Good Morning El Paso 03.17.16

wont. i’m abc’s kenneth moton win washington with the details coming up” the jury, ready to deliberate again today on the fate of a man facing capital murder charges in the death of a baby girl. / and abc-7 is still working to learn who is at fault after a man in a wheelchair was hit by a car downtown. every year on march 17, the irish and the irish-at-heart across the globe observe st. patrick’s day. what began as a religious feast day for the patron saint of ireland — has become an international festival celebrating irish culture with parades, dancing, special foods and a whole lot of green.. a very good morning el paso, las cruces, and juarez. i’m stephanie valle. and i’m hillary floren. good morning, everyone. warm and sunny conditions will continue today and friday. a strong backdoor cold front will push into the area friday night. expect gusty winds west of the franklin and organ mountains heading into saturday morning… with increasing low clouds east of the rio grande. some areas of fog and drizzle will develop in the higher terrain of the sacramento mountains …with some light glazing possible as temperatures drop below freezing by dawn saturday. max temperatures on saturday will run 12 to 16 degrees cooler than friday. 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. today, president obama’s pick to fill the vacancy on the supreme court is heading to capitol hill. d-c court of appeals judge merrick garland faces tough opposition from senate republicans – who have vowed to block his confirmation. abc’s kenneth moton is in washington with this story developing now. / :29 :52 1:23 this morning, supreme court nominee merrick garland will meet face to face with democratic senators but it’s the republicans who control his fate. sot pres obama at a time when our politics are so polarizedthis is precisely the time when we should play it straight the showdown over filling the high court vacancy intensified the second president obama introduced his pick. the rose garden moment… emotional for the 63 year husband and father. sot merrick garland this is the greatest honor of my life, other than lynn agreeing to marry me 28 years ago the harvard-educated chicago native has dedicated to his life to the law. a top prosecutor in the oklahoma city bombing … nearly two decades spent serving the dc circut court of appeals… he’s also known as a moderate, a compromise in the heat of this partisan election year. sot mitch mcconnell it is the senate’s constitutional right to act as a check on a president and withhold its consent. the senate’s top republican is holding his ground…the next president should pick the next justice. but mitch mcconnell did take a call from garland reiterating his feelings before wishing him well. his fellow republicans… falling in line. bruce: any chance you’ll reconsider? cornyn: nope but we found at least 6 republican senators who are open to meeting with garland. that includes senator orrin hatch who once praised garland. sot hatch i didn’t say that he belonged on the supreme court. i said that he belonged on the dc circuit court. senate judiciary chairman chuck grassley now says he’s also open to meeting with garland. but at this point, there are no signs that any of these meetings will lead to confirmation hearings. kenneth moton, abc news washington also happening today —antonio lopez still waiting for a jury to decide whether he is guilty of capital murder — in the death of his 11-month old foster child. the jury was sequestered once again yesterday. on wednesday, the jury deliberated for about 8 hours — and had a question for the judge. they wanted to know about a specific statement from the medical examiner and if police were present during the autopsy. the medical examiner had testified — he thought it was unusual that police were not at the autopsy, considering this was a suspected homicide. the defense claims another of lopez’s foster children was responsible for the jayla beckley’s death. deliberations will continue at 8 a.m. and abc-7 will be there. abc-7 is still working to find out who’s to blame after a man in a wheelchair was hit by a car. it happened yesterday afternoon around 3 p.m. near mesa and mills street in downtown. the intersection was closed for several hours as police investigated. a witness told abc-7 she saw this car with a central appraisal district logo — hit the man as he crossed the street in his wheelchair. abc-7 reached out to the c-a-d and el paso police … but we still do not know who is at fault or if the driver will face charges. the victim was taken to the hospital with serious injuries. / an 18-year old las cruces teen is facing child solicitation charges after sheriff’s deputies say he tried to have sex with a 12-year old girl. from our new mexico mobile newsroom … according to the dona ana county sheriff’s office, michael stephens- kenner was texting who he thought was the young girl but it turns out he was texting her mother. he allegedly requested to meet up at a park with the young girl and that’s when the mother called the dona ana county sheriff’s office. deputies arrested stephens- kenner at the park where he was later booked into the dona ana county detention center for child solicitation charges. abc-7 is still waiting to learn the fate of the dona ana county jail director. from our new mexico mobile newsroom … . abc-7 caught up with chris barela on wedensday for the first time since he was arrested on fraud and embezzlement charges back in december … and we spoke with his attorney. barela is accused of misusing money meant for the inmates. “its disturbing that this sheriff has now decided to resurrect these things in order to simply drag my name through the dirt as it seems to be right now that was jail director chris barela last year when he said numerous agencies were investigating the jails inmate funds and on more than one occasion. never found any wrong doing. our new mexico mobile newsroom was there as barela entered the courtroom for a motion hearing about grand jury proceedings. but the judge told us it was sequestered so we weren’t allowed to listen in. afterwards, barela’s attorney was brief when defending his client: “no comment….my client ha only followed the law and done everything hes supposed to do” barela also had no comment yesterday. the local plant of a national ice company is set to reopen today after an ammonia leak late tuesday night. it happened at the reddy ice location on the 300 block of south dallas. no one was inside at the time– but employees from the nearby “flowers baking company” were evacuated sun metro provided a bus to shelter them. el paso firefighters managed to shut off all ammonia valves. ammonia is commonly used in cooling and the ice-making process — but the fumes can be deadly. “flowers baking” produces sunbeam and nature’s own bread. we were told all the bread would be discarded for safety reasons. water was restored overnight in the lower valley after a water main break. it happened yesterday morning near the el paso communtiy college campus at hunter and north loop. as you can see, water streamed onto the streets. el paso water utility crews were there all day repairing the line. again–e-p-w-u tweeted that water was restored in the area around 9 p.m. / it’s national nutrition month– this morning a reminder on how you can take part– and it can easily start at home. good morning el paso’s denise olivas is live with the details…denise? this month is can also serve as a reminder to get back on track if you’re working toward a healthier lifestyle. the centers for disease control reports more than one-third of u-s adults are obese. that’s an estimated 78-point-6 million americans. obesity affects one-in-6 children or adolescents in the country. but through various programs the u-s department of agriculture has made efforts since its 2010 hunger-free kids act. it ensures that more than 50 million children have a healthier food environment at school. at the local level we’ve schoold districts make drastic changes to breakfast and lunch menus. we have a few more tips for you this morning from the academy of nutrition and dietics have you heard them before? most likely. but maybe they’ll stick in your head has you reach for the refigerator today. fix yourself some healthy snack before you head out the door. cook at home– it will also save you money. along with that, incorporate family meal time. eat seafood twice a week– fish and shellfish-contains a range of nutrients including healthy omega-3 fats. and cut back on added sugars. coming up in our next half hour– if you need an actual challenge to encourage you– we’ll talk about the usda’s latest program. now it’s time to take a look at the tx-dot traffic cams… we have an abc-7 traffic alert to tell you about happening this weekend i-10 will once again be closed in both directions between sunland park drive and executive center on sunday.. all westbound traffic on i-10 will have to exit at executive center boulevard. eastbound traffic will have to exit at sunland park. el paso electric crews will rewiring in that area. the closure will be from 3 a.m. until 3 in the afternoon. we still have much more to come here on good morning el paso — things are heating up after tuesday’s elections in the race to the white house–but now an upcoming debate is canceled. we’ll tell you why. / plus— as river waters continue to rise in the south — the need to evacuate becomes more urgent. we’ll take a look. meteorologist krystal klei has your detailed forecast. krystal… and this is abc-7, where news comes first!