Category: kyma-local-news

Dillon Fuhrman

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – Residents across Yuma County attended the annual Women’s Expo Saturday morning.

The event, hosted by the Yuma Territorial Charter Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA), started at 8:00 a.m. in the Yuma Civic Center.

Local businesses and organizations, such as Onvida Health and Shear Skills School of Cosmetology, participated in the annual event.

Cathy Hansen, President of the ABWA Yuma Chapter, explains the importance of the expo saying, “In a rural community, there are not as many options for education and equipping and access to tools, you know, that can further you and help you along…We do all that and try to help women get better equipped to build their business and grow.”

During the event, there was a fashion show, gift raffles, food, and the first 200 people who attended the event got a swag bag.

The expo lasted until 2:00 p.m.

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Eduardo Morales

WELLTON, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – 31-year-old Ramon Marquez appeared back in court Thursday with more charges after being accused of getting sexually involved with a 16-year-old girl.

The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent was read the 15 counts he is being charged. These include sexual intercourse, oral sexual contact, and sexual exploitation of a minor.

The complaint states that Marquez knowingly recorded, filmed, or photographed the minor he is accused of sexually abusing.

According to documents we obtained, the alleged abuse happened multiple times, from December 2024 to April of this year.

The judge told Marquez to not have any contact with the alleged victim.

“Do appear at all scheduled court proceedings, do obey all laws, I’m going to order you not threaten or initiate any contact with any alleged victims, and when I say no contact, that means absolutely nothing,” said Judge Russ Jones.

We reached out to CBP to see if Marquez is still employed by them, but they declined to comment.

Marquez posted his bond earlier this week and is no longer in custody.

He is set to appear in court again later this month.

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Danyelle Burke North

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – During the summer, a lot of kids and adults suffer from food insecurity. During the school year, cafeterias provide students with a nice warm meal, but when summertime comes around, some students are worried about where their next meal is going to come from.

“During the summer, of course, we all know those kids are getting meals from the schools, so now schools are going to shut down, kids are going to go home, and those kids are now going to be home with their families. So the burden is going to be on the families now,” said Yuma Community Food Bank Chief Operating Officer Michelle Merkley.

It’s why the Yuma Community Food Bank helps fill food pantries on several local campuses, all to make sure no student goes hungry. Those include Yuma’s Northern Arizona University and Arizona Western College campuses along with O.C. Johnson. They say there’s a huge call to action during the summer.

“More and more people come to us during the summer, so we’re always asking for food donations. You know help do a food drive, you know, clean out your pantry. You can drop off food right off here at the main location here, said Merkley.

May until the end of July, the food bank is partnering with Pilkington Construction to support families through the summer.

“Pilkington construction, they’ve agreed that until the end of July, they will match up to $5,000 in total for every dollar donated,” said Yuma Councilman Art Morales. “With this initiative, we’re hoping to get the Yuma Community Food Bank through the summer to support the families.”

If you’d like to help support families and students in need, you can volunteer here, or donate at the Yuma Community Food Bank.

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Manoah Tuiasosopo

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – As we celebrate Nurse Week, we share the story of a Yuma woman closer to achieving her career dreams after some much needed help from Onvida Health.

“At Onvida Health, we want to help develop our employees and develop their career,” says Laura Wisniewski, the Administrative Director of Human Resources at Onvida Health.

That’s exactly what their doing with Carolina Martinez who says it’s her dream to one day become a registered nurse.

That dream is well on its way to becoming a reality after she was chosen for the first Internal Nurse Sponsorship program at Onvida Health.

“Now I’m closer to my goal of becoming an RN,” says Martinez.

The program covers tuition and allows employees to study while maintaining full-time pay and benefits.

“As our organization grows, we know our workforce needs to grow. Sometimes we need to be creative on how do we train high-potential, high-performing employees to get to that next step in their career,” says Wisniewski.

Martinez says as a mother, military spouse, and full-time nursing assistant, stopping work to further her education would be a stretch.

But after graduating from the 9-month program, on top of her 15 plus years of experience, Martinez is now a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN).

