Good Morning El Paso 03.19.16

i-10 already shut down across el paso’s westside… coming a day earlier than was originally expected. a deadly plane crash overnight leaves dozens dead. what officials are saying about the conditions this morning. and the actress and would-be documentarian who found that notorious mexican drug lord before law enforcement could… breaking her silence. and in stormtrack weather, iris! this is all the news you need to start your saturday, march 19th. abc-7’s “good morning el paso weekend starts right now! good morning and thank you for joing us… i’m andrew j. polk. another traffic headache on the west side this morning as i-10 shuts down. that closure happening right now. i-10 shutdown between sunland park and executive center starting at 3 this morning. it’s expected to open again around 3 this afternoon. the westbound lanes at sunland park are still open… as is the eastbound lanes at executive. el paso electric crews are once again replacing transmission poles as part of the loop 375 construction project. the only way to get through that area is mesa street. of course you can always take transmountain if you want to avoid west el paso altogether. this is a live look at i-10 right now courtesy of our tex-dot cameras… …stormtrack weather now! let’s get your first forecast with stormtracker iris lopez. family and friends said their final goodbyes to officer david ortiz — the officer hit by a car last thursday. david ortiz — the officer hit by a car last thursday. family and friends said their final goodbyes to officer david ortiz — the officer hit by a car last thursday. funeral services for ortiz were held at saints peter and paul catholic church in socorro yesterday. the church was packed inside — and a crowd gathered outside. media was not allowed inside the church. after the funeral service, ortiz’s body was taken to mount carmel cemetery for burial. nearly 100 motorcycle officers were in the procession flanking the hearse which was fitting because oritiz was also a motorcycle officer. after the funeral service, ortiz’s body was taken to mount carmel cemetery for burial. nearly 100 motorcycle officers were in the procession flanking the hearse which was fitting because oritiz was also a motorcycle officer. at the gravesite doves were released in his memory. among those to pay their respects — a member of the law enforcement explorers — who one day hopes to be a police officer: “the reason that i join is so that no other family has to go through this again … i don’t want any son or wife to have to lose a husband or someone else. i want to prevent other people from having to go to funerals.” officer ortiz was in the hospital for four days after he was hit by a car last thursday. he died on monday. police say he was on patrol on his motorcycle stopped at a red light. he was rear- ended by the driver of a car at lee trevino and vista del sol. the driver is not facing any charges at this time. we have asked numerous times but police have yet to identify him and they haven’t provided any updates — but we’ll be sure to pass it along as soon as they do. a recent outbreak of the equine herpes virus cancelled 19 race days at the sunland park racetrack. but horse racing is back and in a big way today. the fiesta del sol at the park kicks off today and lasts until tomorrow. more than a million dollars in purses are up for grabs. but even more refreshing to hear — sunland park says there have been no additional positive e-h-v-1 tests in more than 2 weeks. and although there is just one horse who remains in the isolation barn — trainers and owners aren’t taking any chances: “obviously after the ehv viru was present on the property we went through a lot of protocols and procedures that we had not normally put into place, those polices and procedures are now in place today….our sister tracks in new mexico.” and… sunland park will soon have a brand new hotel. construction has begun for “the hotel at sunland park racetrack.” we’re told it has been a customer request by many in las cruces to have a hotel at the racetrack. when completed — the 7 million dollar four-story hotel will have 78 rooms and stand right next to the casino. a man accused of inappropriately touching a child — is planning his defense. dona ana county district attorney mark d’antonio announced that a grand jury indicted 30-year-old mirsha barraza-puga. the alleged victim is a 7- year-old girl. the girl’s mother says she was drinking with puga when he took off toward a bedroom where the girl was watching t-v. moments later the girl came out of the bedroom and accused puga of touching her. he allegedly ran off — but deputies caught him a short while later. he’s charged with criminal sexual contact of a minor and faces up to 6 years in prison if convicted. a suspect in the november paris attacks that killed 130 and injured hundreds of others– was captured alive in a daring raid in belgium yesterday. kim hutcherson has the latest. french president francois hollande says prosecutors will “urgently request the extradition of salah abdeslam, suspected of involvement in the terror attacks in paris last year. at a news conference friday afternoon, hollande thanked belgian authorities and praised the two countries’ joint counter-terrorism efforts. “the cooperation between france and belgium since these attempts, but even before these attempts, has always been intense and important” –nats gunshots- abdeslam was taken into custody friday — along with four others — during a morning raid in brussels. authorities believe