Category: kyma-local-news

Lauren Duffel

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) – Saturday is a very special day in the community, honoring the memory of Baby Lucas with a toy drive.

Everyone is welcome to join for a morning of honor, crafts, treats, face painting, and a special visit from the Easter Bunny.

The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Cafecito in Downtown Yuma.

“Lucas’s toy drive is in honor of my son Lucas. I had a full placenta rupture on April 7, 2015 and Lucas was stillborn, and we hold a toy drive in honor of him and all of the toys that are donated will be donated to Amberly’s Place,” Cynthia Crabtree, Lucas’s mother said.

If you are unable to attend, there is an Amazon link to make toy donations on Amazon. All proceeds will go directly to Amberly’s Place.

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Moses Femino

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) – Two local siblings are preparing to reach a milestone that most students don’t encounter until years later. Graduating college before even starting high school.

Lyra and Max Olea, students at Arizona Western College (AWC), are set to earn their associate degrees this May.

Despite their young age, both are already enrolled in classes at Northern Arizona University as they continue their academic journey.

“One thing that inspired me to graduate early is I wanted to get ahead,” Max said. “Because I’m not exactly sure what I want to be when I grow up. So then I can have more options.”

His sister shared that her motivation comes from her family.

“My mom got her doctorate degree and I wanted to be like her and graduate early so then I could, like, have more opportunities,” Lyra said.

Edna Gary, the siblings’ American Sign Language professor at AWC, said she was immediately surprised when she first met them.

“Yeah I was completely shocked, when I saw them,” Gary said. “They are the youngest students I’ve ever seen so they stood out to me for sure. These two college students were, they stood out like a gem to me.”

Gary added that their work ethic and maturity set them apart in class, despite being significantly younger than their peers.

“I’m very, very proud. Whatever assistance they needed with understanding something, I was there to help them because I could see their passion,” Gary expressed.

Lyra and Max have especially enjoyed learning American Sign Language, saying they appreciate the ability to communicate with and better understand the deaf and hard-of-hearing community.

While they continue progressing through college coursework, both students are already thinking about what comes next.

“I want to move to Japan and work at EPIC Games as a creative producer for Fortnite,” Lyra said.

“I’m not exactly sure, but I do know I want to do something with like exploring,” Max said.

The siblings are expected to walk the stage at AWC’s graduation ceremony this May, marking an extraordinary achievement and the beginning of their next academic chapter.

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Moses Femino

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) – Grocery prices remain a growing concern for families in Yuma, with many everyday items still costing more than they did a year ago.

While some prices have started to stabilize, shoppers say the overall cost of a trip to the store continues to add up.

Locals describe the experience as frustrating, with prices seemingly changing from one visit to the next.

“Just about everything, I mean it doesn’t matter what you buy, it is expensive,” Vicki Knapp, a Yuma local said. “My husband and I were just talking about it, it’s ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.”

Recent data shows food prices are still trending upward overall. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, ground beef has risen to about $6.70 per pound, compared to $5.50 this time last year.

Those increases are impacting everyday meals. A simple taco night for a family of four has increased 18.6% over the past year. Highlighting how even routine dinners are becoming more expensive.

Some locals question if the issue goes beyond just rising prices.

“When you start talking price, is the price really higher or is the value of the dollar lower?” Dennis Franklin, a local man said. “So if I go back four years ago, five years ago, that dollar that I’m spending today is only worth 75 cents.”

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, food prices in February 2026 were 3.1% higher than February 2025, reflecting continued inflation across the economy.

Ongoing global factors have also contributed to higher costs, leaving some uncertainty about when prices might level off.

For many shoppers, that uncertainty is part of the frustration.

“One thing I’ve never been able to understand, once a price is up, does it ever seem to go down,” Franklin said. “I don’t know, but it just seems that they like to seem to hang there.”

As prices continue to shift, some Yuma families remain hopeful that costs will stabilize over time, while others say they’re looking for relief sooner rather than later.

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Jessamyn Dodd

CALIPATRIA, Calif. (KYMA) – More than 25 years after the murders of a Calipatria police chief and a local business woman, the California Supreme Court overturned the conviction of the man sentenced to death in the case.

The court ruled juror bias may have affected the outcome, and now the case could be retried.

Back in April 1998, authorities say Omar Richard Deen shot and killed his mother Rachel Deen and then-Police Chief J. Leonard Speer of the Calipatria Police Department following an argument at his mother’s equipment yard.

Investigators say Deen fled to Mexico, where he was captured the same day and later confessed.

During the trial, prosecutors argued the killings were planned and tied to financial disputes involving the family’s estate.

Defense attorneys argued Deen suffered from severe mental illness, including schizophrenia, along with substance abuse.

