Good Morning El Paso: 03.05.16
new information on the las cruces church bombings… as the f-b-i reveals that there was a third device – and what happened to it. and major el paso roadways getting shut down this weekend. we have the roundup of all the traffic headaches likely this weekend. and with the fallout from super tuesday still being figured out, it’s already time for the next step in the presidential race for super saturday. and in stormtrack weather, iris! this is all the news you need to start your saturday, march 5th. abc-7’s “good morning el paso weekend starts right now! good morning and thank you for joing us… i’m andrew j. polk. “we’re asking for people’ patience as we move forward on this project ..” another traffic headache could be heading your way if you plan on going out this weekend. we’re staying on top of major road closures so they don’t ruin your weekend. but first… the f-b-i field office in albuquerque says a third device found outside a las cruces church last august was a bomb! the device was found august 14th … 12 days after bombs exploded — hours apart — at calvary baptist church and holy cross catholic church. the third bomb was found at the first presbyterian church located at 200 east boutz road. that’s across the street from las cruces high school. the f- b-i says the bomb malfunctioned and did not activate! on its website — the f-b-i is asking you for help identifying a person-of-interest seen walking near one of the churches in this surveillance footage the f-b-i albuquerque field office is offering a 20-thousand dollar reward for information that leads to the arrest and the capture of those responsible. a woman is in the hospital after a serious car crash involving six vehicles. it forced police to close schuster between kansas and mesa… and standton between rim and crosby yesterday while they investigated. this is video of the crash… as you can see, the two white vehicles on your screen are in pretty bad shape. one looks an acura and the other appears to be an older model ford fusion. so far police are only telling us e-m-s crews rushed a woman with life threatening injuries to a nearby hospital. three other people were injured. police also say an undercover police officer, driving an unmarked police unit, was involved in the crash. officials refused to comment when asked if the undercover officer was chasing someone before the crash. then an update on another crash. this one in anthony texas. sheriff’s deputues say they now know the identity of the man killed in a head-on collision. the head-on collision happened thursday near the la tuna federal prison. investigators weren’t sure which vehicle the man killed was riding in. the sheriff’s office says he was the driver who caused the crash by veering into oncoming traffic. the man has been identified as 51- year-old homero pinon. investigators say they still don’t know why pinon drove his car across the yellow line. he hit a truck head on. two other people were taken to the hospital one of whom was driving the truck. the sheriff’s office is not saying which vehicle the other survivor was in. an item on next weeks city council meeting has some scratching their heads. city rep emma acosta wants to discuss stopping anyone convicted of a crime of moral turpitude from being able to access public records. freedom of information advocates say council doesn’t have the power to make those decisions. abc7’s jerry najera has more acosta showed me several documents retrieved through the freedom of information act. they have people’s names, numbers and addresses. she says she’s trying to protect her constituents and that is why council needs to have this discussion. “we get a lot of information from our constiuents were they give us information as to where they work. they give us information about their neighbors they give us information like their emails their cell numbers their work numbers and a lot of that information is being released” district three city rep emma acosta is concerned this sensitive information could get into the wrong hands through an open records request. “i don’t think w should be releasing that kind of information to someone who is a convicted with charges of moral turpitude” a crime of moral turpitude is defined as ” conduct that is considered contrary to community standards of justice, honesty or good morals.” the term is ofte called a catch-all phrase because many things can fall under the umbrella of a crime of moral turpitude – stealing–a sexual offense–or even computer hacking. “you don’t know who’ submitting that request if your releasing addresses you don’t know if that person is a sexual offender you don’t know if that person has been charged with domestic violence and their looking for that person” “texa information act is a very important law and it says that everyone must be treated equally” kelley shannon — th executive director of the freedom of information foundation of texas — says this item will more than likey not move beyond a conversation at the table. “it’s a discussion that we shouldn’t even really be having because a local government cannot set up their own public information act they have to follow the state law” remember many numbers and adrresses can be found publicly through many other sources like a yellow pages but this item walks a fine line between transparency and according to acosta a person’s safety. the item will be discussed at city council march 8th that’s next tuesday. we will definitley be there. acosta also added council can discuss other options like notifying the person who’s records are being requested. embattled dona ana county treasurer — david gutierrez — has been served! gutierrez admitted to offering one of his female employee one thousand dollars in exchange for sex: alleged victim: “i was really afraid whenever that happened. i didn’t know what to do…i was really afraid. it was his word against mine.” the county settled with the employe — but our new mexico mobile newsroom has learned gutierrez — seen here — is now being sued by his former chief deputy: rene barba. since gutierrez is term-limited, he allegedly urged barba to run for treasurer, then hire