English-fluency case attracting wide attention

Every so often, an event in the Yuma area reaches far beyond the county line and grabs the attention of people around the country, even in other countries.

Such is the case of Alejandrina Cabrera, the would-be candidate for the city council in San Luis, Ariz., who is appealing a Superior Court order that removed her from the ballot owing to her level of English proficiency.

I wasn’t surprised that the story would attract interest around Yuma County as it appeared in Bajo El Sol and the Yuma Sun.

More surprising was when The New York Times sent someone to Yuma to cover the story. Still more surprising were the requests Bajo El Sol got from Spain’s leading daily, El Pais; from Televisa, and from BBC Mundo’s, the British news network’s Spanish-language division, for photos of Cabrera they could include with their own coverage.

Maybe the national or international media expect the Cabrera case to have implications far outside Yuma County.