Good Morning El Paso Weekend 06.05.16

the world still coming to grips with the loss of one of the most famous athletes. this morning, new details on the memorial and funeral services that will be held in his hometown. and athletes around the world are reacting to the champ’s death… including right here in the borderland. how he’s inspired and left his mark in el paso. and while texas is stilly trying to recover from the floods and more… the rest of the country is bracing for what could be severe and damaging weather in the days to come. and in stormtrack weather, iris! this is all the news you need to start your sunday, june 5th. abc-7’s “good morning el paso weekend starts right now! “it does help promote my fights the boasting the talking, the i’m the greatest, showing the confidence is something most people won’t express.” “the m who has no imagination stands on the earth. he has no imagination he can not fly so having an imagination, you have to have an imagination. the write brothers have an imagination columbus had imagination the man who went to the moon had an imagination. and i used my imagination to help publicize things.” the man known for his confidence and as “the greatest” – is gon muhammad ali passed away – at the age of 74. a family spokesman say muhammad ali had been at a hospital since thursday suffering from respiratory problems. today we are learning new details on the memorial and funeral services for one of the world’s most famous athlete’s. good morning and thank you for joing us… i’m andrew j. polk. for the final farewell, ali will draw the world to his hometown. a family spokesman is describing the funeral plans for muhammad ali as a “celebration”. bob gunnell say family members will accompany ali’s remains to his hometown of louisville, kentucky, in the next two days. a private funeral wi be held thursday, then the public funeral friday. a procession will carry his body down an avenue that bears his name, through his childhood neighborhood and down broadway. the memorial service that follows will be led by an imam in the muslim tradition but include representatives of other faiths. eulogists will include former president bill clinton, comedian billy crystal and sports television host bryant gumbel. muhammad ali was not only a contender in the ring but he was also known for his stance against the vietnam war – and humanitarian efforts –all while suffering from parkinson’s disease late in his life. abc- 7’s jerry najera has more on the legend.. me like many people around the world don’t follow boxing but the name muhhamed ali is well known. know for his boastfull bravado the boxing legend has made a lasting impact on die hard boxing fans as well as the common man. “still the greatest of all time cassius marcellus clay was born in 1942. he first stepped in the ring when he was 12. regarded by many as the greatest boxer of all time. “i’m handsome im fast im pretty and possibly cant be beat” cassius clay late changed his name to muhhamad ali. his bravado was well deemed. in his carreer he earned 56 wins –5 losses and a olympic gold medal. at 22, he won the world heavyweight championship from sonny liston in 1964. but was later stripped of the belt –ali refused to be drafted into the u.s. military, saying he opposed america’s involvement in the vietnam war. he later regained the title and retired in 1981. ali was diagnosed with parkinsons disease in 1984 in 1991 ali traveled to iraq during the gulf war where he met with saddam hussein in an attempt to negotiate the release of american hostages. in 2000 ali made his way to the borderland. –at the time already diagnosed with parkinsons disease — he walked hand in hand with sister susie valadez of the christ for mexico mission to help feed the hungry in juarez. ali didn’t speak much during the visit but his presence helped bring awareness to a problem valedez was having. in that same trip ali visited kiki romero gym “no ha habido otro peleador” he wa the number one boxer in the world, there hasn’t been another one like him since says coach mel martinez who was there at the time. as ali met with the kids “me alcanz? a decir que le echara ganas aqu? con los muchachos” he says the champ told him to give it his all as he coached his kids. back in el paso at the rafael garcia boxing museum. a boxings fan marvels at the memorabilia. “he was the best he beat th best” guerillmo williams says ali’s presence was timeless. “there is nobody that can compare to muhhamad ali, his foot movement his power his stamina everything that he had will never be seen again” and a interesting fact in 1978 ali’s hometown louisville kentucky voted to rename a major street to muhammad ali boulevard within a week 12 of the 70 street signs were stolen. just goes to show how popular the legend was. there has been an out pouring of support from fans of all ages remembering ali. some of the most famous people in the sporting world are offering condolences as well. basketball legend michael jordan said: “this is a sad day for me – and for the world. muhammad ali was bigger than sports and larger than life. he said he was ‘the greatest’ and he was right. ” oscar de la hoya said: “muhamma ali is a legend and one of the world’s most celebrated athletes, the fighter who ushered in the golden era of boxing and put the sport on the map.” and eve president and mrs. obama sharing: “ali stood up when it was hard; spoke out when others wouldn’t. course” ali is also remembered by the man who cut his comeback dreams short. larry holmes beat ali when he tried to win the heavyweight championship title for an unprecedented fourth time. that was one of the last fights in ali’s career. but in his early boxing days, holmes was ali’s sparring partner. he still remembers how he met the legendary champ: “we went to reading pennsylvania, and we boxed. he gave me a black eye. and they wanted to put some ice on it and i said, no, i’m keeping it. they can talk about joe louis, dempsey, marciano–all those guys, and say oh they was great, they was great–yeah, they was great. but they weren’t greater than muhammad ali, he is the only one i am going to let be greater than me.” holmes also says he’ll rember ali for his kind heart and his