gutierrez as his chief deputy. the problems started when barba handled the sexual harrassment complaint involving the woman gutierrez offered money for sex. according to court documents: the woman was seen crying in barba’s office, and he refused gutierrez’s request to let him, quote, “smooth things over. barba promptly reported the matter to h-r. a couple months later, barba told gutierrez he couldn’t hire him as chief deputy if he were elected treasurer because of that incident. gutierrez allegedly told him to resign, otherwise, he would be fired. barba is now seeking damages. city hall just lost one of its most passionate visitors after yesterday’s death of former city representative stan roberts. roberts was a fixture at city hall before and after he served on council. after spending more than a decade and a half watching council meetings as a concerned citizen, roberts was elected the northeast el paso city rep in 1991, he served four two-year terms. he ran for mayor in 1999, but was beaten by carlos ramirez. he was still frequently seen at council meetings after his final term ended. stan roberts: “i’m proud of the service i gave the city for 17 years as an anklebiter with no money at all, and then over the last eight years on city council… which was almost no money at all!” john cook succeeded roberts on council. he told us roberts quote: ” was a good man. stan worked very hard for his district. he had a large group of volunteers that got things done for people. he and his wife jetta were very dedicated to helping their community.” stan roberts was 87 years old. …stormtrack weather now! let’s get your first forecast with stormtracker iris lopez continued warm weather on tap for the weekend across the borderland as deep westerly flow keeps the region quite mild. plenty of high clouds will also continue to move across the southwest making for a mix of sun and clouds both days. winds will become strong sunday as a pacific storm system approaches. monday the storm nears and keeps winds breezy as increased moisture brings in additional late day clouds. tuesday through thursday conditions cool dramatically as the storm system slowly passes and brings two cold fronts and increasing moisture. expect a sharp change in the weather with the current warm and dry conditions giving way to much cooler and wetter conditions. areas mountain will see snow as lowland get rain. the system exits thursday with improving conditions for next weekend. super tuesday has come and gone, now it’s time for super saturday. voters in five states are casting ballots for president today. both parties are voting in kansas and louisiana. republicans caucus in kentucky and maine. democrats, in nebraska. mary moloney has more. presidential candidate) : “go bless c-pac.” republica candidates stump at the conservative political action conference. presidential candidate) : “i’ like the little engine that can.” one major no-show donal trump. the frontrunner canceling his appearance — in order to campaign. presidential candidate) : “do you know that in florida they hate little marco rubio so much.” the trump tea saying he hopes to attend cpac next year — as president. presidential candidate) : “he doesn’t belong at a conservative gathering donald trump is not a conservative.” someone who di show — ben carson. : “there’s a lot of people wh love me they just won’t vote for me. but it’s okay.” telling a captive crowd he’s suspending his bid for president. : “i am leaving the campaig trail.” instead — carson will chair a group focused on getting out the christian vote but carson has a warning : “if you destroy the unity o the party, you’re going to make it very easy for hillary to win.” ted cruz also spoke out about clinton, but his initial comment about her democratic rival was what caught the group off guard. presidential candidate) : ” agree with bernie sanders.” presidential candidate) : “washington i fundamentally corrupt. here’s where i disagree with bernie. if the problem is the government is corrupt, the answer aint, let’s have a whole lot more governments.” sanders hoping fo a primary rebound presidential candidate) : “we are listening to the american people.” as hillar clinton stays laser focused on separating herself from republicans presidential candidate) : “al the republican candidates support the same failed policies.” i’m mary moloney reporting. time now for a look ahead to major road closures that could tie you up tomorrow. that’s when tex-dot is shutting down the freeway in west el paso. it’s set to happen between three a-m and three p-m. i-10 will be closed in both directions between sunland park drive and executive center. but if you were thinking of taking paisano as a possible detour — don’t! paisano is also closing in both directions. this means the only way to get back and forth on the west side tomorrow will be north mesa. 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 be removing and replacing two transmission poles … as well as replacing wiring in that area. we spotted crews doing the preliminary work in the area yesterady near sunland park: eddie gutierrez: “our crews are working hard, they’ve been working hard into this week, making sure everything is ready to go … we’ll hope it’s not a complete inconvenience … we’re asking for people’s patience as we move forward on this project … we want to make sure we’re due diligent and make sure no more project delays at least from our part.” the closures are necessary because the wiring will span the interstate from one side to the other. if you’re headed out today… downtown’s san antonio avenue is closed in both directions at kansas. it’s to give crews a chance to do underground utility work for the el paso street car project. that construction is expected to last two weeks. if you’ve been igorning traffic warrants or parking tickets, listen up. coming up on good morning el paso weekend, time is running out to get them taken care of… before police start major roundups. and later – the strange story of the knife found on o-j simpson’s old property … and what investigators are looking at 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! time is running out to take
