Gov. lifts mask mandate, former Aggie basketball player dies, actress touts Mesilla business

I'm Damien Willis, a lead reporter for the Las Cruces Sun-News, and this is The Reporter's Notebook, a free newsletter highlighting some of the week's best stories.

This week, we'll talk to our reporters about how they reported their stories in an effort to bring some transparency to our reporting process. This is a way to pull back the curtain and to take you inside the newsroom — our conversations, our reporting process and the tips that occasionally led to interesting and important stories.

New Mexico drops indoor mask mandate

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced last Thursday the state would lift its mask mandate, which covers all residents over the age of 2 regardless of vaccine status in indoor public spaces, effective immediately.

The news came as a surprise to reporters around the state — some of whom were at the Roundhouse for the announcement, which came on the heels of the adjournment of the 30-day legislative session.

Our statewide reporter, Algernon D'Ammassa, recalls a crazy news day — topped off with a bombshell:

It had already been a busy news day: New Mexico's legislative session ended with a dramatic filibuster and a surprise announcement that the state House Speaker would not seek another term. We were busy wrapping up our coverage of the session remotely from our Las Cruces newsroom.

We knew Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham was having an in-person scrum with reporters at her office in Santa Fe. Then we got a tip from a school district about yet another surprise: The governor would be announcing an end to the state's mask mandate in most public spaces.

We were already making phone calls when the first tweets showed up from reporters who were in the room when the governor removed her mask with a theatrical flourish, followed by several other lawmakers and cabinet secretaries in the room.

Within minutes, we were able to report the surprise shift in the state's pandemic response. While I gathered more reporting to update our story online, the rest of our newsroom pounced on the story from various angles: What this meant for schools, team sports and venues, businesses, local government offices and services, the courts. How did our crowded hospitals feel about expanding risk of community spread?

Now we are following up to learn what we can about the timing of this announcement, which departed from how previous steps were communicated to the public. What role did politics play vs. public health metrics? And is this, in fact, the start of a new chapter in adapting to the presence of COVID-19 disease?

Former Aggie Ishan White dies at age 21

New Mexico State University Head Basketball Coach Chris Jans and the Aggies found out Feb. 12 — after the team's Saturday night game against Utah Valley — that Ishan White passed away at the age of 21. He signed with NMSU in November 2020 out of Polk State College in Florida but never appeared in a game.

Our sports reporter, Stephen Wagner, who covers Aggie Basketball for the Sun-News, was on the story as soon as the news broke. Details were scarce, but it's a story we're continuing to follow, he said.

The New Mexico State men’s basketball team was informed after its game against Utah Valley that their former teammate, Ishan White, suddenly passed away at the age of 21.

White never played in a game for NMSU after being medically disqualified by a team doctor preseason, but head coach Chris Jans said that didn’t keep him from forming bonds with the players and staff.

“It’s hard to process or put into words,” Jans said. “Just thinking about his family and his friends. I know how we feel; I just can’t fathom what they’re going through.”

White signed with NMSU in November 2020 as a forward from Polk State College, a junior college in Florida. He signed his letter of intent to play for the Aggies in 2021-22 but never suited up.

Jans said Monday, Feb. 14, he did not have any additional details to share about White’s passing.

Actress Kate Bosworth plugs Mesilla health clinic

As more movie productions come to the Las Cruces area for filming, so do actors who get to experience what southern New Mexico has to offer.

Actress Kate Bosworth, known for her roles in “Blue Crush” and “21,” was in Las Cruces in late 2021 filming “The Locksmith.” The new film stars Bosworth alongside Ryan Phillipe and Ving Rhames with Nicolas Harvard directing.

According to IMDb, the story follows a thief recently released from prison who is trying to reintegrate himself into the lives of his daughter and ex-fiancé, but he is forced to use his locksmithing skills once again.

While in town, Bosworth took in the sights around Las Cruces and Mesilla. She posted photos from her time in the area on Instagram just before Christmas. One place that caught her attention was B-Well Regenerative Medicine & Wellness Clinic in Mesilla. She gave them a shoutout on social media, encouraging people to visit their clinic.

