npr--2020-12-16--Russian Agents Trailed Opposition Leader Navalny Before Poisoning, Report Finds

Kremlin agents followed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny for years and were nearby just before an attack with a deadly nerve agent almost killed him in August , according to a new report by the research group Bellingcat .
The report , which used commercial flight information and phone metadata , suggests security agents and two medical doctors working for the nation 's security agency were connected to the Navalny poisoning -- an event that many have long suspected went to the top levels of the Russian government .
The report provides the strongest evidence to date supporting that theory @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were connected to the surveillance of Navalny .
The attack , which is believed to have involved the nerve agent Novichok , is not currently being investigated by law enforcement agencies in any country .
The groundbreaking report was put together by Bellingcat , CNN , Russian media outlet The Insider , and German weekly Der Spiegel .
On the day of the poisoning , Aug. 20 , three officers from the FSB , Russia 's principal security agency , followed Navalny on his trip to the Siberian city of Tomsk , according @ @ @ @ @ @ @ identified as Vladimir Panyaev , Alexey Alexandrov and Ivan Osipov .
Alexandrov and Osipov are medical doctors and FSB operatives .
They kept in contact with one another throughout the trip , with sudden peaks of communication just before the poisoning and when Navalny left his hotel and headed to the airport .
Hours later , Navalny collapsed aboard a flight back to Moscow .
His plane diverted to Omsk for an emergency landing , where Navalny was brought to the local hospital and lapsed into a coma .
Navalny has repeatedly said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the attack on him , with the aim of eliminating a political rival .
U.S. and European officials condemned the attack and blamed the Russian government , and in particular , the FSB .
Speaking Wednesday in Zagreb , Croatia , Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed the report , according to Reuters .
`` We 're already used to the fact that the United States and other Western countries make new accusations against Russia in the media , be it about hackers or revelations about the double or even triple poisoning of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's report also uncovered what it says is proof that Russia has disguised its chemical weapons program behind a network of state-run organizations .
Russia had , on paper , officially closed its military-run chemical weapons program in 2010 .
But scientists from the program were rehired -- ostensibly for civilian research .
Instead , they resumed their work on chemical agents for the nation 's security services , the report says .
The day of the attack , doctors and other specialists flown in from Moscow claimed Navalny showed no sign of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , two days later , Navalny was sent to a German hospital where doctors there diagnosed him with severe poisoning .
The sweeping report suggests a bad-tasting cocktail might have been used in the poisoning .
Navalny had ordered a Bloody Mary at his Tomsk hotel bar the night before he fell ill on the flight .
The bartender said they did n't have the ingredients for the drink and suggested he have a Negroni instead .
Navalny told Bellingcat investigators he could n't take more than one sip as `` the cocktail @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 've had in my life . ''
CNN 's report indicates the poison could have also been added to the laundry he did at the hotel , put on a towel or pillow case he used , or injected into a shampoo bottle .
The poison that left Navalny in a coma for a month and fighting for his life was later identified as the nerve agent Novichok , which was developed solely by the the Soviet Union during the Cold War .
It 's the same agent used to poison former KGB @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Yulia , in 2018 in England .
Both survived the attack .
Further analysis showed the agent used in Navalny 's attack was a new , previously unknown type of Novichok .
Navalny , a vocal critic of Putin , announced in 2017 that he would try to run for president to unseat the Russian leader .
Government surveillance of Navalny began that year , the report shows .
Operatives for the FSB followed Navalny during his trips across Russia on overlapping flights , some of which the agents booked under their own @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to believe there were early attempts on Navalny 's life , including during a trip to Kaliningrad with his wife , Yuliya .
She became seriously ill , but later recovered .
That trip was just a month before the near-fatal attack in Tomsk .

Russian Agents Trailed Opposition Leader Navalny Before Poisoning, Report Finds
Enlarge this image toggle caption Yuri Kadobnov/AFP via Getty Images Yuri Kadobnov/AFP via Getty Images
Updated 8:30 a.m. ET
Kremlin agents followed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny for years and were nearby just before an attack with a deadly nerve agent almost killed him in August, according to a new report by the research group Bellingcat.
