Thumbs up, down from the Yuma Sun
• Thumbs up to all the volunteers who serve at our local agencies. Last week, we spotlighted the volunteers at Yuma Regional Medical Center and Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, but across our county, volunteers are the people who make a tremendous difference, every single day. To all the volunteers out there – thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.
• Speaking of volunteers, thumbs up to those who came out Saturday morning to plant trees along the East Main Canal. Volunteers from YRMC, APS, NexGen, Kofa High School and the City of Yuma showed up in force, planting 45 trees and 90 shrubs along the stretch of the canal from 16th Street to 24th Street. It’s a great example of entities coming together to improve the community! Kudos to everyone for bringing this project to fruition!
• Thumbs up to Northern Arizona University-yuma, for its accelerated path to a bachelor’s degree in nursing. The program gets people in the field faster, helping to fight a growing shortage of health care workers – and it’s right here at home. It’s a terrific program designed to meet a specific need, and hopefully, Yuma students who go through the program find jobs here at home, benefiting the community overall.
• Thumbs up to the Yuma Fire Department for holding a training specifically to hone their skills for palm tree rescues. These are risky operations, and it’s great to see our firefighters trained to do the job.
• Thumbs down to the shooting in Charlotte this week that claimed the lives of four officers. Anytime we lose officers in the line of duty, it’s worth taking a pause to reflect and honor them. But it feels like our nation has become numb – it’s another shooting, and Americans turn the page. When did we stop feeling empathy? And what will it take for change to happen? Do we really need AR-15S – able to penetrate body armor – in our homes?
• Thumbs down to people who leave their sprinkler systems on too long, sending water out into the street, which is a waste. Please check your sprinklers and irrigation systems before the heat really kicks in, and make sure you are using water efficiently.