willingness to help people. he plans to attend ali’s funeral in louisville, kentucky, on friday. …stormtrack weather now! let’s get your first forecast with stormtracker iris lopez a ridge of high pressure aloft will slowly build east over new mexico by monday and tuesday. low level moisture will persist next couple of days to continue isolated thunderstorms across the borderland, but by tuesday and more so on wednesday, drier air will move in from the west to end any thunderstorm chances. this is short lived however as new moisture will begin streaming up from the south on thursday and friday, to give the area another shot at thunderstorms. temperatures will remain above normal, with the hottest days monday through wednesday. the heavy rain that’s been hovering over parts of southeastern and central texas and caused deadly flooding began to lift saturday but officials said the flooding emergency near the gulf coast was worsening. to the southeast, water levels began to recede along upstream portions of the brazos river, but the peril increased downstream as the water churned toward the gulf of mexico. the brazos river stood at 52 feet near midday saturday at which is 9.55 feet above flood stage. army officials kept up their investigation of a training exercise that went horribly wrong at fort hood, leaving nine soldiers dead. the bodies of five soldiers were recovered thursday and four were found friday. three soldiers survived. meanwhile tropical rains and possible tornadoes threaten half of the us. forecasters say more than 17 million people on the east coast are in the path of the severe weather. the national weather service has issued a heat advisory and warnings for the suburbs south and east of los angeles through sunday. similar heat warnings have been issued in las vegas and phoenix. people along the gulf coast are keeping a watchful eye on a system over the caribbean sea that was forecast to bring 5 to 10 inches of rain to parts of florida. officials in miami says the system has a good chance of forming into a tropical cyclone. even if it doesn’t, it will still bring heavy rains along the gulf coast. firefighters are spending the weekend battling several wildfires in california, new mexico and arizona. a wildfire is burning nearly 12 miles in the san mateo mountains near magdalena, which is about 100 miles southwest of albuquerque. the fire was caused by lightning and is 20 percent contained. in arizona, firefighters are battling a fire south of the town of young. so far it has burned over 28 miles. in southern california, a brush fire has burned 30 acres near temecula. officials say the extreme heat and a dry winter mean there’s a high risk of wildfires. summer has typically been considered wildfire season but experts now say blazes happen year- round. for some city council members the miled sanctions the city’s ethic review commission handed to city manager tommy gonzalez signals a time to move on. but for district 5 city rep michael noe it’s bad omens. according to our news partners at the el paso inc.. noe said quote:”now that the door’s open, anybody can file ethics complains against anybody over a completely innocent thing.” after a 6 and a half hour hearing and two hours of deliberation. the ethics review commission voted unaminously to issue a letter of admonition a less erious letter of notification to gonzalez. but noe said he’s wasn’t convinced gonzalez did anything wrong. for more on this story pick up your copy of the el paso inc. other stories this week include: what’s being done to fix the traffic troubles in far east el paso – and why not all of them work. 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. citizens in juarez are heading to the polls this morning. elections are being held today and due to the elections, liquor sales have been banned this weekend in the state of chihuahua. the bann started yesterday morning at 9 and will be lifted tomarrow morning at 9. in juarez– voters are selecting a new mayor, a public officer and nine state representatives. it was a day of pampering and relaxation. yesterday the las palmas del sol health care center held a national cancer survivors day event. it honors those who are both dealing with cancer and those that won their battle against cancer. among the many activities, there was yago, tai chi and massages. they gave tips and advice on how to keep your body healthy so that patients can live a happy life: “we want to provide information to those individuals that are going through treatment that they can get through this and there are different varieties and methodologies, they can employee to help them get through it so they that they can survive and live a happy and healthy life.” the survivors were able to share milestones and their loved ones were recognized for their support during the journey. the event was meant to inspire those who are recently diagnosed, with a message that cancer is beatable. it was all smiles yesterday in downtown el paso. “natural sound” yesterday was the ninth annual sun city pride parade. the entire route went through about a mile and a half through downtown. hundreds cheered on. this year’s theme was ride the rainbow. big celebration is every june. we caught up with a few people attending the parade and they shared what it truly means to them: “todays parade is representin the glbty, it’s for the unity and represents all the harshes we fought like stigma and prejudism and people not understanding so we’re all promoting, advocating, and educating people that we are no different than the average citizen.” “that we a all the same, we are all worthy of being treated the same. i’m blessed that my parents support me 100 percent and it would be nice if the world treated me the same. so that’s why i’m happy, i’m happy that life is beautiful.” some good news for texas residents… and bad news for others. coming up on good morning el paso weekend. as some residents are able to return to their homes from the flooding. others are forced to leave everything behind. and later – a man who allegedly fled police now has several indictments. the charges he could face and how police say he was able to get away. 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!