The report, which used commercial flight information and phone metadata, suggests security agents and two medical doctors working for the nation's security agency were connected to the Navalny poisoning--an event that many have long suspected went to the top levels of the Russian government.
The report provides the strongest evidence to date supporting that theory and even names the agents Bellingcat says were connected to the surveillance of Navalny. The attack, which is believed to have involved the nerve agent Novichok, is not currently being investigated by law enforcement agencies in any country.
The groundbreaking report was put together by Bellingcat, CNN, Russian media outlet The Insider, and German weekly Der Spiegel.
On the day of the poisoning, Aug. 20, three officers from the FSB, Russia's principal security agency, followed Navalny on his trip to the Siberian city of Tomsk, according to the report. The agents were identified as Vladimir Panyaev, Alexey Alexandrov and Ivan Osipov. Alexandrov and Osipov are medical doctors and FSB operatives. They kept in contact with one another throughout the trip, with sudden peaks of communication just before the poisoning and when Navalny left his hotel and headed to the airport.
Hours later, Navalny collapsed aboard a flight back to Moscow. His plane diverted to Omsk for an emergency landing, where Navalny was brought to the local hospital and lapsed into a coma.
Navalny has repeatedly said he believes President Vladimir Putin personally ordered the attack on him, with the aim of eliminating a political rival. U.S. and European officials condemned the attack and blamed the Russian government, and in particular, the FSB.
Speaking Wednesday in Zagreb, Croatia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed the report, according to Reuters.
"We're already used to the fact that the United States and other Western countries make new accusations against Russia in the media, be it about hackers or revelations about the double or even triple poisoning of Navalny," Lavrov said.
Novichok
Bellingcat's report also uncovered what it says is proof that Russia has disguised its chemical weapons program behind a network of state-run organizations. Russia had, on paper, officially closed its military-run chemical weapons program in 2010. But scientists from the program were rehired --ostensibly for civilian research. Instead, they resumed their work on chemical agents for the nation's security services, the report says.
The day of the attack, doctors and other specialists flown in from Moscow claimed Navalny showed no sign of poisoning. That assertion was debunked when, two days later, Navalny was sent to a German hospital where doctors there diagnosed him with severe poisoning.
The sweeping report suggests a bad-tasting cocktail might have been used in the poisoning.
Navalny had ordered a Bloody Mary at his Tomsk hotel bar the night before he fell ill on the flight. The bartender said they didn't have the ingredients for the drink and suggested he have a Negroni instead. Navalny told Bellingcat investigators he couldn't take more than one sip as "the cocktail tasted like the most disgusting thing I've had in my life."
CNN's report indicates the poison could have also been added to the laundry he did at the hotel, put on a towel or pillow case he used, or injected into a shampoo bottle.
The poison that left Navalny in a coma for a month and fighting for his life was later identified as the nerve agent Novichok, which was developed solely by the the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It's the same agent used to poison former KGB spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in 2018 in England. Both survived the attack.
Further analysis showed the agent used in Navalny's attack was a new, previously unknown type of Novichok.
Surveillance
Navalny, a vocal critic of Putin, announced in 2017 that he would try to run for president to unseat the Russian leader. Government surveillance of Navalny began that year, the report shows.
Operatives for the FSB followed Navalny during his trips across Russia on overlapping flights, some of which the agents booked under their own name.
Bellingcat said there is reason to believe there were early attempts on Navalny's life, including during a trip to Kaliningrad with his wife, Yuliya. She became seriously ill, but later recovered.
That trip was just a month before the near-fatal attack in Tomsk.


npr--2020-12-16--Distant Cousins Of Food Crops Deserve Respect And Protection

Hundreds of native North American plants , often dismissed as weeds , deserve a lot more respect , according to a new study .
These plants , distant cousins of foods like cranberries and pumpkins , actually represent a botanical treasure now facing increased threat from climate change , habitat loss and invasive species .