A jury later convicted Deen of both murders and sentenced him to death.

But now, the California Supreme Court has reversed that decision, ruling the trial court made a critical mistake during the jury selection.

Justices found one juror had close ties to Chief Speer and law enforcement, had heard details about the case before trial, and expressed concerns about remaining impartial.

The high court ruled the juror should have been removed, and because that did not happen, the entire verdict must be thrown out.

The case will now return to the trial court, where prosecutors must decide whether to retry the case. If retried, it would reopen one of Imperial County’s most high-profile murder cases.

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Jalen Fong

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) – Watch out when selling items on Facebook Marketplace or other online selling sites. Scammers are using an old trick to take a lot of new money.

According to BBB Scam Tracker reports, be wary of phony buyers who “need” you to upgrade your Zelle or another digital wallet app to accept money from them.

How the scam works

You list an item on Facebook Marketplace. You are quickly contacted by a buyer who wants to pay using a peer-to-peer payment app. Recent BBB Scam Tracker reports reference Zelle, but this scam could also work with CashApp, Venmo (a BBB Accredited Business), or another similar service.

Shortly after receiving the payment, you get an email, supposedly from Zelle. Allegedly, the buyer paid via a Zelle “business account.”

Now, you also need to upgrade your account to business status to accept the transfer. To do so, the buyer will need to send you another $300. They are happy to do you a favor, if you promise to refund them.

One scam victim reported this experience: “I received an email from zelle@bankconfirmedpayment.com explaining that the funds were waiting, but the buyer had to send an additional $300 in order to upgrade my account because the transaction was over $600, and I would need a business account.”

The scammer then “sent” the extra funds and included screenshots of his Zelle app with the money deducted from his account.

Then, he started pressuring the victim into repaying him: “He was very upset and persistent that I needed to pay him back for the fees that he incurred on my behalf.”

If you refund the scammer, you’ll quickly realize that they never sent you any money in the first place. You’ll be out a few hundred dollars, and the scammer will disappear.

How to avoid scams when selling online:

Don’t trust anyone willing to overpay you. Unless your item is rare and you receive multiple offers, be wary of buyers offering you more than your asking price. Consider it a red flag if someone is quick to send you more money than you are asking.

Check email addresses carefully. If you seem to have received an email from Zelle or another payment app, double-check the email address. Scammers use fake email addresses that are similar to official ones.

Get to know payment app policies before you use them. If someone claims you need a business account to accept payments, check the app’s official website or contact customer service to find out if the claim is true. Scammers often make up fake policies to trick their victims.

Report scams to Facebook Marketplace. If you spot a seller trying to pull off a scam, report them. Your report can help protect other unsuspecting sellers.

For more information

Report suspicious activity to Facebook and BBB.org/ScamTracker, even if you didn’t fall for the scam.

If buying online, check out seller reviews at bbb.org.

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Madeline Murray

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) – Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Yuma gave local community leaders the chance of a life time, to experience what it’s like to be on a WTI mission.

MCAS Yuma and the community work together to give Weapons and Tactics Instructor (WTI) students access to the City of Yuma for proper training.

Cynthia Blot, City of Yuma Community Development Assistant Director, says, “I think it’s really important that we continue to support WTI and the military base…like I said, they are a vital part of our community, and them sharing this opportunity with us, shows the partnership thats been created over decades, so very excited to be on this flight.”

“WTI, once they graduate the course, they’ll go back to their individual units, and they’ll be the lead instructors inside their units,” says Col. Joshua Smith, WTI Squadron One Commanding Officer.

WTI is an annual course that happens at MCAS Yuma twice a year.

The significance of WTI is to teach all aviation specialists the most prevalent technique in the world of war fighting.

“As war fighting evolves, we’re able to teach those latest and greatest tactics and they in turn are able to go back to their units and teach their personnel in their units those same things,” says Col. Smith.

Community leaders and our reporter, Madeline Murray, got the chance to be a part of a mission very relevant to a disaster relief mission, where marines distribute water and supplies out to the City of Yuma.

Being behind the scenes of the exercise gave community leaders the perspective of what WTI students are learning and how important conducting missions are in the City of Yuma.

Smith shares how landing in a realistic environment is important to this training.

“Environment for our pilots to land in an actual city is something that is very rare, and it’s very relevant to their training…it’s much like the marine expeditionary units that go and execute training to prepare for deployment, they’ll actually go to a city…it’s not an opportunity that’s wide spread,” he explained.

Only the highest skilled marines get to participate in this elite aviation training program.

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Adrik Vargas

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) – The Yuma City Council held its annual retreat, a chance for members to reflect on past initiatives and plan for the future, including a brief discussion about potential data center development in the region.

