yard and one in the back,” expressed Stewart.

Despite this, she is looking at the positives for her neighborhood.

“At least nobody was hurt and they didn’t fall on anybody’s house so that’s a good thing,” Stewart expressed.

An apartment parking structures partly collapsed as well.

Meanwhile, another local, Jonny Porter, had his house flooded and cannot live there for the next couple of days.

“I wasn’t the only one affected by it, all my neighbors, their houses are flooded, we are all out here together sweeping out water, and slowing down traffic, and I’ve seen all the damage,” said Porter.

However, he is thankful for the support he is receiving from others throughout the community.

“I’m just absolutely devastated, and I have a lot of friends in the community, they reached out to me via Facebook and stuff and I’m really grateful for that and they’re really helping me keep positive right now,” Porter says.

Crews throughout the City can be seen cleaning up the damage.

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Madeline Murray

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – The City of Yuma has opened a temporary green waste drop-off site Friday.

According to a press release, this is to help assist residents with storm cleanup, and is taking place at a vacant lot located in the area of S. Avenue A and W. 17th Street, across from Inca Lanes, from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

While they accept clippings, branches, leaves, shrubs and weeds, the City says they do not accept construction debris, fencing, roofing, trampolines and palm fronds.

The City is asking those who are dropping off the green waste to unload them “directly into the roll-off dumpsters” and “do not dump on the ground.”

The City is also asking those dropping off to follow the “posted signage and traffic flow directions at the site.”

In addition, the City says the “site will be open through at least the weekend, with potential extension depending on community needs. Updates will be provided.”

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Danyelle Burke North

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – One man is behind bars after deputies say he tried to steal items from the truck of a dove hunter in the Foothills.

The Yuma County Sheriff’s Office (YCSO) says the vehicle burglary happened Wednesday around 2 a.m. on South Fortuna Road near the Comfort Inn and Pizza Hut.

Deputies says a group of dove hunters confronted the man after they saw his legs hanging out of the truck.

The suspect is being held at the Yuma County Jail on a bond of $75,000.

He will be back in court on Friday facing three felony charges.

YCSO says a group of visitors were in Yuma for dove hunting season when the victim heard a car alarm go off in the parking lot of their hotel. The victim and his group confronted the suspect while calling law enforcement. The group was able to hold down the suspect while deputies arrived.

The suspect, a 24-year-old man from Yuma, was found to have stolen property from a nearby vehicle that was broken into and another unlocked vehicle, such as ammunition and firearms.

YCSO reminds the community to not leave vehicles unlocked and to not leave valuables behind.

Anyone with information on this case can call YCSO at 928-783-4427 or 78-CRIME to remain anonymous

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Danyelle Burke North

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – The man accused of trying to steal items from the truck of a dove hunter in the Foothills was formally charged Friday.

24-year-old Kobe Young is facing two felony charges of burglary.

On Wednesday around 2 a.m., dove hunters found Young attempting to steal equipment from vehicles just south of Fortuna Road in the Foothills.

The suspect is being held at the Yuma County Jail on a bond of $75,000. He will be back in court in a week for a preliminary hearing.

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Andrea Turisk

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – As kids head back to school, it’s just a matter of time before we start to see a rise in respiratory infections, from the common cold to the flu and other more serious viruses.

Close contact in classrooms can cause respiratory viruses to spread quickly.

Dr. Donald Hubbard, Medical Director and Emergency Medical Physician at Exceptional Community Hospital, says this is due to proximity.

“People are together, they’re close, so if one gets it, everybody’s exposed to it. These don’t really go away in the summertime, but the people are generally not together as much,” he said.

Dr. Hubbard adds there are common symptoms to look out for.

“I would say if somebody has a little cough, they have a runny nose, maybe a little bit of a sore throat, that’ll probably get better by itself within a few days. When you have to start worrying is if they start having trouble breathing, if they have a severe sore throat, they probably need to be seen,” Hubbard shared.

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Abraham Retana

SAN LUIS, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – A local health care provider broke ground Thursday on a new birthing center.