The crops that the human race now depends on , including grains like wheat and tree fruit like peaches , originally were selected or bred from plants that grew wild hundreds or thousands of years ago .
And those ancestral plants , like the small @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the United States , still exist .
`` If you see them growing along roadsides , those are the ancestors , '' says Colin Khoury , a research scientist at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture .
In the U.S. , there are wild ancestors of blueberries , sweet potatoes , onions , potatoes , and many other food crops .
Some of them are quite common .
Khoury says wild lettuce plants grow along sidewalks , or in backyards , but go unrecognized .
`` They look nothing like lettuce , '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and thorny and little and ugly . ''
Other crop relatives are rare and threatened .
One of Khoury 's favorites is called the paradoxical sunflower .
It `` grows just in wetlands of the deserts of New Mexico and Texas .
Little salty seeps where there 's a little bit of water beneath the soil , '' he says .
Khoury loves these wild relatives of food crops , and not just for sentimental reasons .
`` These wild plants are valuable , '' he says .
That paradoxical sunflower , for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ environment that would kill most plants .
So plant breeders cross-pollinated it with commercial sunflowers and created new varieties that can grow in places where the soil contains more salt .
Other wild relatives may be hiding similarly remarkable gifts , Khoury says , such as genes that could help their domesticated relatives survive diseases , deal with pests , or adapt to disruptions in the climate .
Khoury and some of his colleagues just finished a survey of about 600 wild crop relatives that grow in North America , and published it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ National Academy of Sciences .
They found that most of these plants are threatened from things like fires , farming and development .
The scientists argue that they deserve more protection .
For one thing , `` gene banks '' which preserve seeds in refrigerated vaults should collect and preserve them .
In addition , these plants need more protection in their natural habitat .
According to Khoury , that does n't necessarily mean setting aside land for them .
In many cases , the plants already are growing on public land that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or the Bureau of Land Management .
`` It 's more just being aware that these plants actually exist , '' he says .
`` They 're not particularly on the radar of large organizations like the Forest Service .
In that regard , there 's been some progress .
The Forest Service is now cataloguing wild cranberries on its land in the southeast , as well as wild chile peppers in Arizona , along the border with Mexico .

Distant Cousins Of Food Crops Deserve Respect And Protection
Enlarge this image toggle caption Lisa Cox/USFWS Lisa Cox/USFWS
Hundreds of native North American plants, often dismissed as weeds, deserve a lot more respect, according to a new study. These plants, distant cousins of foods like cranberries and pumpkins, actually represent a botanical treasure now facing increased threat from climate change, habitat loss and invasive species.
The crops that the human race now depends on, including grains like wheat and tree fruit like peaches, originally were selected or bred from plants that grew wild hundreds or thousands of years ago. And those ancestral plants, like the small wild sunflowers that can be found across the United States, still exist. "If you see them growing along roadsides, those are the ancestors," says Colin Khoury, a research scientist at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture.
In the U.S., there are wild ancestors of blueberries, sweet potatoes, onions, potatoes, and many other food crops. Some of them are quite common. Khoury says wild lettuce plants grow along sidewalks, or in backyards, but go unrecognized. "They look nothing like lettuce," he says. "They're scratchy and thorny and little and ugly."
Other crop relatives are rare and threatened. One of Khoury's favorites is called the paradoxical sunflower. It "grows just in wetlands of the deserts of New Mexico and Texas. Little salty seeps where there's a little bit of water beneath the soil," he says.
Khoury loves these wild relatives of food crops, and not just for sentimental reasons. "These wild plants are valuable," he says.
That paradoxical sunflower, for instance, can survive in a salty environment that would kill most plants. So plant breeders cross-pollinated it with commercial sunflowers and created new varieties that can grow in places where the soil contains more salt.
Other wild relatives may be hiding similarly remarkable gifts, Khoury says, such as genes that could help their domesticated relatives survive diseases, deal with pests, or adapt to disruptions in the climate.
