Marcos Icahuate
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – A movie night is coming to Yuma.
The MLK Youth Center (300 S. 13th Ave.) will be having a movie night every Tuesday from June 3 through July 8.
The event will be free to enter and includes free food and drinks.
The event is also brought to you by Allo Fiber, Yuma Crossing Rotary Club, and ARIZONA@WORK.
Marcos Icahuate
SAN LUIS, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – The City of San Luis is opening a public meeting with no formal presentations.
The City is hosting the meeting as a commitment to transparency and engagement between locals and their elected officials.
A relaxed social atmosphere is proposed so locals can share their comments and concerns with the City Council.
Free coffee, muffins and fruit will be offered at the meeting.
“We want to hear from our community, your feedback is what helps shape our priorities and decisions,” stated Council Member Lizeth Servin. “These conversations are about listening, learning, and building stronger relationships with the people we serve.”
The meeting will be held on June 7 from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at Eddie’s Food & Drink (4492 E. County 24th 1/2 Street).
Karina Bazarte
IMPERIAL COUNTY, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) – Local law enforcement is looking for a man who led them on a pursuit after they noticed he was driving a stolen vehicle.
The Imperial County Sheriff’s Office (ICSO) says the vehicle was reported stolen from Los Angeles.
Officers spotted the stolen car and tried to conduct a traffic stop by Salton City, which led them to a pursuit that ended in Westmorland.
The man then ran off into a neighborhood.
“We did a search of several residences where they thought he might possibly enter. It did not result in locating any suspect. No arrests were made at the time…we recovered the vehicle…we are still looking into possibly…who was driving the vehicle,” said Moises Badena, Criminal Division Supervisor with ICSO.
ICSO says no arrests were made at the time, but the vehicle was recovered. The suspect is described to be in his 30s.
If you have information about this case, call the ICSO.
Karina Bazarte
IMPERIAL COUNTY, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) – The California Highway Patrol (CHP) has new patrol vehicles to stop people from speeding.
CHP says they receive about 1,000 calls from people reporting reckless drivers.
They say these new vehicles are a little harder for people to spot which helps them catch the speeders.
“When they see a black and white vehicle they tend to slow down and drive safer, once a patrol car is gone they will continue their driving behaviors. Knowing that the special patrol vehicles are out and about, hopefully it will reduce people reckless driving behaviors,” said Jose Marquez, with CHP El Centro.
CHP says they are not getting rid of their black and white patrol vehicles.
The new patrol vehicles are already on the highway.
Jailene Aguilera
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – Here’s a refreshing take on lemonade pack with lots of vitamins, Kale Lemonade.
Ingredients:
– 1 cups fresh kale, stems removed
– 3 medium cucumber, chopped
– 3 medium apple (a sweet variety like Fuji or Honeycrisp), cored and chopped
– 1-2 inches of fresh ginger, peeled
– 1 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3-4 lemons)
– 2-3 tablespoons honey (adjust to taste)
– Water (as needed for consistency)
Instructions:
1.Prepare the Ingredients
Wash the kale, cucumber, and apple thoroughly. Peel the ginger and core the apple.
2. Juicing
Feed the kale, cucumber, apple, and ginger through your juicer, collecting all the juice in a pitcher.
3. Mixing
In the pitcher with the juice, add the fresh lemon juice and honey. Stir well to combine.
4. Adjust Sweetness
Taste the mixture and adjust the sweetness by adding more honey if desired.
5. Serve
Pour the juice into glasses. You can serve it over ice or chill it in the refrigerator before serving.
This could be a fun way to get your kids to drink, healthier options.
Manoah Tuiasosopo
SAN LUIS, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – Congressional candidate Adelita Grijalva kicked off her Yuma County canvass event in San Luis Saturday.
The former Pima County Supervisor is running for the representative of Arizona’s 7th Congressional District, the same seat formerly held by her late father, Raul Grijalva.
A proud mother, Grijalva says she is fighting for a future where women and families not only survive, but thrive.
She advocates for quality healthcare, affordable childcare, and strong public schooling.
Grijalva will be back in San Luis for a town hall on June 11. To RSVP for the event, click here.
Danyelle Burke North
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – Over the past two decades, the share of women in agriculture in the United States has steadily increased, with recent studies showing women now make up more than a third of all agricultural producers.
Some of these local leaders outstanding in their field are making a difference right here in Yuma agriculture.
According to a study by Trace One, over 54% of farms in Yuma County are operated by women. Three of these women work as agricultural leaders at our local JV Farms, including Farms Spray & Planting Department Manager Martha Ryan, Food Safety Director Fatima Corona Zepeda, and Southern Colorado Farms General Manager Amy Kunugi.
But sowing seeds into success hasn’t always been easy.
“I just feel like I had to prove myself working for a male dominated industry, but it’s really nice to finally see that women are representing a big part of the industry out in the field. It’s really needed. It’s inspiring, and I’m glad to be part of that,” said Ryan.
Sometimes they’ve had to prove themselves just for a seat at the table, with people still holding onto outdated ideas.
“I get different reactions. It’s really funny. I feel like some people think that the typical representation of a person out in the field is like an older man like the pioneer, so I get mixed reaction. Sometimes they’re like ‘Oh yeah, that’s great,’ or something like ‘You’re in a management role for a farm?'” said Martha Ryan.
