Thumbs up, down from the Yuma Sun
• Thumbs up to the City of Yuma for listening to residents’ concerns over the Fortuna Dunes. The area is currently used by offroaders and outdoor enthusiasts who were opposed to a project that would expand Yuma’s general plan boundary to include the land, and change the designation of the property to allow for future development. Instead of moving forward, the project is currently tabled.
• Thumbs up to Yuma County for expanding the space for early voters, allowing for more voting stations at the Yuma County Recorder’s Office. The move will allow the Recorder’s Office to handle more voters – and should shorten any wait times for voters.
• Thumbs up to Tribute of the Muses winner George Tomkins and Helios award winners Travis Krizay and Ashley Simms. Thank you for your contributions to Yuma’s vibrant arts community.
• Thumbs up to reports that the City of Yuma’s finances are in better shape than expected, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, and are in fact surpassing revenues collected during the same time last year. Hopefully, this is a trend that continues.
• Thumbs up to the state for creating a statewide database of police officers who fall on the Brady list, indicating that their truthfulness or honesty may be questionable. But thumbs down for not requiring that the database be searchable by community, and for not including any information about why the officer is on the list, or whether the officer is still working. One has to question just how useful that database really is.
• Thumbs down to the California Republicans who installed unofficial ballot drop boxes in at least three counties. CNN reports that state GOP officials called the boxes an opportunity for “friends, family and patrons to drop off their ballot with someone they know and trust.” But the right place to drop off one’s ballot is a legitimate ballot box – why add confusion to an already frustrating election year?
• Thumbs down to Crane School District, which is no longer offering a video livestream of its board meetings. The decision comes as the district moved to in-person meetings, noting that the video equipment caused disruption to the board room. That might be the case, but streaming meetings allows more people to attend and stay abreast of what’s happening at the district. It’s a shame to lose the feed.
• Thumbs down to the demolition of the iconic Jack ‘n Rosie’s restaurant building. The Yuma landmark has been closed since 2016, after being in business for over 80 years. Many Yuma families celebrated milestones there, and it’s sad to see the building disappear.
Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down are compiled by the Yuma Sun editorial board, based on recent events, happenings and activities around Yuma County and the nation, and will appear on Fridays in the Yuma Sun.