Khoury and some of his colleagues just finished a survey of about 600 wild crop relatives that grow in North America, and published it this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
They found that most of these plants are threatened from things like fires, farming and development. The scientists argue that they deserve more protection. For one thing, "gene banks" which preserve seeds in refrigerated vaults should collect and preserve them. In addition, these plants need more protection in their natural habitat.
According to Khoury, that doesn't necessarily mean setting aside land for them. In many cases, the plants already are growing on public land that's managed by the U.S. Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management.
"It's more just being aware that these plants actually exist," he says. "They're not particularly on the radar of large organizations like the Forest Service.
In that regard, there's been some progress. The Forest Service is now cataloguing wild cranberries on its land in the southeast, as well as wild chile peppers in Arizona, along the border with Mexico.


npr--2020-12-16--Paycheck-To-Paycheck Nation: How Life In America Adds Up

Paycheck-To-Paycheck Nation : How Life In America Adds Up A house .
Two cars .
A kid in college .
Debi and Nick Lemieur had all the markers of a middle class life .
But they both remember one purchase — Nick 's $ 600 bass amplifier — that prompted one of the biggest fights in their four decades of marriage .
`` He did n't tell me , he hid it in the trunk of the car , and I found it , '' Debi says , laughing , 14 years later .
`` To me it was like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will this screw with our budget ? ''
An unexpected bill like that is what separates millions of Americans from financial disaster .
In fact , survey after survey for years have found most people in the U.S. live paycheck to paycheck .
Today , amid the pandemic , a third of U.S. adults say they are having difficulty covering everyday costs like food , rent or car payments .
While people with the lowest incomes face the biggest challenges , even some households making above $ 200,000 are straining to pay basic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the tightrope of financial stress , with little to no savings , is hardly a pandemic-specific condition .
Over a year ago , more than a third of Americans said they could not cover an unexpected $ 400 home repair or hospital bill without going into debt — or at all .
Indeed , the paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle has long been a widespread affliction .
Single mothers live it .
Young professionals live it .
Even college professors and retired tech workers live it , like the Lemieurs from Pennsylvania .
They were among @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their monthly budgets before and during the pandemic .
The budgets offer a window into how life 's costs can sometimes leave little financial wiggle room .
`` What comes in goes out , '' says Debi Lemieur , poring over the spreadsheets with her husband Nick — a weekly drill since the amplifier incident .
These individual stories , like anyone 's , are complex .
There are winding career paths and unexpected health crises , loans and credit card debt , difficult choices and a few regrets .
But the economic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even for those with good incomes .
For decades , U.S. wages have failed to keep pace with the rising costs of what many perceive as essential ingredients for a successful American life : good education and healthcare , a home and a family .
Student loans are a yoke around young people the minute they graduate , and keep many parents from retiring .
Medical bills can set people back for years , like they did for the Lemieurs .
A home mortgage and utilities can bite off half of a monthly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ A snapshot of monthly expenses can not paint that full of a picture .
But it shows how financial strain sustains as incomes change — a tight budget means ignoring a janky phone , while a bit more money can mean finally upgrading — and how life 's setbacks and twists can add up .
`` I do n't feel like , even if I 'm saving , I 'm saving ...
I 'm ever going to get ahead of anything , '' says Rhonda Alvarez , a dental assistant and mother of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ feel like it 's a constant struggle , you know what I 'm saying ? ''
' I should n't have to live paycheck to paycheck' Rhonda calls them `` little spendings . ''
Nothing special or life-altering .
New tires swiped onto a credit card .
A last-minute birthday gift .
Soccer cleats , shin guards and gloves for her youngest teenager .
`` You do n't think about it , '' says the 45-year-old .
`` Or you do after you 've done it — you 're like , 'God , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Debt is powerful , which is why most Americans have it .
For Rhonda , a loan helped her discover a dental assistant career she loves both for the work and for the pay .
After never going to the dentist until she was 18 , she now geeks out learning about gum surgery , earning about $ 45,000 a year .
A series of false starts came first .
Pressure to be the first in the family to attend college .
Then culinary school , with another student loan , and food-service @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
A bankruptcy and a divorce .