“I’ve gone to events where you know you had to sign in. And I was signing in as the grower, and the people at the desk I was signing in didn’t believe I was the grower. And they thought I was the spouse, and so you know that’s gotten a lot better. Things have changed. The industries become more progressive,” said Kunugi.
People sometimes misunderstand and think it’s just about tractors and trailers. But there’s so much more to this multifacted industry.
“It isn’t just about the tractors. It’s a huge amount of different roles that really represent what it’s all about to run a farm,” said Ryan.
“I mean, we need accountants. We need I.T. directors, especially with technology,” said Fatima Corona Zepeda.
But the crops aren’t the only thing growing, so is the number of women taking over the industry. Trace One reports Arizona leads the nation with 47.9% of its agricultural producers being women.
And it’s a bigger deal when they take center stage in Yuma, as our local AG has a large impact on the entire industry.
“It’s very exciting just to know that we supply the majority of the vegetables to our country during the month of November through March,” said Zepeda. “So without our operations here in Yuma County, I don’t think the country would be able to enjoy the leafy greens they do enjoy during these times of the year.”
As this industry continues to grow, these women say they’re looking forward to the future of agriculture.
“We have a lot of women in human resources or accounting or maybe food safety things like that, but there’s not as many of us in the actual production side of it, so I would highly encourage young women to consider agricultural production as a career,” said Kunugi.
“Hopefully, we can inspire young students to pursue a career,” said Zepeda.
Eduardo Morales
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs visited Yuma Friday afternoon to discuss the importance of Medicaid funding.
Gov. Hobbs stopped by Sunset Health Clinic where she toured the facility, and spoke with both doctors and locals.
Following the tour, she heard from several local residents on AHCCCS who are dependent of the Medicaid funding.
After taking the time to listen, Hobbs quoted former Arizona Governor Jan Brewer saying, “You can’t balance the budget by killing people, and you heard from these people, that people are going to die, and we can’t do that.”
Multiple locals shared their perspective about how reliant they are on this funding.
“It’s indispensable that we have medical aid from AHCCCS so that it can help us…the economic situation is tough,” says local Lucas Vizcarra.
Hobbs says that everyday people can help fight for funding.
“Everyone should be talking to their members of Congress, and this doesn’t just affect people on Medicaid, it affects everyone,” she said.
The governor also spoke about her budget and highlighted some of its key points.
“Border security funding, I called for a big investment in childcare. It’s a huge need across the state, I called for raises for our Department of Public Safety officers…those are still priorities. I think they’re areas where we should be able to find common ground,” Gov. Hobbs says.
The governor’s team says she is trying to emphasize the importance of Medicaid, especially in rural communities.
You can watch a livestream of the meeting below:
Danyelle Burke North
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – A local store is asking the community to come together for a good cause. Kabat’s Fortuna Ace Hardware store in the Fortuna Foothills is doing a sock drive to help support Cristina’s Closet.
“You can either buy…donate a pair of socks and at the end of the month, we will deliver them to Cristina’s Closet,” said Sean Toomey, Store Manager.
Cristina’s closet is a safe space where locals can find clothing for job interviews or professional needs free of charge. The nonprofit says they’ve served over 2,000 people with over 7,000 outfits, all from community donations.
Cristina McInnes, the founder of Cristina’s Closet, shares the impact she hopes the drive will have.
“When they asked to partner up with me to do the sock drive, it’s just so incredible! I mean we’re really literally down to our last pair of like ten socks, so this just has come at a perfect time. And with the socks that they’re looking to get, it’s going to almost give us a full year,” said McInnes.
Starting June 1, customers can purchase and donate a pair of socks for $2.
“Our goal right now for our store for the month of June is going to be about 300 pairs of socks,” said Toomey.
If you want to help out and donate a pair of socks, you can visit any of the registers at Kabat’s Fortuna Ace Hardware store.
Adrik Vargas
EL CENTRO, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) – The Imperial Irrigation District (IID) isn’t just moving water. It’s growing fish.
At the IID Fish Farm in El Centro, thousands of sterile grass carp are bred, tested, and released into canals each year to help control weed growth, all without the need for chemicals.
“We go production, blood testing, then the stocking, so it’s a year-round process,” said Pablo Cortez, Hatchery Operations Coordinator.
The farm is the only one of its kind in the West and uses science and sustainability to keep the region’s water clean. It’s also saved money in the long run.
“Early 90s, late 80s, the IID was spending about a million and a half for chemical and mechanical clean up,” Cortez said. “With the grass carp, our budget is pretty much the same, but we are attacking the entire Imperial Valley which is about 1,600 miles of canals.”
That kind of impact starts with daily care.
“It’s a year-long process from feeding them to making sure they have alfalfa, feed, making sure that the elements haven’t gotten to them, having proper aeration for oxygen,” said Arturo Guzman, a fish biologist at the farm.
One key step is blood testing the fish to make sure they’re triploid, sterile and safe to release.
The job is labor-intensive, and teamwork is essential.
“It’s definitely a group effort. Not one of us can do it ourselves,” Guzman said.
These fish aren’t just swimming, they’re clocking in to help keep the Valley’s waterways flowing clean and weed-free.
