Good Morning El Paso Weekend 06.04.16

“muhammad ali was a man of th people. he was a fighter for the people. i love muhammad ali” tributes pouring in from around the world this morning… marking the passing of the self- proclaimed “greatest” boxer a world-renowned athlete. and fort hood mourning some of it’s own this morning… as the bodies of more service men are recovered from flood waters. and when the severe weather hits, it’s important to know what to do when driving on the roads. what the national weather service says to keep your car from being swept away. this is all the news you need to start your saturday, june 4th. abc-7’s “good morning el paso weekend” starts right now! “ali’s got a left, ali’s got right, if he hits you once, you’ll sleep for the night, and as you lie on the floor as the ref counts to ten, hope and pray that you never meet me again.” boxing legend muhammad ali has died at the age of 74, according to the family spokesman. ali was admitted to the hospital on thursday for respiratory issues. the heavy weight champion has had a 32-year battle with parkinson’s disease. his family released a statement saying the funeral will be held in his hometown of louisville, kentucky. more about the funeral plans will announced later this morning at a news conference in phoenix. good morning and thank you for joing us… i’m andrew j. polk. muhammad ali, who riveted the world as ‘the greatest,’ is dead. with a wit as sharp as the punches he used against his opponents, ali dominated sports for two decades —before time and parkinson’s syndrome, triggered by thousands of blows to the head—ended his storied career in 1981. he won and defended the heavyweight championship in epic fights in exotic locations,— spoke loudly on behalf of blacks, and famously refused to be drafted into the army during the vietnam war because of his muslim beliefs. fight promoter don king says muhammad ali “stood for the world.” “muhammad ali is a legend i his time, but he’s a fighter for the people. he’s always said never forget where you come from and stand up for what you believe in.” despite his debilitating illness, ali traveled the world to rapturous receptions even after his once- bellowing voice was quieted and he was left to communicate with a wink or a weak smile. he fought in three different decades, finished with a record of 56-5 with 37 knockouts and was the first man to win heavyweight titles three times. ali is no stranger to the borderland. the boxer made an appearance in juarez and el paso in may of 2000. the then mayor of el paso: carlos ramirez gave ali the keys to the city during his visit. …stormtrack weather now! let’s get your first forecast with stormtracker iris lopez a ridge of high pressure aloft will persist over california and arizona through sunday. this will allow relatively dry air aloft over the borderland. however increasing low level moisture today and sunday will allow scattered thunderstorms to develop both days, though mainly over the mountains. temperatures will not be quite as warm. by monday and tuesday, the upper ridge will move over new mexico and begin drying the area out. any thunderstorms should be limited to the mountains. the lack of clouds will also allow temperatures to climb well above normal, with triple digit readings for much of the desert. by thursday and friday the upper ridge will reform over texas and the gulf of mexico. this will turn the upper flow southeast and begin spreading gulf moisture up to the area from the south. thunderstorm coverage should increase again by late in the work week. this morning– fort hood, texas is mourning the death of 9 soldiers after they were swept away in a rain- swollen creek 12 soldiers were on a training mission thursday when their vehicle became stuck — and then overturned in the quickly rising owl creek. three soldiers were rescued– and the bodies of five others were recovered thursday. a fort hood spokesman said a crossing was flooded after two days of heavy rains and that the swift floodwaters swept the tactical vehicle from the road. military officials held a press conference to discuss friday’s search and recovery mission: “part of our warrior ethos is that ‘i will never leave a fallen comrade’ and were it not for the professionalism and compassion of these emergency services personnel it would have taken us much longer to live up to our ethos. rescuers used ground, air and dog teams to help locate the four missing soldiers friday. the military has yet to release their identies. if you don’t think flash flooding like that — powerful enough to sweep your vehicle away — can occur here in the borderland … think again! we spoke with john fausett at the national weather service today about tips to keep drivers safe in rising waters. abc-7’s darren hunt has the story: “motorists for the most par tend to underestimate the power of moving water.” joh fausett is the meteorologist in charge with the national weather service. “it’s already bad enough if you have the buoyancy force of water that is not moving, you add the lateral force of moving water and most vehicles are not going to be able to stay on the road, probably be swept away, even your high clearance off road vehicles.” fausett said drivers need to remember the phrase “turn around! don’t drown!” “it’s very simple and it make sense … the way our terrain is around here with the sloping and the arroyos, and the way our soil is, just