Over the past few years, the retreats have focused on long-term planning, covering topics like economic development and heat preparedness.

This year, city leaders touched on how Yuma might approach data centers, a growing topic across the nation.

Mayor Doug Nicholls said the council wants to gather more information and have broader discussions, particularly with nearby cities and Yuma County.

He explained that the council wants a lot more information and conversation, and emphasized the importance of doing this regionally.

City officials also reviewed key priorities, including spending limits and public safety, while considering how best to navigate potential data center projects.

Mayor Nicholls stressed the importance of regional coordination to keep everyone on the same page. He said the council wants to have a whole conversation about what could be done, what parameters make sense, and how the city should proceed.

In a letter to the community, the mayor clarified that no data center applications have been submitted to the city.

He also noted that his engineering firm does not build data centers and that a brief contract with one last year to explore permitting has since ended.

Nicholls added that Yuma wants to remain involved in statewide conversations about data centers.

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Manoah Tuiasosopo

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) – The exhibits of the Yuma County Fairgrounds were buzzing with energy last week as local youth showcased months of hard work during the 74th Annual Yuma County Fair.

Under the 2026 theme, “America the Beautiful: Celebrating 250 Years,” 4-H members once again took center stage, highlighting the dedication and talent of Yuma’s next generation of leaders.

A Showcase of Hands-On Learning

Visitors to the 4-H and FFA buildings witnessed impressive projects spanning a variety of disciplines, including photography, textiles, home economics, and school enrichment programs.

The fair offered a unique opportunity for students to demonstrate the practical skills they’ve developed throughout the year.

Livestock Excellence on Display

The livestock areas were a major highlight of the fair. Young farmers presented a range of animals, showcasing their agricultural expertise:

Large animals: Market steers, some weighing up to 1,700 pounds, swine, sheep, and dairy goats.

Special feature: The production feeder calf project, one of the fair’s newest and most popular agricultural initiatives.

Small animals: Rabbits, cavies, and poultry demonstrated the technical knowledge required for small-scale animal husbandry.

Celebrating Achievement

Beyond the competitions, organizers recognized outstanding youth with awards and scholarships. Highlights included:

Top Showmanship Awards: Celebrating skill, poise, and leadership in handling animals.

Scholarships: Eleven graduating seniors received fair scholarships, while 4-H awarded nine additional scholarships for higher education or technical training.

Leadership Honors: Local 4-H leaders were acknowledged for their dedication, including long-term service awards.

Community Support and Resilience

The 2026 fair was not only a showcase of talent but also a testament to the community’s support.

After a challenging year for some participants facing livestock losses, Yuma residents came together through local fundraisers and initiatives, ensuring every student could complete their projects and participate in the Junior Livestock Auction.

As the fair wraps up, organizers say these young participants are walking away with more than just awards. They’re gaining valuable life skills in leadership, responsibility, and resilience, carrying lessons that will serve them well in the years to come.

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Adrik Vargas

UPDATE (12:06 PM): According to Judge Roger Nelson, the trial will now take place Friday as jury selection continues.

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) – Jury selection began Tuesday in the trial of a Yuma man accused of murder.

40-year-old Nicholas Harder is charged with murdering 57-year-old Anthony Jordinelli back in May of 2023.

He faces one count of premeditated first-degree murder and four counts of aggravated assault.

The murder allegedly took place at a home east of Somerton, located on Avenue 3E and County 18th Street.

Harder rejected a plea deal in April of last year, and his trial is expected to begin Wednesday once a jury has been finalized.

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Moses Femino

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) – Even though plans for a data center in Yuma have been ruled out, at least for now, the conversation is far from over.

Locals on both sides of the debate continue to speak out about what a project like this could mean for the community.

While no current plans are moving forward, the idea sparked strong opinions from residents, leaving some questioning whether the city could handle a project of this scale in the future.

Concerns largely center on water and energy resources, which many say are already under pressure in the region.

“The first situation, is that the water rights have never been resolved. In the area, nor further up in the Colorado River,” Alex Bordokoff, a Yuma local, said. “And the people that are holding it hostage are irresponsible.”

At the same time, supporters argue a data center could bring economic growth and new opportunities to Yuma.

“We need to grow. I think it’s a good thing…Go ahead and pass it and let them in,” Glen Gipson, a local man, said.

However, others remain unconvinced, citing too many unknowns about potential long-term impacts.

“My biggest concerns about bringing a data center to Yuma is that we don’t have enough information to know what the consequences of it are,” Priscila Ruedas, a Yuma local, said. “And the preliminary information that is available is very negative.”

For now, no data center is planned in Yuma, but the debate over the project and its potential impact is expected to remain a key topic of discussion in the community.

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