Good Morning El Paso: 07.29.15

we continue our complete coverage of the el paso children’s hospital’s growing debt to university medical center–new information about how the debt will soon affect you the taxpayer. plus—our round the clock news team was on the scene of a crash that had portion of interstate 10 shut down for hours –we’ll have the latest. / and– new this morning, the parents of james holmes are trying to spare their son’s life finally testifying in court. / it looks like the children’s hospital bankruptcy might actually hit you directly in the wallet. that’s what the head of university medical center is expected to tell county commissioners today. the county of el paso warns a tax increase “most probably will” come due to the mounting debt the el paso children’s hospital owes umc. the bankrupt children’s hospital has not made a single payment to umc for more than one year. we’ll get to the latest details in just a bit. 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. the mounting debt owed to university medical center by el paso chidren’s hospital will likely impact taxpayers. happening today– umc’s c-e-o will is expected to propose a tax hike. good morning el paso’s denise olivas is live … denise? it’s what taxpayers and county officials feared– forcing taxpayers to shell out more money while el paso children’s recovers its debt. in a meeting later today university medical center ceo jim valenti will present umc’s budget and a proposed tax rate to county commissioners. in documents filed yesterday in bankruptcy court the county explained umc provides $33,000 per day in services to the children’s hospital. the monthly rent is $10.3 million. the bankrupt children’s hospital didn’t make a single payment to umc for more than one year. the county says 123- million dollars in rent alone is owed– but children’s maintains that amount is inflated. the county added it doesn’t expect children’s will make any payment for fiscal year 2016. just last week– children’s reported a more than two- million dollar loss. the documents went on to say umc’s tax rate is determined by the expected revenue and because children’s isn’t paying its debt, a tax hike may be need to overcome the shortfall. again umc’s ceo is expected to tell county commissioners today a tax hike is need. any proposal would still have to be approved by commissioners. a portion of i-10 was shut down for hours this morning. the i-10 eastbound lanes were blocked by vinton due to a semi-trailer that jack-knifed earlier this morning. we are told there are no injuries… and traffic was being directed onto doniphan. it has since be reopened this morning. an update this morning to a trial that has been going on this week. a judge has reduced the bond of a fort bliss soldier accused of driving drunk and killing two construction workers last year. 19-year-old jan micheal nieves delgado was being held on a 200- thousand dollar bond. this morning, it’s only a 50- thousand dollar bond. police say he crashed through the barriers on i-10 at schuster while the men were working on the new spur 19-66 overpass. nieves delgado is charged with two counts of intoxicated manslaughter. our newsroom worked to get the criminal complaint affidavit filed in u-s district court. now abc-7 has a better understanding of why the feds say former border patrol agent lawrence madrid abused his position as a c-b-p supervisor. the affidavit states madrid allowed three mexican immigrants with false documents to pass through the pedestrian inspection lanes. the affidavit even states one of the immigrants was a known felon who’d previously been deported. and that immigrant reportedly admitted to paying madrid money in exchange for letting him enter the u-s. tonight, madrid remains in federal custody charged with alien smuggling. a horizon city woman is sentenced to 3-years and 9 months in prison for selling meth. 28-year-old natali arvilla castro pleaded guilty to selling the drugs along with another man who has already been sentenced in the case. investigators say the two were paid to take the meth from el paso to las cruces where they intended to sell it. castro was caught by authorities with the meth inside a suitcase that was in her possession. the parents of james holmes are trying to spare their son’s life. his father told jurors in colorado that holmes had a normal childhood until mentall illness took over. abc’s clayton sandell has been following the trial and has this story developing htis morning. / in court? a mass murder is calling on his mom and dad to help save his life. nats – 15:59:31 is james holmes your son? yes he is. robert and arlene holmes? sat quietly in court nearly every day of their son’s trial? now? taking the stand. sot – robert holmes / 16:00:43 rough prior to july 20, 2012? had james ever confided in you suicidal or homicidal thoughts? no the same jury who convicted holmes of murdering these twelve people and injuring seventy more moviegoers in 20-12? now hearing from friends and family trying to keep him from the death penalty. sot – robert holmes / sot – robert holmes / rough 16:01:13 tamara brady / defense attorney / do you still love him? yes, why? ? he really was an excellent kid? on camera tag: today the gunman’s mother is expected to take the stand. holmes can only get the death penalty if all twelve jurors agree. if they can’t reach a unanimous decision? he will spend the rest of his life in prison? no parole. cs abc news centennial, co. we have a traffic reminder about a big closure for the next few days. i-10 east will be shut down between schuster and the downtown exit from nine at night till six in the morning. that closure will be going on for the remainder of the week so just give yourself some extra time if you use this route during the overnight hours. now it’s time to take a look at the tx-dot traffic cams… good news for truck owners– and pick-up manufacturers as gas prices continue to fall–we’ll explain what the drop is doing for buisiness plus—it was back to school this week for one school district in the borderland–we’ll share some of your photos after the break. meteorologist krystal klei has your detailed forecast. krystal… and this is abc-7, where news comes first!