Pacific rim
Japanese natives put in
FRIDAY, JANUARY 14, 2011  50 CENTS
Teen
on bike
killed
Police seek
information on
hit-and-run fatality
BY CHRIS MCDANIEL
SUN STAFF WRITER
A teenage boy was killed
Thursday night after being hit by
an unidentified vehicle.
The Yuma Police Department
is searching for the driver of
what they believe is a dark-col-
ored vehicle.
According to YPD, at 7:01 p.m.
officers were dispatched to the
2600 block of South Avenue 9E in
reference to a hit-and-run injury
collision.
According to YPD, an ini-
tial investigation revealed two
15-year-old boys had been riding
their bicycles in the area. As they
crossed Avenue 9E, a northbound
dark-colored vehicle collided
with one of the bicyclists.
The suspect vehicle fled north-
bound without stopping. The
victim was transported to Yuma
Regional Medical Center, where
he later died.
The YPD encourages anyone
with any information about this
case to call 373-4700, or 78-CRIME
to remain anonymous.
YRMC erects
tent for high
ER volumes
BY MARA KNAUB
SUN STAFF WRITER
Due to an unexpected surge in
patients, Yuma Regional Medi-
cal Center has erected temporary
tents outside its emergency en-
trance to accommodate the high
volumes of patients.
New patients arriving at the
emergency room are being as-
sessed in two 20-by-20-foot at-
tached tents “to manage greater
capacity and remain flexible,” ac-
cording to a YRMC press release.
Non-acute patients are being
treated in the tents, while those
with acute symptoms are being
ushered into the hospital.
“We’re trying to get patients
in and out of the ER as quickly
as we can by separating them.
They’re assessed as soon as they
come in,” said Karen Jensen,
YRMC vice president and chief
patient care officer.
YRMC has been treating more
winter visitors than the hospital
anticipated, both in the emergen-
cy room and in hospital admis-
sions, Jensen said.
“We had no way to predict the
number of winter visitors that
would come this year. We’re find-
ing out we got a lot more than we
anticipated.
“As we all know, most winter
visitors are elderly and have
health issues.”
YRMC staffed the hospital
based on the past two years,
which saw a decline in winter vis-
itors due to the slowdown in the
economy. “We staffed based on
our best estimate,” Jensen said.
SEE YRMC/A6
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MEMBERS OF THE “ANGEL PROJECT”  pose in angel costumes for funeral services for Christina Taylor Green, the youngest
victim of Jared Lee Loughner, at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Tucson Thursday.
Afterward
Aide killed in rampage engaged to Yuma native
BY SARAH WOMER
SUN STAFF WRITER
Gabe Zimmerman, a victim of Sat-
urday’s tragic shooting in Tucson,
was engaged to be married to Kelly
O’Brien, a Yuma native now residing
in Tucson.
Gabe, 30, was the community out-
reach director for Rep. Gabrielle Gif-
fords and in charge of setting up the
public outreach event at the grocery
store where the shooting happened.
His father, Ross Zimmerman, a se-
nior network organizer at Pima Com-
munity College, told the Yuma Sun
that Gabe had met Kelly three years
ago and the two were inseparable.
“We were enchanted with Kelly
from the moment that we met her,”
Zimmerman said about Kelly, who
graduated from Cibola High School in
2003, the University of Arizona in 2007
and is working as a nurse at Tucson
Medical Center. LOANED PHOTO
Zimmerman added that the two GABE ZIMMERMAN,  who was killed in Saturday’s shootings, was the fiance of
were wonderfully matched and every-
one around them could clearly recog- Yuma native Kelly O’Brien, both seen here at the Grand Canyon.
nize their love for one another. Gabe
and Kelly had recently moved in to- comment, as she is grieving the loss of
gether and were working on wedding her fiance.
“She is very tough,” Zimmerman INSIDE
plans, his father said.