Martinez says, “Nursing programs are pretty intense. Sometimes people have to work part-time, PRN (“Pro re nata” which translates to “As needed”), or not work at all. With this opportunity we didn’t have to. We were paid to go to class and clinicals. I thought it was a great opportunity.”

She says she’s in it for the long run.

“To be a nurse, you have to have big heart and a lot of patience,” says Martinez.

Martinez was one of five employees selected for the program.

Onvida Health says they would like to expand the group to 20 employees starting this summer.

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Andrea Turisk

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – The Yuma Fire Department (YFD) says they’re responding to more emergency calls now then ever before, but with limited resources, keeping up with this demand has been an ongoing challenge.

Firefighters say they’re doing everything they can, but they need support. 

This year, YFD broke records for emergency calls. 441 in a single week. Thats about 100 more than their weekly average.

YFD Public Information Officer David Padilla says, “What we’ve seen in previous years as kind of the base is now becoming the new norm for us.”

Padilla says Yuma is seeing large population growth, especially on the east side, which had affected the departments ability to respond to calls.

“The community has outgrown the our fire department, and its time for the fire department to catch up,” Padilla shared.

The growing demand is especially visible in emergency medical services. YFD EMS Division Chief Daniel Espino says crews are working overtime to keep units in service.

“We’re running two units right now on overtime. Medic 7 is running overtime 24 hours a day, and we’ve up-staffed a day car that’s also running from 9 to 5…also with overtime,” Chief Espino said.

And while no one is forced to work extra hours, the department relys on dedication and volunteerism to fill in the gaps.

“It’s voluntary, no one’s made to work overtime. So I think its really good that we’ve got good guys that are electing to pick up the shifts on their days off,” Espino explained.

The workload is not only intense. It’s personal. John Dunbar, Chapter President of the United Yuma Fire Association says for many firefighters its about doing more, with less.

“We’ve seen a large increase in call volume which puts more strain both physically and mentally on our members, but staffing levels haven’t changed,” Dunbar spoke. “Whether it’s an EMS call and you’re running a cardiac arrest with two or three people instead of the recommended five or six, we’re going to do it. It just puts more strain on our members.”

Dunbar says the extended shifts and rising call loads are becoming stressful: “The increased workload, overtime, extended shifts, working 3 to 4 days in a row, that takes a toll.”

Still, the department is pushing forward. Padilla says they’re actively looking at how to position the resources they do have: “We are currently undergoing some adjustments to be able to better serve out community. The Yuma Fire Department is always looking to allocate resources the best way we can across the city.”

With recruitment coming soon, YFD says anyone can apply with training provided for those who qualify.

“We allow anybody to apply as long as your the minimum age and have a drivers license and then we will put you through all the training to become a firefighter EMT and work for the Yuma Fire Department” Padilla remarked.

While challenges continue firefighters say their mission hasn’t changed, and neither has their commitment to the community 

“Rest assured the united yuma firefighters is 100% willing to, and were able to work with both the city and fire administration to come up with real solutions,” says Dunbar.

YFD says they’ll continue to push for additional funding and staff, but until changes are made firefighters will continue to feel strain and emergency response times could be affected.

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Andrea Turisk

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – County leaders are presenting a $548 million budget proposal for fiscal year 2025 to 2026. It’s designed to fund major improvements while staying fiscally conservative.

Tuesday’s meeting gave county departments and the public the chance to weigh in.

The Yuma County Board of Supervisors heard from different departments across the county.

Yuma County Administrator Ian McGaughey says this budget is a conservative, smart, fiscally proven budget that will fund certain projects that meet the county’s needs.

“All of these big projects come down to one thing which is how can we better serve our community and that’s the top initiative of the board. Customer service is in our strategic plan, it’s the heart of our mission and this budget helps facilitate that,” said McGaughey.

The plan includes about $38.8 million of general funding which will go towards expanding health facilities, finishing the new administration building, and a new south county transfer site to cut down on illegal dumping.

Supervisors Chairman Martin Porchas says he’s grateful for the department heads understanding during the process.

