Good Morning El Paso: 08.29.15
outrage at a local elementary school… after a parent says a teacher’s aide hit her child! voters in the ysleta independent school district being asked again to pass a multi-million dollar bond… but are taxpayers tired of the pitches? and later – drivers being warned to be on high alert… as a possible sniper may be targeting motorists. and in stormtrack weather, iris! this is all the news you need to start your saturday, august 29th. abc-7’s “good morning el paso weekend starts right now! good morning and thank you for joing us… i’m andrew j. polk. …stormtrack weather now! let’s get your first forecast with stormtracker iris lopez. good morning iris! the mother of a local elementary school student says she’s outraged after a teacher’s aide allegedly hit her child. a witness says it happened in front of several parents and other students at kohlberg elementary. the school is in west el paso near resler and helen of troy. this is video provided to us by a witness… about 30 seconds into the two minute long video … you see the teacher’s aide grabbing the boy by the arm. the witness says that moments before this video was taken the teacher’s aide closed her fist saying: “your’e not going t hit me” she then allegedl reached down and hit him twice. the witness also alleges the aide kicked the boy so hard her shoe came off. celeea pena — the boy’s mother — tells us she didn’t get the whole story until other witnesses came forward: mother: “i feel like they are trying to downplay the situation of what it really is. from what they initially told me it was a slap on the wrist! like this that’s it… in reality it was a lot more severe than that.” witness: “i get goose bumps still talking about it. it is awful, i felt really bad about that kid especially when he was crying for his mom. the emotions he must have felt she was trapping him and he couldn’t leave.” a spokesperson with the el paso independent school district tells us the district cannot comment because the investigation is still ongoing. we were told the teacher’s aide has been reassigned to a position where she’ll have no contact with students. the el paso times is reporting an autopsy report reveals the man shot and killed by an el paso police officer earlier this year … was shot twice in the back and once in a buttock. the deadly shooting happened april 29th inside a home on the 300 block of jesuit drive in el paso’s lower valley. at the time, a police spokesman told abc-7 two officers were looking into a burglary. when officers arrived at the home, they encountered erick emmanuel salas sanchez. the suspect allegedly threatened to kill the officers with a metal object, forcing one of them to pull out his taser. police say when that failed to control the suspect, a second officer pulled out his gun and fired. district attorney jaime esparza tells the el paso times the shooting remains under investigation. he hopes to present it to the grand jury early next year, standard procedure for all deadly shootings involving a police officer. an el paso businessman admitted to running a 100-million dollar money-laundering and smuggling operation. 52-year-old jose luis rodriguez is the owner “erene, inc.” a-k-a ” sports” – which sells shoes and other goods in the u.s. and mexico rodriguez smuggled millions of dollars worth of goods into mexico without paying the taxes and fees imposed by the mexican government. investigators say he used so called “pasadores” or black marke smugglers and between 2012 and 2014, paid more than an estimated $2- point-3 million dollars in bribes to mexican customs officials. rodriguez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. he faces up to 20 years in federal prison a scandalous school district hiring in albuquerque … has new mexico governor susana martinez asking for a review of background check policies in school districts across the state. investigators in denver charged jason martinez for criminal sexual contact of a boy under the age of 15. the albuquerque public schools district hired martinez in june. he was free on bond at the time … and under orders not to leave colorado. our new mexico mobile newsroom spoke with las cruces public school officials today. we learned the district requires all employees — licensed or not — to undergo a background check. this means all administrators, teachers, custodians, and receptionists must go through the process. there are a handful of l-c-p-s employees hired before 19-98. they were grandfathered in and not required to get the background check. the district says considering what happened in albuquerque, it could take a closer look at these employees. el paso police are looking for the burglar who broke into a west el paso jewelry store. take a look at your screen. police say the man seen in this photo broke through the walls of two adjoing businesses just to get into the jewel gallery. a surveillance camera captured this image. our camera was rolling as a man appeared to be installing new surveillance equipment outside the building yesterday . get this — the burglary didn’t happen overnight. police say it happened just before eight o’clock in the morning! officials are not saying what exactly the burglar stole, but they are asking for your help. if you know anything, call the number on your screen. 566-tips. that’s 566-84-77. the ysleta school district is trying to pass a $430-million- dollar bond this november. it’s last attempt in may failed with 51 percent voting against it. now we’re learning why one segment of the population voted it down — and what the district is up against this time around. abc-7’s ashlie rodriguez has the story you’ll see only on abc-7. many of us are to the point where our children are raised and gone, our grandchildren are raised and gone. this eastwood resident declined to go on camera, but was more than willing to share why her elderly friends voted against yisd’s bond election in may. we don’t see the need to invest in our community further. yisd’s will have an uphill battle to climb as it tries to sell a repackaged bond this november. a $430 million bond, means a $0.14 tax rate increase, or $66 more per year. while parents want the new schools and technology promised for their kids…. ..you got to look at it as a big picture, its for our children, it’s for our future. older residents aren’t buying. people our age tend to get a little cautious with our money the last time yisd residents invested in the schools was 2004, under superintendent hector montenegro. from 2009-2013, dr. michael zolkoski lead the district, and oversaw a failed bond effort in 2010. he pitched only 160 million for new schools and refrigerated air. current superintendent dr. xavier de la torre’s pitch will cost more than twice that, and older voters aren’t feeling the urgency. i can only speak for my tenure and the time that i’ve spent in the district. and i seen a lot of people who acknowledge that we’ve not addressed the needs of our schools and they’re not getting any better and they’re excited that someone is coming in with some energy and enthusiasm. de la torre says residents over 65 won’t see any change in their tax rate at all. he will host more informational community meetings in the coming months explaing just that. the mayor of las cruces will ask votes to elect him to a third term. in his newsletter this week, ken miyagishima announced he will run again. he was first elected to office in 2007. miyagishima says his supporters encouraged him to seek reelection this fall. miyagishima will have at least one challenger. city councilman miguel silva announced earleir this month he’s running for mayor . the election for mayor is in november 3rd. / food trucks are turning pink for susan g. komen el paso’s fight against brest cancer. the boardwalk at ricky’s is having it’s inaurgual food truck competition for the cure. it starts today at 6-p-m. participants can pay $20-dollars to sample food from all the food trucks and vote for their favorite. trophies will be given to the favorite food truck and the favorite pink truck. all proceeds benefit the el paso affiliate of susan g. komen in the fight against breast cancer in our community. the boardwalk at ricky’s is located at 1773 pali drive. this week, only in el paso inc.: us news corrects a list of top 10 colleges – and adds utep. find out why they made the change. what’s with the battle of the ers in far east el paso? and why a nearby hospital says it’s not worried. and meet this year’s women of impact – and read why el paso inc. will honor their contributions to the community. el paso inc. is online at elpasoinc.com, and available for home and business delivery. call 534- 4422 to subscribe. and a bombshell verdict for a student of one of the nation’s most elite prep schools… with mixed emotions and results today. it is , right now we’ll take a live look at traffic this morning: and in stormtrack weather, iris! stormtrack weather is next! you’re watching abc-7… where news comes first!