Now her future will be totally dif- explained, noting that she has re- •  At Giffords’ bedside, good news
ferent and it will be awhile before she mained strong despite the fact that keeps coming/A7
will be able to adjust, said Zimmer- she is now without what Zimmerman •  Call for changes in gun laws met
referred to as her soul mate.
man. He added during the phone inter- with silence/A7
view that Kelly was not available for SEE FIANCE/A6
Grijalva: Tucson shooting highlights need for tighter security
BY CESAR NEYOY
from Congresswoman Giffords, sev- be hospitalized.
eral people were killed and wounded,
BAJO EL SOL Grijalva agreed that these events
including members of the public and are a wake-up call, in light of recent
Even before Saturday’s shooting in congressional aides. Whatever we do death threats and attacks on his of-
Tucson, where Congresswoman Ga- to improve safety should also cover fices.
brielle Giffords was injured, U.S. Rep. them,” he said. “We must recognize that there will
Raul Grijalva said the need to Recent changes have been be individuals who want to harm us,
reinforce security for public made to Grijalva’s office, in- but we cannot reduce contact and ac-
servants and their events was cluding moving its location cess to the public because there will
already clear. to Somerton from Yuma. Gri- always be people who need to contact
“It’s a tragedy in which we jalva noted, however, that us with complaints, requests or pro-
are still immersed, but our rather than security reasons, posals, and we can’t close the doors to
work must continue, we can-
these change reflects a need to them.”
not stop paying attention to be where the most attention is Because of the threats received last
the people,” Grijalva said. RAUL required and where the great- year, Grijalva decided to use body-
He stressed that it is impor- GRIJALVA est number of people who us- guards and other precautions not pre-
tant to not only ensure poli- ers live. viously taken at public events.
ticians’ safety, but also the safety of Giffords was shot Saturday during Now, he said, “it is clear that we
citizens who attend public events and a public event in Tucson, resulting in will take many more precautions
visit politicians’ offices.
the death of six people and more than to protect ourselves and the people
“We must not forget that aside a dozen injured. Giffords continues to around us.”
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A6  YUMA SUN, FRIDAY, JANUARY 14, 2011
YUMA REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER  saw a sharp increase in
cases at the emergency room of seasonal illnesses, prompting
hospital personnel to set up a mobile pre-screening area
outside to handle the increased volume.
YRMC
FROM PAGE A1
The number of people
staffing this area at any
given time is dependent on
the number of patients in
the ER, according to YRMC
spokeswoman Shay An-
dres. The tents are now be-
ing staffed by registration
staff, nurses, technicians
and doctors.
Also due to the economy,
YRMC is seeing more un-
derinsured or uninsured
patients. “And their only
source of health care is the
ER,” Andres said, noting
that some people visit the
ER for non-emergencies.
In addition, “part of what
precipitated this is that we
had patients that had been
seen but they were waiting
for beds,” she explained.
YRMC is now hiring
more staff, including nurs-
es and physicians, to meet
the demand.
The hospital has a sea-
sonal program which hires
additional staff to work
with winter visitors. Now
that administrators know
more winter visitors are in
town this year, they have
been hiring even more
staff.
Jensen did not know how
the community was react-
ing to the tents, but she ex-
pected a positive reaction.
“Most people want to know
that if they come, they will
be taken care of as quickly
as possible.”
The hospital has had to
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resort to temporary tents in
the past, with the last time
more than two years ago.
Hospital officials are ask-
ing the community’s help
in minimizing unnecessary
visits to the ER. Those ser-
vices should be reserved
for severe illness such as
trouble breathing, high
fever, confusion and chest
pain, according to the press
release.
For non-acute illnesses
such as seasonal colds and
flu, people are encouraged
to visit a PrimeCare Urgent
Care location.
However, hospital offi-
cials stress that prevention
remains a key component
in reducing the spread of
any germs. They recom-
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ough hand-washing, sup-
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hand sanitizing gels.
Now that the tents are up,
Jensen said that they will
probably be sitting there
for a few weeks. The tents
are outfitted with comput-
ers and phone connections.
“It’s easier to leave it
there until we see a decline
in patients, but we’ll only
use it when it’s needed.”
As reported in a previous
Yuma Sun story, Pat Walz,
YRMC chief executive of-
ficer, told city officials the
hospital is currently plan-
ning to expand and rede-
sign its emergency depart-
ment.
Designed to care for
40,000 patients a year, the
ER is now seeing more than
70,000, he noted.
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Legislator brings gun to state Senate
Klein: ‘I believe that my
responsibility is to protect myself’
BY HOWARD FISCHER
CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES
PHOENIX — A new state
lawmaker is bringing her
concealed gun into the Sen-
ate despite signs on the
doors making the building
a weapons-free zone.
And the president of the
Senate doesn’t intend to do
anything about that.
Sen. Lori Klein, R-An-
them, said she has had a
gun for years. When a new
law kicked in last year al-
lowing anyone to have a
concealed weapon, she be-
gan carrying a 380 Ruger in
her purse.