“It’s a year where we’re getting so many things. Uncertainty, and so, we just want to be ready and make sure where we can adjust if something down the road comes that is gonna affect us,” Chairman Porchas expressed.

McGaughey says the proposed budget was made to keep taxpayers in mind, ensuring the budget accomplishes a lot without increasing the general fund tax rate or combined tax rates.

“We have a very conservative outlook and we make sure we reflect that to our taxpayers. We want to keep that tax rate static,” explained McGaughey.

County officials say this budget is about stability and service, keeping Yuma strong today, and ready for tomorrow.

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Abraham Retana

EL CENTRO, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) – The City of El Centro launches a new system to keep the community informed about a variety of topics happening with the city.

The mass notification system started last March as a new way to communicate between the city and the residents.

“It’s another tool to communicate with our residents. They can sign up for text email or voice calls to receive notification about emergency events such as major earthquakes, flooding, major weather or something non-emergency like traffic reports,” explained Mario Renteria, City of El Centro public information officer.

You may sign-in using the City of El Centro official website and choose the way you would like to notified, whether by text message, email or voice call.

“We are always looking for ways to communicate with the public for very various things. We use local media also social media and this gives us another tool to reach those residents who may not always watch traditional media or social media,” said Renteria.

You can check out more on the City’s website here.

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Eduardo Morales

WELLTON, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – 31-year-old Ramon Marquez was arrested for allegedly having sexual relations with a 16 year-old-girl.

Marquez was arrested Monday morning in Wellton with five felony counts, including sexual exploitation of a minor, with the alleged relations happening on March 21.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) approached the Yuma Police Department (YPD) about the allegations in late April.

“Our department started an investigation into it, through the investigation probable cause was gotten to believe that he had committed sexual conduct with a minor,” said Sgt. Lori Franklin, Public Information Officer for YPD.

Meanwhile, CBP shared the following statement:

“On May 5, 2025, at approximately 8:48 a.m., a CBP employee was arrested for state charges for multiple felony sexual offenses by the Yuma Police Department. The incident is under investigation by the Yuma Police Department and CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility.

CBP stresses honor and integrity in every aspect of our mission, and the overwhelming majority of CBP employees and officers perform their duties with honor and distinction, working tirelessly every day to keep our country safe. An arrest is merely an allegation. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.”

Marquez appeared in court for the first time Tuesday morning, and will be back on Thursday.

Marquez had a bond of $50,000, but is no longer in custody according to the Yuma County Inmate Search website.

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Eduardo Morales

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – Elizabeth Cooley, a former teacher turned agriculture book author, shared her story with a local school.

She says she was inspired to write her book “Deserts Grow Veggies” because of agriculture’s importance in Yuma.

While driving by an AG field one day, she decided to write an AG story for kids.

She says she regularly attends schools to read her book and inspire students.

“So many local companies are really investing in our students and giving our children the education on agriculture because we really are at the forefront here in Yuma and so I just think it’s so neat and I’m glad my story can be a part of it,” said Cooley.

Cooley will have a book signing at Barnes and Noble on May 10.

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Danyelle Burke North

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – A Yuma local says Mexican National Guard Troops stole from him during a border crossing stop.

Jose Sanchez just received his second award for Best Employee at the Marine Corporation Hospitality Service.

He was recently visiting his mom across the border after she had a stroke to show her his new award. On his return back home, he was stopped at the Baja California and California border crossing.

He says it was for the type of music troops said he was playing.

During his car search, he says troops stole 400 pesos which is a little more than $20 and his honorary coin. He posted about the incident on social media, and the next day, troops responded back about finding his items.

“So I got a response from Mexican National Guard. They sent me a message ‘Aye you now what we see your post, and then we got the coin, and then we got this, and we got your money’ because they took 400 pesos, it’s a little bit more than $20,” said Jose Sanchez.

He says he’s thankful to have his items back, but advises those who go through similar experiences to make a complaint so these type of problems don’t happen again.

“If you don’t make a complaint they don’t know about it. I mean, they really got to take care of those kinds of problems, so if nobody complains, I mean do the right thing,” said Sanchez.

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