Coach splits with NMSU, J. Paul Taylor turns 102 and we look at youthful offenders

New Mexico State men's basketball analyst no longer with program amid allegations of forgery

New Mexico State men's basketball defensive analyst Edmond Pryor is no longer associated with the university amid allegations of forging employment records for criminal defendants.

The Chicago Tribune reports that Pryor was charged with one count of forgery earlier this month and was released from jail after posting a $5,000 bail. He is alleged to have created false pay stubs and documents confirming employment at companies including Amazon and UPS for defendants under house arrest to receive more movement while their court cases were ongoing. He is also alleged to have created false documents for individuals to obtain auto financing and received bank payments the same day he sent off the documents.

Pryor told the Tribune he is innocent. NM State Athletics director Mario Moccia said the university does not comment on personnel issues, but Pryor is no longer associated with the school.

Las Cruces Sun-News reporter Stephen Wagner, who covers the NMSU basketball team for the paper, has been covering this story. He said:

New Mexico State men’s basketball defensive analyst Edmond Pryor is no longer with the program after a report surfaced that the assistant was charged with one count of forgery. The Chicago Tribune reported Pryor is alleged to have created false pay stubs and documents at companies such as Amazon and UPS for defendants under house arrest to receive additional movement while their court cases were ongoing.

Pryor told the Tribune he is innocent. NM State Athletics director Mario Moccia confirmed to the Sun-News Wednesday Pryor is no longer on the coaching staff.

I received a tip early Wednesday morning that a story had been published regarding Pryor. I quickly found the Tribune’s story.

'That's where I belong.' J. Paul Taylor celebrates 102nd birthday with students

Former state legislator and longtime educator J. Paul Taylor celebrated his 102nd birthday Wednesday morning with J. Paul Taylor Academy students and faulty.

Children in grades kindergarten through eighth sang, danced and presented Taylor with gifts they made. It was a beautiful start to the educator’s special day.

“You are a very special group of children and I want you to know that this has been a wonderful time to spend the early hours of my 102nd birthday. I never thought I’d make it this far,” Taylor said. “I’ve seen some of you grow up from kindergarten and first grade and here you are fine young people and adults and I appreciate and love you all.”

Our reporter Leah Romero was there for Wednesday's celebration. Here's how she recalls the event:

I headed over to the J. Paul Taylor Academy Wednesday and had the chance to meet Taylor in person. It was the former state legislator's 102nd birthday and the school was celebrating its namesake. All of the charter school students were outside, singing and dancing for the centenarian, who clapped along to the music.

Taylor obviously means a lot to the students and staff of the school. And he was visibly emotional about their celebration of him. He also had family in attendance, some who work at or attend the school and others who traveled from out of town for the big day. He was happy to be around the children, 'in his element.'

A closer look at youthful offenders in New Mexico

Darcy Morrison describes her life at the Western New Mexico Correctional Facility in Grants as a quiet one.

She works in the library for much of the day, where she tutors other inmates. She completed her own bachelor’s degree last year and enjoys teaching. After the 4 p.m. head count she reads or watches “Jeopardy!” In her unit, inmates room together in pods of four. She said her companions are quiet and get along.

When speaking on the phone she frequently paused to compose her thoughts into sentences. She also enjoys writing and her handwriting, as exhibited in a 15-page court filing she composed on her own in 2016, is carefully wrought in small letters as consistent as a computer font.

The New Mexico Corrections Department still lists her under her former married name, Darcy Smith. As a teenager, she was briefly wedded to Eric Smith, whom she described as violent and controlling in a relationship marked by substance abuse as well as physical and psychological violence.

She recalls the torment being bad enough that her arrest by police in 1993 felt like a rescue. By then, she was exhausted and weighed just 90 pounds because, she said, Eric Smith did not allow her to eat or sleep regularly.

Morrison was sentenced to life in prison for a crime that took place when she was a teenager. Twenty-four years later, she hopes a parole board will hear her story.