“I believe that my re-
sponsibility is to protect
myself,” she said. “I’m
comfortable carrying. And
I had no intention of creat-
ing any concern.”
The official policy at
the Arizona Senate is that
weapons must be surren-
dered. The Senate provides
lockers where they can be
secured while people are in
the building.
Chamber breakfast gets healthy with Yuma
Myers makes presentation
on community project
BY RICHARD ROMERO
SUN STAFF WRITER
The Yuma County Cham-
ber of Commerce held its
Good Morning Yuma break-
fast Thursday at the Rama-
da Inn, where the chamber
presented its Chamber Leg-
islative Agenda for 2011.
However, the Yuma Re-
gional Medical Center-
sponsored event also fo-
cused on another Yuma
agenda: Healthy Yuma 2011.
Chamber executive direc-
tor Ken Rosevear explained
to the business owners
and chamber members at
the event that he started
Healthy Yuma early with
some pre-program weight
loss.
“In the last 10 weeks I
have lost 30 pounds,” Ros-
FIANCE
FROM PAGE A1
In regard to the engage-
ment, Zimmerman said
his son planned a surprise
proposal and sought out the
perfect ring, one that did not
contain “blood diamonds,”
referring to diamonds
mined in war zones and sold
to finance war efforts.
Zimmerman noted that
when he received the call
from Gabe and Kelly and
learned that the two were
engaged, he was very
pleased and had been ex-
pecting the call for some
time.
He said the duo enjoyed
running together and had
most recently completed the
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Klein noted, however,
there are no metal detec-
tors and no spot checks of
visitors.
“Anyone can come into
the Senate office building.
And frankly if you’re some-
body that has an intent to
harm someone, you’re not
going to stop by the guard
and say, ‘Here’s my weap-
on.’”
Senate President Rus-
sell Pearce, R-Mesa, who
crafted last year’s law al-
lowing any adult to carry a
concealed weapon, said he
is not troubled by Klein’s
actions.
“The best thing you could
do to protect freedom for
yourself and others is to
have good citizens that are
capable of protecting them-
selves and others,” he said.
“I would never have a poli-
cy that restricts members.”
State law prohibits weap-
ons from being carried into
public buildings. But the
House and Senate are per-
mitted to have their own
regulations.
evear said. “I’m down four
pant sizes, two suit sizes, I
have a whole new wardrobe
and I’m feeling a lot better.”
Attending on behalf of
Healthy Yuma and YRMC
were Dr. Carl Myers; Pat
Walz, CEO of YRMC; and
Kathryn Clark, Miss Yuma
County.
Also in attendance were
three Yuma’s state legisla-
tors: Sen. John Shooter,
Rep. Russ Jones and Rep.
Lynne Pancrazi.
Jean Myers, co-owner of
Nature’s Express, prepared
“Fabulous Fruit Smoothie”
samples that were passed
out to attendees by YRMC
representatives.
At the breakfast, Dr. My-
ers spoke about the origins
of Healthy Yuma 2011 and
Mount Lemmon Half Mara-
thon.
Zimmerman added that
he and his son had also
run across the Grand Can-
yon twice and running was
a pastime that they also
shared.
Zimmerman said that his
son had a kind soul in ad-
dition to a knack for mak-
ing friends, even at a very
young age.
“He had a gift for connect-
ing with people,” said the fa-
ther, who described his son
as a very unique individual.
Zimmerman explained
that his son received a bach-
elor’s degree in sociology
at University of California
at Santa Cruz and discov-
ered his passion for social
work after working with the
Arizona’s Children Associa-
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Officially, the Senate is a
gun-free zone. But Pearce
conceded that its enforce-
ment is pretty much nonex-
istent — for everyone.
“It’s kind of a ‘don’t ask,
don’t tell’ policy right now,”
he said, with no one chal-
lenging visitors to surren-
der their weapons.
In fact, Pearce said he
believes some of the people
who are coming into the
Senate now probably are
carrying guns despite the
signs on the doors. And he
said he doesn’t intend to
change that.
“There’ll be no metal de-
tectors out front while I’m
president of the Senate.”
Pearce said, though, he
is not armed while in the
Senate.
Klein said the events of
the past weekend back her
belief that people being
armed is the best protec-
tion for the public, saying
that someone with a gun
could have taken out Jared
Loughner before he killed
six and wounded 13 others.
