Good Morning El Paso: 09.01.15

el paso children’s hospital is on the clock and time is running out! will the hospital ultimately close its doors or will they come to an agreement with u- m-c? and texas state senator john cornyn was in el paso recently. he met with mayor oscar leeser, state representative joe pickett and a former txdot commission chair to talk about improvments in the borderland. “a california politician makes visit to el paso to support the city’s proposed cultural center, but he also talks to abc-7 about the negative comments being said about latinos in the u-s” 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. a cultural center for the city of el paso is still in the early stages. new this morning– one california congressman stops in the sun city to early stages. new this morning– one california congressman stops in the sun city to rally for the center. he also talked to abc-7 about a presidential candidate’s comments on the latino community. good morning el paso’s denise olivas is live with the details…denise? u-s congressman xavier becerra was the keynote speaker at a reception last night. he’s also a regent of the smithsonian institution in washington d-c whose been leading a decade long effort for more recognition for latinos in the u-s. he talked to an audience last night about the importance of acknowledging and celebrating latino stories. becerra authored the bill calling for the establishment of the national museum of the american latino at the smithsonian. abc-7 asked becerra about presidential hopeful donald trump’s recent controversial comments about latinos. “i know who i am… what believe is true” becerra added– come november 2106– he believes america will make the right choice. as for the cultural center here in el paso– the name, location , size and budget for the el paso cultural center is expected to be finalized by this month. el paso children’s hospital is trying to stay open past thanksgiving — by disputing their lease with university medical center. children’s says it shouldn’t have to pay rent– of about 860-thousand dollars a month! u- m-c says — children’s owes the hospital upwards of $100- million-dollars in rent. a judge is set to make a decision on thursday whether children’s will have to pay up. meanwhile, children’s has 15 days to come up with a plan to make itself profitable. after that, the judge will begin hearing university medical center’s plan to bring children’s under the county’s wing. new mexico’s democratic house leaders are talking about impeaching the state’s top elections official. this after she’s accused of fraud, embezzlement, and money laundering. republican secretary of state dianna duran is facing a 64-count complaint. she’s accused of funneling campaign donations into personal accounts… and withdrawing hundreds of thousands of dollars at casinos around the state. the autopsy report obtained by abc-7 shows that the man shot and killed by el paso police had drugs in his system. the shooting happened april 29th inside a home on the 300 block of jesuit drive in the lower valley. police said they were responding to a burglary… when the man allegedly threatened to kill the officers with a metal object. officers tried to tase the man, but it didn’t work… prompting a second officer to pull out his gun and fire. the report revealed 22- year-old erik salas sanches was shot three times — twice in the back and once in the buttock. a toxicology report also shows salas sanchez had traces of marijuana residue and an antidepressant in his system. an albuquerque superintendent who hired a man accused of sexually assaulting a child has stepped down. luis valentino resigned yesterday. valentino is a graduate of bowie high school. albuquerque public schools agreed to pay him $80-thousand dollars within 10 days. jason martinez– the man valentino hired– is charged in colorado with felony sexual assault on a child. county commissioners voted not to increase property taxes for fiscal year 2016. the vote was unanimous. the property tax rate will remain at just a shade over 45 and a quarter cents per one-hundred dollars property valuation. that’s lower than the effective tax rate. the county is also proposing a budget of 262 million dollars. it will include salary increases for employees. texas senator john cornyn was in el paso. he’s in town to talk about the borderland’s transportation challenges with experts at utep. cornyn spoke with mayor oscar leeser… and former txdot commission chair ted houghton– as well as state. rep. joe pickett. they talked about how to make infrastructure more affordable and discussed the “driv act…” a transportatio funding bill that cobbled together an additional $46 billion dollars– he says border cities such as el paso could really use it. now it’s time to take a look at the tx-dot traffic cams… wildfires are still growing throughout the u-s. coming up we’ll show you one that’s been growing for weeks. the fire is getting so bad people are being forced from their homes. and a 19-year-old is accused of killing three of his family members. authorities are still trying to piece together why the tragedy had to happen. meteorologist krystal klei has your detailed forecast. krystal… and this is abc-7, where news comes first!