Good Morning El Paso Weekend 09.17.16

an overnight motorcycle crash puts at least one in the hospital with serious injuries. what police are saying so far. a historic game for the miners. we take a look at all the preparations in place now for tonight’s festivities. and el paso’s largest school district now in high gear, working to get the info on it’s big bond out to the community… but not everyone is happy with the plan. and in stormtrack weather, stephen! this is all the news you need to start your saturday, september 17th. abc-7’s “good morning el paso weekend” starts right now after 2 straight wins at home — the el paso chihuahuas lost some steam on the road. el paso falls to oklahoma city in game 3 of the pacific coast league championship series. the chihuahuas can still take home the championship though. there’s 2 more games left and the dogs only need one more win. good morning and thank you for joing us… i’m andrew j. polk. we will have the highlights of the chihuahuas game later in sports. a motorcylce crash leaves one person in the hospital with life threatening injuries. it happened last night around 7-30 on the 51 hundred block of marcus uribe in northeast el paso. our crews were there as police blocked off the streets. special traffic investigators were called to the scene and the street remained closed for several hours. police have not yet said the cause of the crash. we will update you as soon as any more information is released. the abc-7 i-team is learning new details about the murder of eryca tijerina. 21-year-old anthony michael bowden was arrested tuesday and charged with her murder. bowden is a soldier and has been stationed at fort bliss since 2014. on august 8th — police reported they found the body of eric tijerina — now known to be a transgender woman who went by the name eryka– inside a housing complex on the 200 block of libson. court documents state she was stabbed multiple times. the documents further detail how her step-father found her dead inside the apartment. the step-father told police — she was working as an escort and she would take customers to that apartment. police say they found bowden’s cell number on tijerina’s cell phone. by checking cell phone tower logs — they learned bowden was in the area shortly before tijerina’s body was found. documents state that surveillance cameras also captured a vehicle matching the one owned by bowden. when detectives interviewed bowden — he allegedly admitted to having sex with tijerina but he denied killing her. but a friend of bowden’s told police bowden admitted to her murder. we’ll stay on top of this story as the new details come in. the three suspects charged in the brutal death of 10 year old victoria martens are pleading not guity. in albuquerque– fabian gonzales, jessica kelley and the victim’s mother, michelle martens, are all facing charges of child abuse resulting in the kidnapping and death of victoria. yesterday’s arraignment came three weeks after authorities say the girl was drugged, sexually assaulted and killed. her body was found by police in her mother’s apartment the day she was supposed to celebrate her 10th birthday. authorities says her remains had been wrapped in a blanket and set on fire in a bathtub. the mother of baby brianna is scheduled to be released next week. that’s according to the new mexico corrections department. stephanie lopez was convicted of child abuse in 2003. she was sentenced to 27 years in prison for not doing anything to stop the repeated rape and abuse of her 5-and-a half month daughter at the hands of her father and uncle. due to good behavior, lopez is set to be released after serving only 13 years. she will still have to serve two years parole. brianna’s father and uncle are each serving more than 50 years in prison for their role in her death. …stormtrack weather now! let’s get your first forecast with stormtrack meteorologist stephen decatur. rather quiet weather scenario expected next seven days. westerly flow has advected hot dry stable air into southern new mexico/west texas resulting in dewpoints mostly in the 30s and precipitable water less than an inch. thus expect dry weather with above normal temperatures the next 2 days. the el paso school district has just under 2 months to work to pass it’s half billion dollar district has just under 2 months to work to pass it’s half billion dollar bond. but as the district holds more informational meetings for its voters… some taxpayers are taking a stand against it. daniel lopez is one of dozens of el paso district taxpayers, part of a community group who plan to vote “no” episd’s bond. the group believes the district should have been more inclusive in the planning and let all voters have a say. it’s biggest concern is the bond’s price tag, which lopez says is an alarming number for the average homeowner. board members say ultimately, it’s a taxpayer by taxpayer decision: “if you look at episd’s tax rate,which is the lowest in the region, it hasn’t been raised in 9 years, that we’re long overdue for some investment. particularly when the state hasn’t stepped up to really fill the gap.” lopez says if the bond amount was smaller, that could help mend the broken trust with the district. after five years of promoting allegations of president obama’s birthplace… donald trump has reversed course: “”president barack obama w born in the united states. period.” trump acknowledging obama was born in the u-s. at the same time, trump accused hillary clinton of starting the “birther movement” in 2008 — but there’s no evidence of any clinton involvement. from blacks on capitol hill — the backlash was brutal. some calling trump a disgusting fraud, a bigot, and a racist. meanwhile president obama says he has no reaction: i’m shocked that a question like that would come up when we have so many important things to do. i’m not shocked actually. it’s fairly typical. we’ve got other business to attend to. i was pretty confident about where i was born. i think most people were as well. democratic nominee hillary clinton is calling for donald truimp to apologize to president obama. fighting the zika virus — with the help of planned parenthood: that’s the problem some republican congressmen are facing. the plan would allow zika money in puerto rico — to be distributed to clinics affiliated with planned parenthood. abc-7 caught up with el paso congressman beto o’rourke at a town hall meeting yesterday to get his input. he said