Our trending reporter Leah Romero visited the clinic to learn more about what they do.

While filming "The Locksmith" in and around Las Cruces, actress Kate Bosworth explored the area. She posted on Instagram about her time while filming and gave special attention to the experience she had at B-Well Regenerative Medicine & Wellness Clinic. I decided to see what caught Bosworth's attention at this clinic in Mesilla.

I spoke with owners Chelsie Carter and Sheila Bardwell who are both registered nurses. They described their business as a holistic approach to health and also offering aesthetic services like botox. Photojournalist Nathan Fish and I tried out a smaller version of one of their most popular intravenous vitamin infusions — the Myers' Cocktail, which gives a boost to clients' immune system and energy. Their IV lounge was one of the services Bosworth took advantage of.

They have since been visited by other cast and crew members of productions filming in the area. Bosworth encouraged people in the area to try them out. You're welcome to walk into the Mesilla clinic to check things out, just as the actress did.

City scraps ARPA bids following audit

The city has canceled the competitive bid process used to recommend economic assistance projects for federal pandemic aid funding after an internal audit found procurement code violations and inconsistent and nebulous practices within the project eligibility determination phase of the process.

A Feb. 17 notice sent by email to bidders said the selection process had been canceled in the "best interest of the city."

It's a story our city and county government watchdog reporter Michael McDevitt has been following for months now.

I’ve been waiting on the full results of the city’s audit into this ARPA funding award selection process since December, when even preliminary findings showed several serious defects in the process. Recently, I realized the deadline to publish the results publicly had to have passed. After reaching out to the city, I learned updates to a city webpage on which the documents would be publicly available were underway and the audit would soon be published.

Because of that, I didn’t view the audit report until Feb. 14, though the report is dated Jan. 21. That fact stood out to one organization I spoke with this past week — Cruces Creatives, who had raised concerns about the defects in the process publicly — who noted the city did not cancel the RFP until after my first story on this subject published Feb. 16, even when the city had the audit results for weeks.

'What happened was a tragedy'

"I just want to be clear that I loved my dad and that what happened was a tragedy."

Those were the words of Lucas Daniel Gonzalez, 28, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in October 2021 after police said he stabbed his father, 73-year-old Alfredo Gonzalez, on July 8, 2020. Police said that Gonzalez stabbed his father because he believed his father was out to kill him.

The son was found inside his father's home on the 5800 block of Desert Mesa Place with bloodstains on his body and cuts on the inside of his hands, according to an affidavit.

Our public safety reporter, Justin Garcia, has been following this case as it has made its way through the courts.

Stories about sentencing are some of the hardest to write. The reporting is simple. It just requires you to listen. But the words and feelings expressed by the victims of horrific crimes make the process hurt. This story was one of the worst.

The family — who, in this case, belonged to both the victim and the defendant — stayed silent even after the judge prompted them to speak. I don't blame them. After all, what is there to say?

The family's son has just officially pleaded guilty to murdering his father. Why did he do it? Because he was high and paranoid, and because he lacked any access to mental health resources that he obviously needed.

The term is played out, but this incident truly embodies a senseless tragedy.

'The Reporter's Notebook' podcast

In this week's podcast episode, we’re joined by Algernon, as well as Adrian Hedden, the energy and environment reporter for the Carlsbad Current-Argus, to look at the recently-adjourned session of the New Mexico Legislature, which wrapped up at noon last Thursday.

Several major bills made it to Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s desk. Many others died in committee or on the floor. We’ll attempt to capture what you need to know — and the big takeaways from the 30-day session.

Immediately following the adjournment, Gov. Lujan Grisham lifted the statewide mask mandate, which we also discuss.

A special thanks to KOB-TV in Albuquerque for many of the audio clips used in this episode, which you can listen to HERE.

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: No more masks, Ishan White death and Kate Bosworth plugs Mesilla biz