Regional Center for Border Health started the construction of the San Luis New Vida Birthing Center.

The $2.5 million state of the art project will provide baby delivery and neo-natal services.

“It’s a good package for women at a reasonable price for people to deliver their babies in a very comfortable environment, friendly environment for the moms to choose and the families to be there accompany the mom,” said Amanda Aguirre, CEO of the Regional center for Border Health.

The San Luis New Vida Birthing Center will be located on Oak Avenue next to the San Luis Medical Mall.

Construction is expected to be completed in February of next year.

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Adrik Vargas

IMPERIAL COUNTY, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) – A new community-led effort is focusing on life around the Salton Sea.

Residents and local groups are coming together to make their voices heard.

The Campaign for Thriving Salton Sea Communities is led by Alianza Coachella Valley. It brings together residents, nonprofits, researchers, and agencies to support the community’s well-being.

One of the big projects is a trail network connecting communities throughout the region. The idea is to improve access, mobility, and create more opportunities for local economic growth.

As Aydee Rodriguez from Alianza explains, “We’re talking about a network that would, include, not just, you know, like, like sidewalk or pavement, but then also lights, electric charging stations to prepare our community for, the transition to cleaner vehicles, broadband, and electric, grid stability.”

The group is also using community science to collect data on air and water quality.

“We’ve been doing collection of water samples and testing them for various, like, nutrients, or like chemicals,” Aydee said. “And then what we’ve done is we’ve also installed, two hydrogen monitors right above the water, one in the north and the south end to monitor how much hydrogen sulfide is coming out of the sea at what times.”

Challenges remain, and Alianza hopes to work through them this fall at a roundtable.

“What does it look like to, work together in collaborative funding? Because sometimes, like, we’re forced to compete against each other for certain funding buckets,” Aydee said. She also emphasized the need for more data. “Linking emissions coming out of the Salton Sea to public health consequences, illnesses, sicknesses. Because if we had that, then I think that we could hold more accountability to those responsible.”

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Adrik Vargas

EL CENTRO, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) – When the Cancer Resource Center of the Desert closed earlier this year, many cancer patients in Imperial County felt lost.

Now, thanks to community support and new technology, the El Centro nonprofit is open again.

“We want to, just reassure people that were available and we’re going to work as a team with our patients because we need to work as a team,” said Helen Palomino of CRCD. “We can’t do as much as we used to because we’re small, but we’re still extremely effective.”

Before shutting down, the center partnered with Pear Suite, a case management system that helps track services and handle billing.

Palomino said the system has made reimbursements faster and reporting much easier.

“It’s an amazing experience to see everything that was billable, that it automatically picked up,” she said.

But it wasn’t just technology that made reopening possible.

“We brought together a group of very powerful women who came together with the bandwidth of either health care experience or the ability to fundraise,” said County Supervisor Martha Cardenas-Singh. “It was very important and urgent that cancer fighting patients have the Resource Center as their champion.”

For patients across Imperial County, the reopening means hope and help are once again close to home.

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Abraham Retana

WELLTON, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – An east Yuma County town is getting ready in case there are any chances of rain activity following last week’s powerful storms in our area.

Starting Thursday, September 4, there will be sand and sandbags available for Wellton residents.

You can pick up your sandbags at the fire department on Los Angeles Avenue near William Street at anytime.

You can also go to the Ace Hardware store on Wellton-Mohawk Drive near Avenue 30 1/2 E from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“This is just a coordinated effort between us and the Wellton Mohawk Irrigation District to better come, better protect the town and protect our citizens,” said Richard Marsh, Wellton Town Manager.

There will also be sand available at the empty lot on Helen Avenue, next to the National Bank of Arizona.

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Danyelle Burke North

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – The man allegedly involved in the murder of his girlfriend near Senator Wash in Imperial County was back in court Friday.

56-year-old James Hill was arrested Tuesday in Yuma County and remains in custody with no bond.

Hill waived his extradition rights to expedite the process to appear before a judge in Imperial County.

His attorney says he is expected to be back in court next week.

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