Good Morning El Paso: 06.16.15

convicted of “”what we expect to see torrential downpours in the early morning hours.” tropical storm bill is set to hit landfall sometime today and parts of the southern plains are on high alert. 11 people, including 9 children are still in the hospital this morning after a rollover north of las cruces—/ more controversy out of sunland park—the former elected mayor is now facing a new slew of charges — a very good morning el paso, las cruces, and juarez. i’m stephanie valle. and i’m hillary floren. good morning, everyone. a live look at stormtrack doppler radar is showing that we’re just looking at scattered cloud this morning. those clouds will linger through the day and increase into the afternoon and evening. the winds are light this morning and there is no rain. the chance of rain will bump up to around 10% near lunch time, then the chance increased to scattered potential 20% in el paso this afternoon. currently around our region temperatures are around the 50s and 60s, even some of us in the 70s right now. later today, back to the 90s, but lower 90s than we have been. we’ll talk more about what to expect for the rest of this work week and the weekend ahead coming up in your full forecast. this morning millions of americans are facing weather dangers from texas to new york. flash flood watches in 15 states — as tropical storm bill pounds the gulf of mexico abc’s lana zak has the latest with our stormtrack weather. stranded buses, flooded streets — this is the scene in texas — which is still recovering from the wettest month on record in may. and now this morning, a new weather woe: tropical storm bill. at this command center, the storm’s every move is being closely monitored. more than 200 people are tracking the storm real time, ready to mobilize emergency management. sot mayor annise parker, houston “what we expect to se is torrential downpours in the early morning hours.” it is the latest in a rainy assault on the lone star state. 34 trillion gallons of water, lives lost and 45 million dollars in damage. and now the worry there’s more to come. sot ed emmett, harris county judge “everybody needs to pay special attention to those areas that normally flood . particularly the underpasses. we do not want to see a repeat of the tragedy of three weeks ago.” tropical storm bill is expected to dump four to eight inches in texas and oklahoma. the wet and windy weather also affecting other parts of the country. in downtown chicago, this funnel cloud was spotted over lake michigan. but still the heavy rains couldn’t keep away diehard hockey fans. they may have been waterlogged, but nothing was going to stop them from cheering on the blackhawks in the stanley cup finals. this tropical system is expected to continue moving north, threatening a large swath of the country with flash floods beginning later today. lana zak, abc news, washington. now to the latest on that accident we told you about first right here on good morning el paso. eleven people are at the county hospital after a rollover in new mexico sunday night. 9 of those victims are children. the crash happened- at mile marker 26 on interstate 25. that’s north of las cruces, just south of the border patrol checkpoint. at about 9-15 sunday night the driver of a ford suv lost control, rolled several times and ended in the center median. nine passengers were ejected. everyone inside the suv- nine children and two adults were taken to university medical center in el paso. new mexico state police have not released their names or ages. and they have not said whether they were wearing their seat belts. also in new mexico– last month he was convicted of bribery — now more trouble for former socorro city rep — jesse gandara junior. last week he pleaded guilty to theft by a public official. he was accused of getting reimbursed for travel expenses he did not actually incur. a judge sentenced him to two years probation and he was ordered to pay 450 dollars in restitution to the city of socorro. this comes on the heels of his conviction last month for bribery. in that case he was sentenced to 10 years probation. he will be allowed to serve probation for both convictions at the same time. happening today– a border patrol agent accused of sexual assault of a child is expected in court. good morning el paso’s denise olivas is live with the details…denise? right now 29-year- old luis angel lozada is out on bond but will have an arraignment hearing this morning. he is facing sexual assault charges for allegedly having sex with a 15-year-old several times. lozada was arrested in march. he became a border patrol agent in 2009 and was assigned to the ysleta station. court documents say lozada had sex with the 15 year-old at least five times beginning in july of last year. those sexual encounters allgedly taking place in the bedroom of the girl’s mother. at last check– lozada remained on administrative leave. but today he is back in court to possibly be formally charged. police in las cruces need your help finding a teenage runaway. 13-year- old nichole enriquez was last seen at her home saturday on the 63-hundred block of reynolds. police say she doesn’t drive and could be relying on friends for transportation. they want to also warn those who may be helping her — they could be charged with a crime. if you know where she is call 911. el paso county has accepted millions in grants to hire more public defenders … but for a shorter time- frame than originally expected. the county’s public defenders have been struggling to handle a massive increase in cases… and the funding should help counter that, but there is a catch. ” “so after the grant runs off runs out, after the second year i presume–” “correct.” “we required to maintain those positions?” “maintain th staffing, yes.” chief public defender jaime gandara pushed for commissioners to accept the state funding, even though it puts the county on the hook for the full $1.2 million for 14 new positions in three years. he once again told county commissioners his office is facing a huge increase in the number of people qualifying for court appointed attorneys. the grant approved by the state would be for the $1.2 million dollars a year asked for in the original grant application… the county will be committed to continue to fund the positions after the grant ends. / ” “it’s going to allow us hire enough people to handle the huge increase of caseload that we have so we can give dignified and proper representation with our clients.” gandara says that with the funds secured, his office can look to start the hiring process to hopefully be up to full strength by august / commissioners also agreed to apply for a grant that would help pay for 160 body cameras for sheriff’s deputies and constables. if the county gets the federal money, it would pay for half of the bill. the county would pay a little more than 200-thousand dollars plus other costs. texas governor – greg abbott – has signed into law 3- point-8-billion dollars in tax cuts for businesses. the new laws reduces business taxes by 25 percent. it also creates a november ballot initiative, asking voters to approve tax reductions for homeowners. if that passes, property taxes will fall about $120 dollars annually for the average homeowner. but, in many areas, that could be swallowed up by fast-rising property appraisals. new mexico gov. susana martinez has signed into law a package of tax incentives recently approved by legislators during a special session. she says the incentives will help recruit new businesses to new mexico, make it easier for small businesses to grow and boost trade and commerce along new mexico’s southern border. the tax incentives were among the three pieces of legislation that passed both chambers. now it’s time to take a look at the tx-dot traffic cams… speaking of traffic— it’s not what drivers want to hear this week. those lane closures on i-10 won’t opening anytime soon now that a 158-million dollar project in west el paso is on hold. a mexico-based company that texas contracted to do the work is having major financial problems. the i-10 entrance ramp at executive has been closed since late- april. it was supposed to open again this week — but that’s not going to happen. the project, which began in february, was expected to take four years. it consists of adding new ramps and lanes, including access roads in both directions from resler to executive. no one from tradeco would comment, but tx-dot issued a statement saying it remains committed to the project. a source with ties to the project told us delays should be kept to a minimum and a new company could be hired as soon as this week. still to come on good morning el paso — more severe weather around the country, where the rain is wrecking havoc in other parts of the country. what a game! how the hawks took care of the lightning to take home the cup. meteorologist krystal klei has your detailed forecast. krystal… and this is abc-7, where news comes first!