2013 Opinion Archive Stories

On Wednesday, a Yuma Sun article regarding APS states plans to introduce a new surcharge to cover fixed rates. This surcharge is to allow APS to recover money lost in the form of savings to their customers — customers, who went the extra distance to buy energy-efficient light bulbs, energy-efficient appliances, invest in solar panels, all

What a refreshing story about how Amulya Doniparthi asked for a classroom set of science books for her birthday gift. Kudos to her parents for making this gift a reality and giving an entire class of students the opportunity to learn. How sad that the state of Arizona doesn’t seem as concerned about her ed

A Yuma Sun article ("Charges being added to APS electricity bills," Feb. 5) said that APS needed to raise their prices in order to cover fixed costs like infrastructure and power poles. I think we need to look deeper into the real reason APS is raising its rates. There are other factors besides the fact that we aren’t buyi

The Postal Service expects to lose about $7 billion this year because of declining mail volume and about $5.4 billion in payments it must make to prefund future retiree health benefits. The agency employs about 583,000 workers. It is working to cut its ranks through attrition, and postal officials are expected to detail plans to

I would like to give a great thank you to all our officers, sheriffs and YPD, Border Patrol. I hear and read so many negative comments regarding Yuma’s law, and I must say it really hurts me to know that people think so low of the men and women who are understaffed but yet still give above 100 percent to keep us Yumans saf

Forty years ago, a popular announcer, Gordon Sinclair of CFBR Ontario Radio, wrote a stunning editorial, "Dammed Tired of Seeing the Americans Kicked Around." Americans were so touched and flattered that two million recitations of Mr. Sinclair’s commentary were sold the first month. In 40 years, isn’

Regarding the letter from Dorothy Barstad regarding the flying of the Canadian flag in the United States. I am Canadian and I totally agree with the writer that the Canadian flag should not be flown by itself in the United States. As a Canadian I am proud of my homeland and appreciate being a guest in the U.S. for the winter. Ho

I’m sitting here watching the 5 p.m. news where there were three local schools on lockdown. How those parents must have suffered, they certainly have my sympathy. However, the news channel also showed young students walking away from the school with their hands over their heads, past local police ... excuse me, but what is

Hats off to the Caballeros, Rotarians and all the other movers and shakers of Yuma for providing fun venues almost every weekend. As winter visitors, we enjoy each and every event we attend. The food and the art are well worth the time to travel downtown and spend some time and money. We are quite happy to find the high level of

When the doors opened at 1 p.m. on Jan. 26 at the Foothills Library Multipurpose Room, there were over a dozen clowns (World Clown ALLEY #222) to entertain families and over 50 children in what is to become a yearly event for the community. A book walk, fishing pond (with prizes), face painting and children dressed as circus ani

Navy League Yuma Council sponsored a successful car show at the Palms RV Resort. We wish to acknowledge the following sponsors and donors for their contributions to this event: Palms RV Resort (main sponsor), Olive Garden, Basket Creations, Michaels, Bordados del Desierto, Classic Design, In Style Beauty Salon, Nancy Ramsey, Spe

In the summer of 1998, I drove my white Honda Civic "over the hill" into Yuma and promptly got a speeding ticket. I sheepishly asked the police officer if he could let me off as I was rolling into town for the first time. He smiled and happily tore off the ticket, handed it through the window and told me to "drive safely."

This evening the elected officials of the city of Yuma will meet in a public session to adopt an ordinance to stifle the voice of the citizens of Yuma. Why do Councilmen Johnson, Beeson, Thomas and Stuart wish to avoid having former mayor, Phil Clark, remind them that the agreement with the California-based developer, Craig Clar

Another State of the Union address by President Barack Obama and another need to check his statements and comments. First of all, a look at some of the claims in the State of the Union and how they fit with the facts: On job creation, President Obama said that "after years of grueling recession, our businesses have created over

The Yuma County Mounted Posse had another successful Junior Rodeo on Jan. 27. Trent Friar won the all-around saddle and the 9-12 age group buckle, Karley Deforest won the 13-17 buckle and Ruby Robbins won the 8 and under buckle. We could not give these prizes without the help from the community. We would like to thank our 2013 s

Project Linus of Yuma would like to thank all the wonderful people who turned out for the annual Make a Blanket Day quiltathon. You made it a resounding success. We would also like to thank the LDS Stake Center on 16th Street, Goldsboro Bakery, Grandma Jo’s and The Quilting Bee for their continued support of our charitable organization. It

During the course of the past several months, there have been some special programs at the American Legion Post 19. My sincere apologies to all for this late thank you. During the Thanksgiving holiday, the post provided 30 full dinner baskets (complete with turkeys) to the families at Marine Corps Air Station-Yuma for both Marin

The Assistance League of Yuma is truly grateful to Walmart and the Walmart Foundation for selecting our organization as a $5,000 grant recipient during their recent "12 Days of Giving" campaign. In addition, we appreciate Dr. Doug Rutan, superintendent of the Mohawk Valley School District, for nominating our nonprofit organizati

One of the things I love most about the Yuma area is the many palm trees that add so much to the character of the Southwest. I have recently looked a little more into the care of these interesting plants and, in fact, have added some of the more common as well as the less common locally available ones to my yard. Every single so

"You should be ashamed" was a common phrase used back when I was a kid when you did something wrong or inappropriate. That was back when people had shame and cared about what other people thought about them. Not to say that our Yuma City Council cares what we the taxpayers (voters) think about them or how much money they have wa

Mandatory passports for every adult living the U.S. would solve a lot of illegal immigration problems. If you had to show a passport to get a job, receive government aid, receive non-life-threatening ER medical care or any other applicable uses, then that would force illegal immigrants to voluntarily leave the U.S. because that would take away t

About a week ago, the Yuma Sun published a letter on flag protocol and it mentioned people flying the Canadian flag in Yuma. While that writer had some correct points on the technicalities of flag protocol, I would like to point out a few facts that we should think about before asking for strict compliance with those protocols.

Another campaign speech (I know, it was a State of the Union address, but...) has been delivered. Same old, same old. The fact finders were out in force the next day and refuted most of Obama’s numbers. Reading their reports can bring one to the conclusion that this president is either as dumb as a bag of hammers or he is an abject liar.

The city of Yuma and surrounding Yuma County have a high influx of population during the winter months, and one cannot help but notice the inappropriate manner in which flags are being flown. Many winter residents think it is appropriate to fly an American flag over a Canadian flag on the same pole. Then there are those who feel that it is appro

Presidents Day is a national holiday. The city, county, state and federal government employees get the day off, yet on that day I saw a UPS truck go by, so apparently their union is not as strong as the government’s. So here is my question: Why does the non-government worker, who has to work on Presidents Day, have to pay