Good Morning El Paso: 07.16.15

former president george h.w. bush is in the hospital this morning–after a fall in his home. the latest on his condition. / “the fingers have been pointe back and forth between county finance and the county treasurer if a private citizen were to bounce that amount of checks they would be prosecuted for check fraud.” questions over bounced checks in the dona ana county sheriff’s office–the details from our new mexico mobile newsroom. / and–things aren’t looking good for spaceport america. where did tax payers money go? / a very good morning el paso, las cruces, and juarez. i’m stephanie valle. and i’m hillary floren. good morning, everyone. good morning! today we began with temperatures in the 70s and low 80s. those temps will rise to the 90s again this afternoon. as for rain chances, we see slight chances of rain in the forecast around 10 percent up to 20 percent late day. the chance of rain is best farther west of el paso or las cruces. rain chances remain steady around the scattered territory through the weekend. the details on what to expect are coming up! former president george h.w. bush is recovering at this hospital in portland, maine this morning, suffering from a fractured vertabrae in his neck after falling at home. “he is fine” says his spokesma in stable condition and will not need surgery. it is not known yet how or why the 91- year-old fell at his summer home. “bush 41” — the nation’s oldes living former president — has hardly let his health challenges slow him down. just last summer, marking his 90th birthday with a thrilling skydive near his home in maine. we’ll get to those details on what health challenges he has been facing latelyin just a bit right here on good morning el paso. questions over bounced checks. dona ana county sheriff ki vigil — told county commissioners that advance checks for travel expenses by members of his department weren’t honored by the bank. our new mexico mobile newsroom went looking for answers… vigil says the bounced checks from the county totaled more than six thousand dollars. the money was for travel expenses to salt lake city utah where deputies were recruiting and traing. county manager julia brown says the sheriff’s office should have submitted the request for those travel expenses earlier. brown blamed a mistake in the county treasurer’s office for the checks not clearing. coming up later we’ll hear more about what brown has to say about the accusations of this being a case of fraud. / new this morning new mexico attorney general hector balderas announced a new fraud recovery strike force. the goal of the task force is to target those partaking in deceptive or unfair practices, and to recover public funds lost due to fraud. they will investigate these types of cases and work with whistle- blowers to expose corruption. the group is already in the midst of litigation against companies accused of cheating vulnerable new mexicans. / also from our new mexico mobile newsroom … a las cruces man is accused of attacking a police officer … using his teeth! 53-year-old charles mc-nally allegedly bit an officer who was investigating an alleged domestic disturbance inside the man’s home. police charged him with battery against an officer and resisting arrest. a former new mexcio state university student learned his punishment after he threatened to carry out a shooting at the university. zachary milton hess was sentenced to five years probation. in may of last year authorities say hess threatened to carry out a shooting at nmsu. back in march — hess pleaded guilty to not necessarily sending out the threat — but for being an accessory and hindering the investigation. during that time –nmsu officials shut down the campus and reported it lost about one-thousand staff hours in responding to the threat. as part of his sentence — hess has also been ordered to pay nearly 78-thousand dollars in restitution to nmsu. this morning we’re learning more about the future of virgin galactic’s spaceport america and its much anticipated commercial flights. spaceport america– located near upham, new mexico recently opened its visitors center just outside truth or consequences. good morning el paso’s denise olivas is live with the details…denise? the spaceport authority’s executive director christine anderson just released an update on its finances. simply put.. the spaceport survived last year on past revenue, but legislative analysts say that revenue has run out. virgin galactic was expected to begin commercial space flights this year, but that was stalled after crashes of test vehicles and rockets in recent years. flights are expected to begin launching next summer. anderson reported 136- percent increase in ticket sales since the visitor center opened last month. but right now– the spaceport is looking at potential financial struggles. there have been 23 vertical rocket launches to date. and revenue has covered more than half of the facility’s operating expenses for the last three fiscal years. but because revenue is tied to leases and launch activity, legislative analysts say setbacks at virgin galactic will leave the spaceport scrambling for revenue this year. officials say the spaceport might need an additional one-point-two million dollar appropriation to avoid a shortfall. continuing our complete coverage of the escape of “el chap guzman”.. the latest updates are coming from mexico’s interior ministry. they are taking new actions in the search for guzman, including distributing one hundred thousand photographs to highway toll booths across the country. thousands of authorities are also on high alert, establishing over 100 checkpoints on the country’s roads. even hospitals, hotels, and funeral homes are being searched for mexico’s most wanted criminal. now it’s time to take a look at the tx-dot traffic cams… former president george h.w. bush is in a hospital in maine this morning with a fractured neck, after falling at his home. the 91-year- old former president is in stable condition, and a family spokesperson says he is doing well. abc’s bazi kani has the latest. former president george h.w. bush is recovering at this hospital in portland , maine this morning. suffering from a fractured vertabrae in his neck after falling at home . “he is fine” says his spokesma in stable condition and will not need surgery. it is not known yet how or why the 91- year-old fell at his summer home in kennebunkeport, maine. pictured there last month at a family gathering in the wheelchair he’s been using for the last two years as he battles a form of parkinson’s disease. one of several health issues the former president has faced since leaving office. –diagnosed with graves disease in 1991, a thyroid condition. –two years ago, he spent two months in a houston hospital for a bronchitis- related cough and other issues. –and just last december, a week in the same hospital for shortness of breath. but “bush 41” — t nation’s oldest living former president — has hardly let those health challenges slow him down. just last summer, marking his 90th birthday with a thrilling skydive near his home in maine. just as he did for his 75th, 80th, and 85th. this morning, a spokesman for the family says he fully expects to be back in texas by the start of football season. because of that fractured vertebrae, president bush will have to wear a neck brace, probably for a couple of months. it is not known how long he will have to stay in the hospital. bazi kani, abc news, washington. el paso is getting on board with streetcars. what city council has in mind for the return of the classic downtown trolleys, and what details still need to be worked out. / plus, one team is trying to break records with their solar-powered airplane, but their attempt has hit some turbulence. / meteorologist krystal klei has your detailed forecast. krystal… and this is abc-7, where news comes first! plans