Good Morning El Paso: 07.09.15

“the murder rate in el paso texas is the lowest murder rate for any of the big cities …” trump: “okay, look. don’t try to convince me that there’s no crime.” el paso — now dragged into the donald trump saga. more on what he had to say about the sun city. city council wants you to watch what you say, why officials are saying a potty mouth will keep you from making public comments. and stormtrack weather coverage… las cruces got a lot of rain overnight. will it continue this morning? a look at our weather radar this morning. some areas of the borderland just got pounded overnight! 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… currently around our region… here’s your day planner for today… expect skies, winds and temperatures in the by 8 am, by noon and for your drive home around 5 pm. 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. new this morning– we have a look at that strong line of storms as it passed through las cruces from our new mexico mobile newsroom. good morning el paso’s denise olivas is live. she continues our stormtrack weather coverage…denise? it was an overnight and early morning of consistent rain in las cruces. as krystal mentioned moments ago– rain in dona ana county has slowed down some. but this is what it looked like overnight. lightning and thunder accompanied the rainshowers. take a look at how fast the rain rushed through the streets. one of our weather net sites is reporting half an inch– while the airport in west las cruces is reporting a quarter of an inch. at about one this morning power went out in parts of north las cruces– but that lasted for about 25 minutes. if you live in las cruces– take your time as you head out. you’ll likely see some standing water in some areas. meanwhile here in the sun city– it’s a nice, cool start to the morning. but take that umbrella with you and maybe a light rain jacket as those rain chances hang around for the rest of the day. donald trump is making controverial comments on the border again. this time involving el paso. abc-7’s jerry najera reports… we saw the reaction in our community and our nation after trump said mexico is only sending their worst across the border. well in a interview today he holds those ideals and even speaks out on the current state of our border. “they are bringing drugs, they are bringing crime, they are rapists and some i assume are good people” it was a speech that brought a lot of backlash for trump. his show the apprentice cancelled. miss universe dropped from univision. and yes even the trump pinata came about. wednesday afternoon trump was interviewed and once again he stood by his words. “they force people into our country and they are drug dealers and they are criminals of all kind. we are taking mexico’s problems” and during the interview nbc news reporter katy tur asked trump about el paso. “the murder rate in e paso texas which is right on the border is the lowest murder rate for the big cities in the country” “ok o don’t try and convince me there is no crime” “in the pas we’ve heard these arguments before about immigrants bringing in the violence” federico anoveros lives in el paso and says he’s not concerned about illegal border crossers. “i’ve never been worried about immigrants coming over or the influx of them” today police reminded us of el paso’s ranking of safest city in the nation between 2010 and 2014. in fact they say year to date reportable crimes are down by 12- point-nine-percent. “it’s a disgrace don’t tell m about safety are you trying to justify safety at the border i dont think so” residents like sylvia portillo say she hasn’t felt a recent shift in crime. “i don’t feel it’s unsafer than it’s ever been” “it’s ju something to say about our country that we have a safe place here” i did try to speak to someone from the el paso republican party to get an opinion on trumps statements they did not get back to me in time for this story. el paso’s city council wants to stop people from saying insults and inappropriate things at council meetings. council’s rules forbid personal attacks during public comment. but city rep michiel noe says there are repeat offenders. so he proposed banning repeat offenders for three months. and sites this example: 05:34 i cannot swallow these same sex unions. i can only tell you the way that i feel inside about such a thing: guacala! guacala. translation: yuck. 03:50 he referred to them in spanish as being gross and disgusting and you can come to the microphone and say because of my religious beliefs, because of this or that i just don’t agree with the supreme court ruling, or what city council did years ago but you don’t have to refer to people in those terms. council agreed to turn off people’s mics who are disruptive or deliver personal attacks. but they won’t be banning anyone. on to the el paso children’s hospital bankruptcy case university medical center accuses childrens of not releasing financial information ordered by a judge! the county hospital says children’s won’t disclose the money coming in or out — or patient volume. a hearing to determine how children’s cash is spent is scheduled for july 30th. a teenage girl in las cruces is accused of going on a shoplifting spree… and leading sheriff’s deputies on a high speed chase. authorities 17- year-old sandra becerra took her uncle’s truck without permission. she and two of her friends — ages 14 and 16 — then went to the mall where they allegedly stole makeup and clothing. now get this… she was about to drop her friends off at their home… when a sheriff’s deputy says she saw becerra run a stop sign. she refused to pull over and that’s when the chase began. becerra is now charged with shoplifting — aggravated fleeing and child abuse. customs officers say they noticed something odd about the shoes of a man trying to cross the paso del norte bridge. turns out — according to authorities — the man had nearly two-and-and-half pounds of meth hidden inside his shoes. the 51-year- old allegedly told the officers he didn’t know what the drug was. he is now in jail. picking a venue for a big event can be a challenge by itself. but what if that venue pulled the plug on your big day? that’s the allegation against the vista hills country club in east el paso. but the vice president of the country club says a third party contractor is to blame; last week the country club was told the owner of the company that caters its events left town. vista hills says the owner of that group, marvin autry, owed them money… and they’re not the ones to complain to. “no checks ever came to the vista hills country club, no cash was collected at the vista hills country club, to the club, it was all collected by mr. autry or his employees and it went to mr. autry.” autry says he plans to return from mexico and file suit against the club. vista hills says they are honoring the dates and deposits for the 43 customers and they plan to sue autry. at , here’s a look at how your commute is shaping up this morning. the tx-dot traffic cams at … keep it here for more to come on good morning el paso… with sextortion now considered a growing crime… the f-b-i wants you help finding victims of a man who target young women across the country… including in southern new mexico. more on that case … coming up. and later on… the latest on the case with bill cosby… and why prosecutors say they never took him to court. but first – stormtrack weather! meteorologist krystal kleihas your complete forecast. krystal… and this is abc-7, where news comes first!