Sun-News reporter Algernon D'Ammassa spoke with Darcy, who is hoping to get a new look at her prison sentence. Algernon shares:

Nearly 40 people in New Mexico are serving sentences of 30 years or more for crimes committed when they were minors, and many of the cases go back to the 1990s during a time when alarms were being raised nationwide about crime rates, drug and weapons traffic, and juvenile offenders. At the same time, advances were being made in brain research that were beginning to change some prevailing narratives about youth and how they develop. Since the Clinton era, jurisprudence is grappling with adolescent culpability and how to sentence them when convicted. More recently, advocates have been advancing "second chance" bills on behalf of juvenile offenders serving life sentences without opportunity for parole.

One story touching on all of this history is that of Darcy Morrison, who was convicted of "felony murder" for her role in the kidnapping and murder of another teenager in 1992. She is seeking a new sentence and a chance to tell a story that did not come out at her trial.

I feel grateful to have been allowed time to work on a story over several weeks that ties all of this history together as context to a personal story.

A look at paper bag sales, revenue in second quarter of Las Cruces plastic bag ban

In the second quarter of 2022, the number of paper bags sold to consumers at Las Cruces retailers dropped by about 6 percent, and the amount of revenue collected by the city decreased by more than $3,000 compared to the previous quarter.

The city's sustainability officer sees it as a sign local shoppers are bringing their own bags more often.

Data retrieved by the Sun-News through a public records request showed the number of paper bags sold to consumers between April 1 and June 30 totaled more than 898,630 — a 6.3 percent decrease over the Q1 number.

Through the city ordinance which enacted the single-use plastic grocery bag ban and established a 10-cent fee for paper bags offered to shoppers, affected businesses are required to provide the city with quarterly reports showing the number of bags sold during the three-month period and the amount of revenue the bag fee brought in. The stores are required to transfer half of the fee revenue to the city each quarter.

Michael McDevitt has been covering this issue for the Sun-News. Michael said:

This follow-up to my first paper bag revenue data story serves two important points. First, it’s essential to observe the change in numbers each reporting period as a way to evaluate the city’s progress toward its own stated goal — reducing plastic usage and increasing the use of reusable bags. Regardless of one’s own agreement with the plastic bag ban, everyone should care about whether the city is carrying out its program effectively and ethically at least — is every business paying its fair share, or are some slipping through the cracks? (Hint: some are.)

Second, by showing the city we’re paying attention at the Sun-News each quarter, we’re displaying that we’re not content to report on the passage of a major ordinance and simply trust the city government administration to get it right. Our first story exposed major problems that had already begun to emerge in the reporting of bag revenue, and it appears the city has improved its efforts in the second quarter. Now, it’s tough to say if the improvements came as a direct result of our reporting, but increased public scrutiny in an endeavor like this is rarely a bad thing.

Hatch Chile Festival turns 50

June Lytle will be leading the Hatch Chile Festival parade this year, an appropriate choice to celebrate the festival's 50th year. June is one of the few people who can recall the first festival, held in 1972.

June was one the festival founders, along with other locals, including Ben Archer and Clayborn Wayne. She sat down with the Sun-News the day before her 98th birthday to recall the festival's founding.

“In the first few years, it was not much. It was just a bunch of people got together and Clayborn Wayne bought a bunch of two-by-sixes and we made a great big ol’ wooden table with sawhorses and we put plates out there and everybody just got a bowl of chile. It was kind of like a picnic,” June said. “It grew bigger and bigger all the time.”

The picnic is now a three-day festival, held annually over Labor Day weekend to honor the sweet and spicy fruit grown mostly in New Mexico. Thousands of chile fans from all over the country will descend on Hatch — more than doubling the population of the agricultural town — to browse vendors, listen to music, ride the carnival attractions, roast green chile or make a red chile ristra.

Leah Romero wrote about the festival's founding for the Sun-News. She also joined our podcast, "The Reporter's Notebook," to talk about the festival's legacy in Doña Ana County.

Damien Willis is a Lead Reporter for the Las Cruces Sun-News. He can be reached at 575-541-5443, dwillis@lcsun-news.com or @DamienWillis on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: NMSU defensive analyst out, J. Paul Taylor turns 102 and a look at youthful offenders