Debt can also bog you down .
When her personal crises piled up , and the sale of the dental practice where she worked pushed her into a new job , Rhonda felt overwhelmed by her loans and bills .
She cashed out her retirement savings early and paid some of them off .
Still , she 's kept several credit cards .
You never know what might happen .
Like a worldwide pandemic , perhaps .
Or like losing that new job at the very @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her mortgage and some utilities ; life trudges on despite the global crisis .
A minor surgery gets scheduled .
Her oldest starts driving and needs car insurance .
The younger one needs that soccer gear .
`` You 're trying to be careful and then you 're like , this sucks , '' she says .
`` I make decent money now , and I should n't have to live paycheck to paycheck . ''
Rhonda wishes school would teach children money-management , `` it 's way more important sometimes than algebra @ @ @ @ @ @ @ For herself , she 's looked at going back to train as a hygienist , too .
But it 's another $ 30,000 in student loans — more debt she 's not ready to take on .
'Up and down on a roller coaster' While more education usually does mean more income over a lifetime , it 's also expensive .
The cost of college has more than doubled in just 20 years , and student loans are the fastest-growing type of debt in America .
Many people use this money to learn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Robi Hamilton .
Robi , 28 , spent virtually all her savings to get out of her home in Houston and move to Austin for massage school .
Between classes , she worked at a salon around the corner , sweeping hair and doing laundry .
Her boss paid for her state licensing exam as a Christmas gift , shelling out the $ 200 that Robi could n't afford .
She now owes more than $ 10,000 in student debt , but has kept it in forbearance , or on hold , `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ paying my student loans would n't actually break me , '' she says .
That debt relief plus full-time massage therapy work — $ 24 an hour with generous tips — had Robi feeling solid financial footing for the first time in her life .
`` I did n't know what to do with myself , '' she says .
`` When you start making more money , you can upgrade your bills just a little bit .
I got a new phone .
I was like , 'This is a whole new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — more comfortably — paycheck to paycheck . ''
The move to Austin proved more difficult for Robi 's boyfriend Andrew Mentzel , 30 .
America 's music capital lured him with the promise of lucrative opportunities for his line of work in audio and video tech .
Back in Houston , a phone call or two had him running visuals for big oil board meetings or shepherding rock stars to concert sets .
In Austin , he struggled to book enough gigs , even after slicing his rates .
`` Once the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ completely at a loss , '' Andrew says , `` and I have been kind of pivoting ever since . ''
The pandemic has undercut both of their careers .
Canceled live events meant no work for Andrew .
Robi has n't done much massage therapy since the spring , relying on unemployment benefits and occasional side-hustles .
Andrew is now baking at a restaurant , for $ 17 an hour .
Bills are a prominent expense for the two — rent and utilities are pricey in places like Austin .
The couple @ @ @ @ @ @ @ roommate .
They have also spent more during the pandemic , thanks in part to the boosted jobless benefits .
A new floppy-eared responsibility entered their life : A long-coat Dalmatian puppy named Libby , both the keeper of household sanity and agent of adorable chaos .
Home-bound life called for splurges at GameStop , Nintendo and Google for video games and streaming .
Andrew paid off a TV he 'd been financing and began a new plan for a bicycle that gets him out of the house .
Financially , `` it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ down on a roller coaster , '' Andrew says .
`` I 'm able to stay above water miraculously sometimes .
But other times , it 's too close for comfort . ''
For the Lemieurs , after the amplifier fight , budgeting became serious business : a painstaking accounting of birthday presents and vet visits , car payments and utilities , which ran 12 pages long .
With three children , one expense or another has always popped up , but healthcare costs have always been the heftiest , like for many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ issues are a major reason people file for personal bankruptcy .
The Lemieurs ' medical costs were n't just big , they were many .
Their son with special needs underwent numerous therapies .
They lost a daughter , who died after seven years of fighting brain cancer .
Debi had her own cancer battle .
Nick had heart surgery .
`` We just never had the way to save , '' Debi says .
To this day , health insurance runs almost $ 1,000 a month .