Daniel Scarpinato,
spokesman for House
Speaker Kirk Adams, R-
Mesa, said the policy in
that chamber remains that
visitors are supposed to
the importance of celebrat-
ing a healthy lifestyle. He
said the program originat-
ed from a talk he gave at
June 2010’s “Good Morning
Yuma.”
“Out of that, we started
dreaming what could hap-
pen and I started telling
people of the dream. Basi-
cally Machele (Headington)
and her team have made it
happen.”
Myers went on to say that
employees are spending by
far the most money on in-
surance than they were a
generation ago.
The single largest federal
budget item, he said, is the
health care bill at 21 per-
cent of the budget.
“That’s seven times what
we spend in education.
That’s not investing in our
future.”
Taking the focus off of
the public effects of declin-
ing health, Myers began to
tion.
Gabe worked with dis-
turbed children from diffi-
cult home lives and he pro-
ceeded to get his master of
social work at Arizona State
University.
That really prepared him
for his work with the con-
gresswoman, Zimmerman
said.
“He loved his job,” his
father commented, adding
that Gabe worked for Gif-
fords since her first congres-
sional campaign in 2006. He
started as a field organizer
and became constituent
services director when Gif-
fords took office, taking on
various outreach duties.
Gabe is survived by his
fiancee, Kelly; mother, Em-
ily Nottingham; father, Ross
Zimmerman and stepmoth-
Correction
A front page story in
Thursday’s Yuma Sun
about the groundbreaking
for the new FedEx Express
facility at Yuma Interna-
tional Airport contained
the wrong name for the rep-
resentative of general con-
tractor LPC. The project
manager’s correct name is
Wesley Splawn.
Also Thursday, in the
Tucson memorial service
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surrender their weapons.
Like the Senate, however,
compliance at most times
is more or less voluntary,
with no metal detectors at
the doors.
The only exception to
that in recent memory was
during Monday’s State of
the State address by the
governor when Capitol po-
lice officers had hand-held
wands and checked the
purses and backpacks of
those entering the building.
Scarpinato said there is
“no policy” regarding law-
makers having weapons.
He said, though, that Ad-
ams does not carry a gun.
This isn’t the first time
the issue has come up, at
least in the Senate. Karen
Johnson, who has since re-
tired, admitted to Capitol
Media Services in 2007 she
had a .22-caliber eight-shot
revolver in her purse.
Tim Bee, then Senate
president, conceded the
disclosure took him by sur-
prise. But he refused to stop
the practice.
“We have members who
stay late at night,” Bee said.
“Obviously they feel that
carrying their gun with
them makes them feel safe.”
focus on the personal impli-
cations.
“Being obese as a kid has
been shown to be a harder
emotional trauma than is
having cancer. Americans
don’t spend over $50 billion
on weight loss aids because
they like the shape they’re
in.”
Clark also spoke at the
event, stating that her plat-
form as Miss Yuma County
was based on getting kids
healthy for 2011.
Her plan is to attack
obesity with her platform
S.K.I.P., which stands for
School Kids In Play.
“I’m going to give them a
healthier lifestyle by show-
ing them different ways of
eating and different styles
of exercise that they can
do for an hour at least ev-
ery day,” Clark said, adding
that she will accomplish
her goal by visiting schools
starting next week as part
of Healthy Yuma 2011.
er, Pamela Golden; brother,
Ben Zimmerman; grandpar-
ents, Jim and Rachel Zim-
merman; and many aunts,
uncles and cousins.
In lieu of flowers, people
may donate to Child and
Family Resources or to a
scholarship fund estab-
lished in Gabe’s name by
the ASU School of Social
Work.
Zimmerman said Gabe
will remain 30 years old for-
ever and he referred to the
song “Forever Young” sung
by Joan Baez.
“The rest of us will grow
old, but he will not ... we
miss him so much. I think
it’s really important that he
is remembered.”
Sarah Womer can be reached at swomer@
yumasun.com or 539-6858.
story, the wrong radio sta-
tion was listed for Steve
Sanchez, who is provid-
ing 30 minutes on the air
Saturday to Shirley Phelps
Roper of the Westboro Bap-
tist Church in exchange for
agreeing not to picket a fu-
neral in Tucson. His show
airs on KXXT Radio 1010 in
Phoenix.
The Yuma Sun regrets
the errors.
783-8818