Good Morning El Paso 11.12.15

a ramp project coming to east el paso is aimed at easing traffic near the fountains at farah–but the area was already worked on once before. we’ll explain what’s going on.. plus–the latest about the pope’s visit to mexico next year–and whether or not he’ll be coming to juarez. / and—a nationwide program here at fort bliss let’s you add a little christmas spirit to loved ones at the fort bliss cemetary. 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 … it was only 5 years ago when the entrance and exit ramps got redone between viscount and hawkins. and guess what… tex-dot is getting ready to redo the ramps… again. when tex-dot last re-did the ramps… that was before the fountains at farah were built. tex-dot is now going to put a braided ramp in the area… to better handle the traffic headed out of the fountains at farah and into the malls. tex-dot will aslo be adding an auxiliary lane to i-10 west… and improving the intersections at airway, hawkins, and viscount. a meeting is being held tonight to get input on the projects. it will be at the burges high school cafeteria at 5 p-m. it’s a common site on your commute if you use the freeway .. abandoned vehicles on the side of the road. they’re usually left there for days, becoming potential traffic hazards. after we saw one in the same spot for more than a week, we went looking for answers. under the transportation code a “vehicle may be impounded wit no time restriction if disabled and owner not within the vicinity … or if it’s unattended and there are reasonable grounds to believe it’s been abandoned longer than 48 hours.” during a drive to work along i-10 monday morning abc-7’s darren hunt spotted five cars abandoned on the freeway … but none with an orange notice for removal within 10 hours. “how can a vehicle like this be left for an entire week like that?” “well, i mean it just depends if somebody can call on it and let us know its there.” ” it seems like most people should be able to arrange something within 24-48 hours to get off the freeway right?” “that’s more than ample time to make arrangements to get a vehicle moved from the freeway.” sergeant carrillo said if you don’t move your car, and police end up towing it off, there will be heavy impound and storage fees to pay. if you spot an abandoned vehicle on the freeway for more than a day, alert police so they can have it towed. we have new details about pope francis’ visit to mexico next year. mexican media reporting pope francis will visit a border city in the state of chihuahua! no word yet on wether that border city is juarez but people in the borderland are hopeful. the catholic church in mexico is saying the pope will arrive in mexico february 12th. he’s also expected to visit michoacan, a state ravaged by mexico’s ongoing drug cartel wars … as well as chiapas, one of the poorest states in mexico. details on the pope’s agenda will be released december 12th during the feast of the virgin of guadalupe. new this morning– the holiday season is still a few weeks away, but one organization is already planning how it will honor military service members buried at fort bliss cemetery. good morning el paso’s denise olivas is live with the story …denise every year before christmas the el paso civil air patrol reaches out the community to collect donations for “wreaths across america” but this year i’m told they aren’t seeing the same response. the goal of the program is to place a wreath on every single headstone here at fort bliss cemtery. the tradition started at arlington national cemetery. last year about 6-thousand wreaths were placed. this year the goal is 10- thousand. but colonel cathryn walling says the november 30 deadline is quickly approaching — and the group has only reached about a fourth of their goal: “some of the people ..sacrificed so much” you can also dedicate a wreath if you have a loved one buried here. each wreath costs only 15 dollars. that deadline to order is november 30. the civil air patrol is also looking for volunteers to help to palce the wreaths on december 12th. new this morning– kurdish iraqi fighters, backed by the us-led air campaign, launched an assault aiming to retake the strategic town of sinjar in northern iraq today. the islamic state group overran the town last year in an onslaught that caused the flight of tens of thousands of yazidis and first prompted the us to launch airstrikes against the militants. a statement from the kurdish regional security council said some 7,500 pesh-merga fighters were closing in on the mountain town from three fronts. the fighters were taking in an effort to take control of the town and cut off a strategic supply line used by the islamic state fighters. happening today– president obama will be awarding the nation’s highest military honor to a former army captain who tackled a suicide bomber while serving in afghanistan. the medal of honor will be awarded this morning to 32-year- old florent groberg, who’s credited with saving fellow soldiers’ lives with his actions in august 2012. he was badly injured in the attack that killed four people. we have an abc-7 traffic alert for tonight — u-s 54 will be closed starting at nine o’clock at night … and it won’t reopen until friday at 5 a-m. if you’re heading in to the city, you’ll have to get off 54 at trans mountain… and if you’re going north, you’ll exit hondo pass. again, u-s 54 shut dows at 9 tonight. now it’s time to take a look at the tx-dot traffic cams… still much more to come here on good morning el paso– including a story that will have you re-evaluate what you think when you hear the word homeless– we’ll hear the story of a brave woman who had to make a tough choice for her and her children plus—parts of the country are preparing for severe weather today including northern new mexico—we’ll take a look meteorologist krystal klei has your detailed forecast. krystal… and this is abc-7, where news comes first!