doesn’t want to soak in the water, runoff just happens very quickly, so that’s why you get the flash flooding.” and if you don’t think it can happen here in the borderland, check this out! ” there are actually videos fro just this last summer, last july there was a car that was swept off the road in dona ana, just north of las cruces, if not for this area of trees it would have swept a little too far away and not sure that rescue could have taken place.” that wasn’t the only example he pointed to. “there was a fatality i northeast el paso, not long ago, a couple of years ago in september, and that was due to flash flooding … it’s more frequent than you ago, a couple of years ago in september, and that was due to flash flooding … it’s more frequent than you think, you just don’t want to be driving into water that covers the roadway.” “maybe the number one enemy i people who have made it through, a time or two, and they think i’ve done it before, i can do it again … uh-uh.” fausett said it’s better to think “turn around, don’t drown” rather than .. “if i drive fast enough i can get through, no, doesn’t work, sorry, we’ve got videos to prove it.” darren hunt, abc-7. we asked fausett what should you do if your car does get swept away by flood waters? he told us, quote, “there are no good answers at that point.” turn around, don’t drown! a 15 year-old girl from el paso was killed from a rollover in new mexico. it happened around 8:30 monday night on i-25 just east of hatch. new mexico state police say brittany ruiz was in the back seat when the driver lost control of the vehicle and rolled over — hitting a tree. brittany was not wearing her seatbelt and later died from her injuries. the driver and front passenger were wearing their seatbelts and had minor injuries. two women were arrested for allegedly driving drunk and speeding over 100 miles per hour. at around 1-30 friday morning — 31-year- old lenzy juarez was pulled over on i-10 near utep for allegedly driving her chevy camaro at a speed of 110 miles per hour. she was charged with d-w-i. about 2 hours later 19-year-old jody traversy was arrested in east el paso. she was allegedly driving her dodge dart on i- 10 at a speed of 125 miles per hour. traversy was also charged with d-w-i. the man convicted of causing a deadly crash now has a reduced fine. this is video from last friday when jan michael nieves delgado was sentenced to 10 years probation. a jury found him guilty of manslaughter for crashing his car into a construction site — killing 2 workers. the judge had set his fine at 10-thousand dollars — but it was reduced yesterday to just one-thousand dollars. the former santa fe county sheriff’s deputy accused of killing a co-worker — took the stand in his own defense yesterday. tai chan allegedly shot and killed his partner jeremy martin back in 2014 in a hotel in las cruces. the defense argues chan was acting in self defense chan took the stand – and was questioned on the moments leading up to the shooting. he said it was martin who had the gun at first: “so he had the gun in his hand, it was his left hand. and he looked at me with this blank stare and he was looking straight through me. i’ll never forget that look he gave me. and he just said, “i’m going to shoot you.” they asked why he didn’t remove himself from the situation — call 9-1, a supervisor, or even change rooms. chan said he didn’t want to get martin in trouble. 10 shots were fired that night and martin was hit 5 times, all in the back. drivers on the westside be aware.. another road closure is coming… and it’s going to last for 8 months. starting next sunday, june 12th.. paisano will be completely shut down from sunland park drive to executive center. this closure is so crews can finish the road construction necessary for the border west expressway. the only way to get around this will be to use mesa or constitution drive and detour signs will be in place. again, that complete closure will last 8 months. / a fire traing exercise at fort bliss this morning may cause some delays the exercise takes place from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. across the south and east side boundaries of fort bliss. entry onto fort bliss will not be allowed from the intersection of tunisia steet and carinha avenue. there will be no access at any point along the north and south boundary dell city residents must use new mexico highway 5-0-6 to access u.s. 54 for more information, call the range safety office, at 915-569-5110 or 915- 892-6841. don’t forget to pick up your copy of the el paso inc. this week, only in el paso inc.: what’s being done to fix the traffic troubles in far east el paso – and why not all of them work. why one city rep is worried about the fallout, after an ethics panel sanctions the city manager. and a businessman who sells thousands of mattresses a year talks about growing the business – and what keeps him awake. el paso inc. is online at elpasoinc.com, and available for home and business delivery. call 534- 4422 to subscribe. no relief in sight. coming up on good morning el paso weekend… how counties in the houston area are trying to recover from the recent floods… with still more rain expected this weekend. and later – it’s been the focus for many states and controversial stances recently. a look at what el pasoans are doing involving the l-g-b- t-q community. 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!