last november, he drove three conspirators to the stade de france — one of the attack sites in paris. officials also think abdeslam was wearing a suicide belt…that was never detonated … and was found on a street after the attacks abdeslam has been in hiding ever since the bloodshed in paris. investigators got a break on tuesday, when his fingerprints were found in another raid in brussels. “what we’ve seen now is thi lucky break in the investigation when they went in to this safe house on tuesday afternoon not expecting it to be a terrorist den and not expecting it to have salah abdeslam, one of the most wanted men in the word.” now, official say abdeslam will finally face trial for his alleged role in the deadly paris attack. i’m kim hutcherson reporting. authorities say a boeing 737 jet crash landed at an airport in southern russia killing all 62-people onboard this morning. russian officials say flydubai flight f-z-981 took off from dubai and the pilot was attempting to land for the second time when the jet crashed at russia’s rostov-on-don airport. russian officials say all 55 passengers, mostly russians, and seven crew aboard were killed. four children were among the dead. the mexican actress who tracked down notorious drug king pin — “el chapo” — is breaki her silence. kate del castillo sits down with abc’s diane sawyer for an exclusive interview on “20-20″… a describes the moment she feared for her life. abc’s brandi hitt reports. three months after their meeting… mexican authorities blasted through this hide-out? recapturing “e chapo” … nats — …who had been on the run for six months. later — penn also defended his motivation behind the interview… to cbs’s 60 minutes. sot — sean penn, actor contribute to this discussion about the policy in the war on drugs.” kate del castillo tells “20-20″… she i hurt and still angry with sean penn … because she was told he wanted to help her with the movie. diane sawyer says penn? delivers a very different story of what happened. brandi hitt — abc about the policy in the war on drugs.” kate del castillo tells “20-20″… she is hurt and sti angry with sean penn … because she was told he wanted to help her with the movie. diane sawyer says penn? delivers a very different story of what happened. brandi hitt — abc news — los angeles. a washington woman– who spent two-and-a-half years as a political prisoner in mexico– is now a free woman. nestora salgado walked out of tepepan prison in mexico city. salgado left renton, washington to form a community police group to fight crime in mexico. her lawyer claims she was arrested and charged with kidnapping and homicide because the government wanted to send a message to stop other groups. there was an outpouring of support for salgado and there was even a recent united nations ruling in her favor. now guerrero state judges have dismissed the charges against her… citing a lack of evidence. the el paso rescue mission will soon be at a new location just off i-10 near utep, the demolition of the old mill and industrial buildings continues.. old silos and brick buildings are being wrenched apart to make way for the new border highway west extension project. the new home of the rescue mission will be in south central el paso just off cotton street south of i-10 sits on nearly 5 acres, with lots of room to grow. the first building will have nearly 200 beds to care for all types of homelessness there will also be a refurbished building dating from the 1800s, turned into a barbecue restaurant. residents of the rescue mission say they’re looking forward to the move: “i believe it’s going to be a great move once we move out there to the new site. it’s going to be bigger, better. the restaurant, i believe it’s going to do great. i hope that everyone comes out and checks it out.” if you’re interested learning more about the rescue mission including volunteering there … you can contact them through the link on this story at k-v-i-a dot com. back in el paso … veterans will be getting some much- need help connecting with health-care providers thanks to a new operations center. the tri-west healthcare alliance center held its grand opening in downtown. it will employ about 235 people, including veterans. the employees will process health care requests, handle phone calls with veterans and,health care providers and also schedule appointments. congress beto o’rourke wants to invite you to a town hall meeting happening this morning. it’s your chance to ask him questions and sound off on issues that are important to you. the first meeting starts at 9 this morning and lasts about an hour. it’s a general town hall meeting happening at the armed forces reserve center on montana. the second is for veterans. that one happening at the same place starting at 1 this afternoon. it’s also expected to last about an hour. o’rourke says his staff will be at hand to help people who are having trouble with federal agencies like medicare, medicaid, and the veterans affairs administration. the international museum of art is having a movie day the movie was produced by utep’s cotton production department it’s a documentary called “and the wheels turned” in celebration o the 50th anniversary of the texas western 19-66 ncaa basketball championship. that game happening 50 years ago today. it is free for everyone and starts at 2 p.m. coming up — an update on the presidential race. including a look at protestors and supporters as they gather in utah for trump’s first appearance in the state. 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! this is a