Yuma

In Yuma, Ariz., we discovered a delicious find: curried mussels with lobster ravioli, pistachio-crusted salmon, rack of lamb, even mustard-crusted tofu with spinach ravioli. So many enticing choices. Open Mondays-Fridays for lunch, every day for dinner. River City Grill, 600 W. 3rd St.; (928) 782-7988, http://www.rivercitygrillyuma.com Entrees $14-$26. Wena and Dave Dows Culver City

Sometimes even the most devoted ravers outgrow their fairy wings and neon bikinis. The 160,000 people expected to attend Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival over the next two weekends will find a new electronic music tent with the kind of accouterments rarely seen at these venues - including air conditioning, a hardwood floor and comfy chairs. The new Yuma tent is a world apart from the bare grass floors and body heat of other tents, reflecting maturing tastes and older fans.

The chief executive of a Southwestern restaurant chain is scheduled to make his first visit to this desert outpost late next month. After inspecting the steaks, seafood and service at the other outlets in his chain, this corporate official was overdue to inspect the Yuma branch. His board of directors doesn't have to know about this, but it isn't really the restaurant business that prompted Yuma's inclusion on the itinerary.

As the afternoon sun mercilessly beat down on Coachella 2013's kickoff Friday, temperatures soared above 90 degrees at the Empire Polo Club. But inside the festival's most conspicuous new upgrade, the Yuma Tent, it could have been midnight for all any of the several dozen dance enthusiasts raving inside the nightclub-like space would have known. Providing the only fully enclosed, air conditioned performance venue at the fest, the Yuma exerts a kind of louche cool -- all black lights and spinning disco balls with a backdrop of faux Caravaggio paintings taking up a back wall.

Spring 1987. Stanley Jefferson, late of the Bronx, N.Y., leaves San Diego and drives and drives and drives. When he has passed through what he is certain is all the desert in the Western Hemisphere, he pulls off at what he thinks is a rest area. It is Yuma. How lucky. He's looking for the spring digs of his new team, the Padres. He asks somebody for directions. "See that big blue water tower over there?" somebody says. "The one with the big 'Yuma' sign on it?" he says.

Sometimes even the most devoted ravers outgrow their fairy wings and neon bikinis. The 160,000 people expected to attend Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival over the next two weekends will find a new electronic music tent with the kind of accouterments rarely seen at these venues - including air conditioning, a hardwood floor and comfy chairs. The new Yuma tent is a world apart from the bare grass floors and body heat of other tents, reflecting maturing tastes and older fans.

The 6,000-member citrus grower cooperative's payment will settle charges relating to the sale of its Yuma, Ariz., citrus processing facility. Sunkist agreed in 1981 to sell the Yuma operations to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that Sunkist sought to monopolize citrus products markets in the United States and Canada. But the FTC said that even though it extended the deadline for the sale of the Yuma processing operations until 1983, the actual transaction did not take place until 1984.

I've always liked your paper--the only one available in Yuma that carries the daily Doonesbury. I was crushed when the Los Angeles Herald Examiner closed down, with all its great features and comics supposedly lost. Now, I am happy again that you've picked up so many of my favorite comics and columns. Living in an area where newspapers are scarce, I am so pleased with your decision to give us such a bargain of knowledge and entertainment. SUSAN LAMB Yuma, Ariz.

Steven Rothenberg, president of domestic releasing for Lions Gate who served in a senior executive role as the company grew from an indie to a major player in Hollywood with films including "Crash," "3:10 to Yuma" and the "Saw" franchise, died July 16 of stomach cancer in Burbank. He was 50. -- news.obits@latimes.com

A U.S. Marine pilot safely ejected Monday from his A-4 Skyhawk jet that crashed while on a routine training mission about 43 miles northwest of Yuma, a Marine spokesman said. The cause of the crash was under investigation.

For almost a decade, Alejandrina Cabrera has had no trouble speaking her mind in this dusty Arizona border town. She's gone door to door campaigning for City Council candidates. She's addressed the City Council. She's even led two recall petitions against the mayor. But when she decided to run for San Luis City Council, she hit a surprising roadblock: her language. Like virtually everyone else in town, Cabrera conducts her life in Spanish. Late last month, Yuma County Superior Court Judge John Nelson ruled that Cabrera's command of English was insufficient for her to hold public office.

