Category: kyma-local-news

Madeline Murray

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) – The City of Yuma held their annual Career Exploration Fair Wednesday morning at the Yuma Civic Center.

Attendees got the opportunity to take a look at current job openings, learn about job titles, compensation, and qualifications.

City departments at the annual event ranged from Public Works to the Police and Fire Departments, Parks and Rec, and Utilities.

Letty Little, City of Yuma Human Resource Analyst, shares how this annual fair benefits our community.

“It helps them find a career path for them, either now or down the line right, so we have some positions that are open now, and some of them might not be open at the moment, but it gives them an opportunity to find out what those are, and if their interested in them, so they can apply,” Little explained.

For more information about career opportunities and job openings, click here.

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Marcos Icahuate

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) – Arizona Western College (AWC) is set to compete in the third round of the NJCAA’s Best Nickname Challenge.

Over 80 campuses nationwide entered the contest, with AWC reaching the top 32.

“It was a lot of fun and garnered a lot of interest.” said AWC Sports Information Director Scott Gross. “Members in the athletics department were checking the votes repeatedly throughout the process. Any slight change was talked about. Our fans really got behind it, we’re one step closer to winning our first national championship together.”

Voting opens Thursday, February 5 and lasts for 24 hours.

You can join by casting your vote on the NJCAA X/Twtter page or NJCAA Instagram story.

More information, including brackets, can be found here.

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Marcos Icahuate

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) – An annual music event returns for its 18th season.

The Village Jazz Series will be at the Yuma Palms Mall every Thursday starting in January through April.

Free performances will be every Thursday starting January 16 at the Yuma Palms Regional Center (1305 S. Yuma Palms Pkwy) starting at 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Bring your own lawn chair and enjoy the music.

You can find more information here.

Performance schedules are as follows:

January 15 – Renee Grant Patrick and Nicole Pesce

January 22 – Rob Thorsen Trio

January 29 – Mia Delgado and Yuma Jazz Company

February 5 – The Hot Beignets

February 12 – Yuma Big Band

February 19 – Jason & Elle

February 26 – Louis Valenzuela and Jessi Carr 

March 5 – Dennis Gittens & Ed Kornhauser Quartet

March 12 – Pete Pancrazi Quartet

March 19 – Society Boys

March 26 – Yuma Big Band

April 2 – Yuma Jazz Company’s Latin Jazz Eruption!

April 9 – Cibola and Gila Ridge High School Jazz Bands

April 16 – Danny Green Trio

April 23 – Arizona Western College and KOFA High School jazz bands

April 30 – Yuma Jazz Company & Friends

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Marcos Icahuate

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) – A Yuma resident and Humane Society of Yuma (HSOY) are offering an award to bring a person to justice, according to Yuma Police Department (YPD).

YPD had a case on January 22, around the area of Sunset Court, where the owner of a cat named Midget returned home with severe injuries on its face. Midget was confirmed to have been shot, then had to be humanely euthanized.

A previous case on September 14, 2025, had an officer find a dead cat under a vehicle with an arrow lodged in its body in the area of Arizona Avenue.

Midget’s owner is offering a $2,000 award, with HSOY matching it, for any information leading to the arrest of the person responsible.

“He had more courage in his little body, than the coward that shot him!” wrote Midget’s owner, Ken Darby.

YPD says the cat’s was originally named Bear but was renamed to Midget.

Anyone with information on this case is encouraged to call YPD at (928) 783-4421 or 78-CRIME to remain anonymous.

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Marcos Icahuate

CALEXICO, Calif. (KYMA) – A temporary pedestrian facility will be at the Calexico Port of Entry, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

The facility will open on Tuesday, February 10, 2026, one block east of the current pedestrian crossings.

CBP says the facility will provide more processing lanes to increase capacity.

A permanent building is expected to be completed by 2029.

You can monitor wait times here.

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Marcos Icahuate

(KYMA) – A former operations officer at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Yuma was one of two people killed in a law enforcement helicopter crash in Flagstaff.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) identified the pilot as Robert B. Skankey and the DPS paramedic trooper on board as Hunter R. Bennett.

Skankey served at MCAS Yuma for three years, beginning in 2007 as director of safety, according to his LinkedIn.  He’s survived by his wife and four children.

Bennett joined Arizona DPS in 2022, and was nationally certified as a paramedic. He graduated from Arizona State University and is survived by his wife, who was his high school sweetheart.

Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-Ariz.) ordered flags at all state buildings be lowered to half-staff to honor both AZ DPS crew members who lost their lives in the line of duty.

From sunrise on February 7 until sunset on February 8, flags will be lowered to half staff in remembrance of them.

Gov. Hobbs issued the following statement, “This is a devastating loss for Arizona and for the aviation and law enforcement community. I’m sending my deepest condolences to these heroes’ families, loved ones, and colleagues.”

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Andrea Turisk

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) – The Seventh Annual Kids at Hope Yuma Benefit Concert, featuring The Frontmen, Country Music’s hottest super group, starring Richie McDonald formerly of Lonestar, Larry Stewart of Restless Heart, and Tim Rushlow, formerly of Little Texas. 

Between the three, they have 30 number one hits and have sold over 30 million records. Opening up the concert will be Downtime from Yuma, and Yuma favorite, The Gwynn Sisters. 

Pre-sale tickets can be purchased for $30 at Mr. Fish in the Foothills, and online at kidsathopeyuma.org.  Kids 12 and under are free. 

There will be open seating, so bring your own chairs.  There will be a Kids Zone with lots of outdoor games.

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Andrea Turisk

IMPERIAL COUNTY, Calif. (KYMA) – The Imperial Valley Symphony presents the “Moonlight Serenade.”

The Imperial Valley Symphony is a community orchestra that relies on donations and small amount of funds from ticket sales in order to keep them functional. 

The event will be on February 13th from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM.

To purchase tickets, click here.

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Abraham Retana

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) – A local college is celebrating Valentines Day with a series of health fairs.

Arizona Western College is hosting the Heart and Healthy Relationships Fair starting Wednesday, February 11 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the 3C building.

There will be booths and vendors so you and your loved one can have a better relationship.

“It gives the people the opportunity to how everything comes together when it comes to healthy and wellness. Not just physical health it’s relationships, partnerships it’s our mental wellbeing and how everything it’s interconnected,” said Adrianne Noriega, AWC student care coordinator.

There will be a fair in Parker and one more in San Luis, Arizona on February 18.

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Abraham Retana

SAN LUIS, Ariz. (KYMA) – A local police department is facing challenging times due to an officer shortage.

It’s even busier with the increase of traffic during agriculture and winter visitor season.

The San Luis Police Department (SLPD) currently has two to three officers and one supervisor per shift, when they should have four officers and one supervisor per shift.

To fill those empty spots, motorcycle units are modifying their duties.

“We are doing the exact same thing with the K9 officers. They are also complementing most of the day shifts and complementing some of the night shift as well, so we can a decent coverage throughout the most busy hours of the day,” said Lt. Emmanuel Botello with SLPD.

SLPD says they rely on civilian employees and a private company to help with traffic, especially during peak hours when there are long lines to cross the border into Mexico.

“Transit control officers helping out with traffic control four of those civilian employees and the City of San Luis we also have a contract with a third party company who is helping us doing traffic control,” said Lt. Botello.

To ease the officer shortage, San luis police recently hired a couple of officers.

“Definitely recruiting right now we are hiring currently we have two officers fresh out of the academy, they are starting the field training program, we got two going into the academy this coming month,” explained Botello.

SLPD say the are still recruiting. They have a total of eight more vacancies left to fill.

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