preventing the virus is what’s most important, and that planned parenthood would help. o’rourke went on to say that focusing on solving the issue, not party values, is what will prevent zika from spreading: “i’m glad that there seems to b some kind of bipartisan agreement to move forward, address this cris, and do it in a rational, intelligent way that doesn’t allow ideology to blind us from the problems that are before us” the zika funding would be added to must-pass legislation — intended to prevent a government shutdown october 1st. also at the town hall– beto o’rourke talked about his bills that recently passed in the house which will help veterans get quality medical care. the bills will speed up the process for veterans to see a doctor at v-a clinics — and it will also hold v-a clinics more accountable for any problems veterans might report. it will also also allow for a quicker transfer of medical records — if a veteran receiving care at a v-a clinic — decides to see a private doctor. 173 former immigrants from 16 different countries are now united with the same citizenship as americans. from our new mexico mobile newsroom …. “yes i am very excited and hope it turns out pretty good. i am very glad that i am allowed to vote now and that is the first thing that i am going to do.” the new citizens took the oath of allegiance yesterday at the las cruces convention center. they ranged from ages 20 to 81, and came from over a dozen different countries — including brazil, great britain, and south korea. most wasted no time in registering to vote, just in time to have a say in the november election. so far this year, 903 citizens have been naturalized in las cruces. the miners are back at home this week and are getting ready for tonight’s historical game. utep is taking on the army black knights from west point. the theme of “one city, one team” will be at the forefront. abc- 7’s darren hunt spoke with soldiers about the first matchup ever between the teams: “to be able to travel to a town where we know that we’re going to be well received that means a lot to us and to our players.” army coach jeff monken said playing before a military community is special. “i personally appreciate when w go places that are patriotic and appreciate our young men, appreciate our academy and are grateful that we’ve got men and women that serve proudly in our military.” “you’ll want to be in the stand a little bit early for this one as the pregame festivities will feature a show of patriotism perhaps never seen here in the sun bowl … the fort bliss and utep bands will perform together, there will be an apache helicopter flyover, a huge american flag will drape the entire field and there will be a parachute jump team delivering the game ball.” “there’s a lot of excitement, this is a great thing for both utep and the army as well … we love the support we get from el paso.” sergeant raymond kokel is looking forward to it. “they’ve given out a lot of fre tickets to soldiers to be there in the stands and to witness the game.” el paso mayor oscar leeser has purchased more than five thousand tickets for soldiers and their families. “love to see army play and just hit the smackdown, go army.” specialist michael delucchi can’t wait. “its an amazing thing that they can come down here to texas and support our troops and we can support them … i’m just excited and ready to go.” “i think it’s outstanding especially for a big post like this and having the soldiers get a chance to go and cheer on army.” “its going to be great to see all the fans, which side the fans are going to be cheering on as the ball is moving up and down the field, because they’ll be cheering on utep and cheering on army.” darren hunt … “i don’t think you’ll hear an boos at this game … ” abc-7 army vehicles, including tanks and missile launchers, will be in parking lots around the stadium. the first will be in parking lots around the stadium. the first 20-thousand fans will receive commemorative military i-d tags … and everyone will receive a red, white or blue towel to wave. for more information on the game, just click on this story at kvia.com. 100 years of tiger pride. that’s what el paso high school is celebrating after opening it’s doors back in 19-16: “cheers we were there yesterday as students and staff gathered for a huge pep rally. celebrating the greco-roman inspired campus. famed architects trost and trost designed the building — which was recently named one of the most beautiful high schools in america. “it’s beautiful. everybody know about it across the country. and i’m always proud to say that i’m from el paso. this high school is part of our history and part of our legacy.” next month, the school will attempt to break the world record for “largest high school reunio ever.” it has to have exactly 33-hundred alumni and faculty to break it. happening today– the first country music festival to come to el paso will be taking over southwest university park the way out west fest will be this afternoon from 4 to 11 p-m. performers will include multi- platinum artist clay walker, country- rock band “parmalee”, an singer-songwriter brandy clark. a chili cook-off and margarita-mixing competion are also set to take place. there is still time to get your tickets — they’re on sale now at the southwest university park box office, costing 30 to 50 dollars for general admission, and 150 for v-i-p. don’t forget to pick up your copy of the el paso inc. this week, only in el paso inc.: details on the $1-million settlement between businessman billy abraham and the family of the man killed in a car accident. would you believe making energy upgrades on your building, with no upfront costs? that’s what a new county program can do for local businesses. and why some old adobe structures in socorro are now a national treasure – and what it means for the restoration of rio vista farm. el paso inc. is online at elpasoinc.com, and available for home and business delivery. call 534- 4422 to subscribe. how much is too much? we all enjoy taking a well desrved time off from work, but should there be shorter limits? coming up why county commissioners are now starting to take a look. and later – a lot more fallout over the serious samsung cell phone problems… with the fed now stepping in. it is , right now we’ll take a live look at traffic this morning: and in stormtrack weather, stephen! stormtrack weather is next! you’re watching abc-7… where news comes first!