A Southwest Airlines flight with 118 passengers made an emergency landing Friday in Yuma, Ariz., after a rapid loss of cabin pressure, and the crew found a hole in the top of the fuselage, according to the airline and the Federal Aviation Administration. Photos: Hole opens up in plane during flight A flight attendant was slightly injured during the steep descent, but no passengers were hurt on Flight 812 from Phoenix to Sacramento, the airline said. The Boeing 737 landed safely at 4:07 p.m. at Yuma International Airport, according to the FAA. The pilot "made a rapid, controlled descent" from 36,000 feet to 11,000 feet after the loss of cabin pressure.

YUMA, ARIZ. Yuma Lettuce Days When, where: March 11-13, Quartermaster Depot State Historic Park Highlights: America's winter vegetable capital pays homage to the leafiest of greens. More than 40,000 attendees are expected for tastings, meals, cooking demos, live entertainment, local tours, tractor rides, kids' activities and a vendor marketplace. Cost: Free Info: http://www.yumalettucedays.com YOUNTVILLE, CALIF. Taste of Yountville When, where: March 19, Washington Street Highlights: This Napa Valley block party presents tastings from the town's acclaimed restaurants and wineries.

Yuma, Ariz., is inviting visitors to partake in the region’s bounty of all things green through the end of March, when fields are full of every conceivable type of lettuce - - including butter, iceberg and romaine -- plus other veggies such as asparagus, broccoli and cabbage. Candy Zavala-Porchas, a certified dietitian and restaurant manager, is making the most of the harvest with “Cooking with Sabor (Taste)” classes at her Main Street Café in neighboring Somerton.

In Yuma, Ariz., we discovered a delicious find: curried mussels with lobster ravioli, pistachio-crusted salmon, rack of lamb, even mustard-crusted tofu with spinach ravioli. So many enticing choices. Open Mondays-Fridays for lunch, every day for dinner. River City Grill, 600 W. 3rd St.; (928) 782-7988, http://www.rivercitygrillyuma.com Entrees $14-$26. Wena and Dave Dows Culver City

Set amid the wheat fields and melon patches west of downtown, the 60-acre Yuma Desalting Plant is a technological marvel — capable of cleaning 73 million gallons of brackish farm runoff a day, enough for 110 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Built in 1992 at a cost to the federal government of $250 million, the plant was meant to help the U.S. meet its treaty obligations with Mexico involving the Colorado River and to demonstrate how desalination could be a major answer to slaking the growing thirst of Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Diego and Phoenix.

Two Marine helicopters crashed in the Arizona desert while practicing night maneuvers, killing all 10 men aboard, authorities said today. The accident came one day after a National Guard helicopter crashed in the California desert, killing all eight men aboard. The Marine choppers, a Boeing CH-46 and a Bell UH-1N, were on a training mission as part of a weapons tactics instructor course that involved 81 marines from bases nationwide, said Staff Sgt.

The most illuminating part of Susan King's article about the remake of "3:10 to Yuma" ["A Western Finally Rides Into the Sunset," Sept. 6] was her reporting of the difficulty James Mangold and Cathy Konrad had in finding a distributor. You would think that a proven director such as Mangold wouldn't have such a hard time getting this movie into theaters.

Wrestling with a multibillion-dollar budget deficit, Arizona decided Friday to close nearly all of its state parks, including the famed Tombstone Courthouse and Yuma Territorial Prison. The State Parks Board unanimously voted to close 13 parks by June 3. Eight others had already been closed, and the decision would leave nine open -- but only if the board can raise $3 million this year. The action represents the largest closure of state parks in the nation, although several other states are considering similar moves.

Steven Rothenberg, president of domestic releasing for Lions Gate who served in a senior executive role as the company grew from an indie to a major player in Hollywood with films including "Crash," "3:10 to Yuma" and the "Saw" franchise, died July 16 of stomach cancer in Burbank. He was 50. -- news.obits@latimes.com