At 64 , Debi looks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she qualifies for Medicare .
She believes they would 've done better with more education .
That 's remarkable because she holds two master 's degrees in classics , Latin and Greek .
But in academia , without a doctorate , Debi became an adjunct professor — a higher-ed gig worker — making less than $ 30,000 a year .
She could n't afford to finish her Ph.D. after her health problems and a funding cut by the university .
Nick , 66 , did not finish college .
He fell into a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ technician to engineer managing software contracts .
Then , a few years ago , his work got outsourced .
Unexpectedly retired , he aced a community college course in 3D-modeling , but nobody hired him .
Nick picked up a school crossing-guard gig — to pay for the beer , he jokes — but had to stop during the pandemic .
Debi 's college wages lag in the summer and her tutoring dried up .
They 've deferred some bills , took their two cats off pet insurance , cut back on museum @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Nick ponders whether their early start on children was what got them into the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle .
What if they 'd been more disciplined about budgets and savings earlier ?
Debi shakes her head .
She says , they never made enough money .
`` We just would have more savings and so it would n't be quite as panicky in our gut knowing that we 're pulling from the savings , '' Debi says .
`` I think we still would be living paycheck to paycheck . ''

Paycheck-To-Paycheck Nation: Why Even Americans With Higher Income Struggle With Bills
Enlarge this image toggle caption Hannah Yoon for NPR Hannah Yoon for NPR
A house. Two cars. A kid in college. Debi and Nick Lemieur had all the markers of a middle class life. But they both remember one purchase — Nick's $600 bass amplifier — that prompted one of the biggest fights in their four decades of marriage.
"He didn't tell me he hid it in the trunk of the car, and I found it," Debi says, laughing, 14 years later. "To me it was like, oh my God, how much will this screw with our budget?"
An unexpected bill like that is what separates millions of Americans from financial disaster. In fact, survey after survey for years has found that most people in the U.S. live paycheck to paycheck.
Today, amid the pandemic, a third of U.S. adults say they are having difficulty covering everyday costs such as food, rent or car payments. While people with the lowest incomes face the biggest challenges, even some households making above $200,000 are straining to pay basic expenses.
For many families, walking the tightrope of financial stress, with little to no savings, is hardly a pandemic-specific condition. Over a year ago, more than a third of Americans said they could not cover an unexpected $400 home repair or hospital bill without going into debt — or at all.
Loading...
Indeed, the paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle has long been a widespread affliction. Single mothers live it. Young professionals live it. Even college professors and retired tech workers live it, like the Lemieurs from Pennsylvania. They were among three households that let NPR look at their monthly budgets before and during the pandemic. The budgets offer a window into how life's costs can sometimes leave little financial wiggle room.
"What comes in goes out," says Debi Lemieur, poring over the spreadsheets with her husband, Nick — a weekly drill since the amplifier incident.
These individual stories, like anyone's, are complex. There are winding career paths and unexpected health crises, loans and credit card debt, difficult choices and a few regrets. But the economic backdrop, too, has been unforgiving even for those with good incomes.
For decades, U.S. wages have failed to keep pace with the rising costs of what many perceive as essential ingredients for a successful American life: good education and health care, a home and a family. Student loans are a yoke around young people the minute they graduate and keep many parents from retiring. Medical bills can set people back for years, as they did for the Lemieurs. A home mortgage and utilities can bite off half of a monthly income, especially in big cities.
Loading...
A snapshot of monthly expenses cannot paint that full of a picture. But it shows how financial strain sustains as incomes change — a tight budget means ignoring a janky phone, while a bit more money can mean finally upgrading — and how life's setbacks and twists can add up.
"I don't feel like, even if I'm saving, I'm saving ... I'm ever going to get ahead of anything," says Rhonda Alvarez, a dental assistant and mother of two teenagers in Ohio. "I feel like it's a constant struggle, you know what I'm saying?"
"I shouldn't have to live paycheck to paycheck"
Rhonda calls them "little spendings." Nothing special or life-altering. New tires swiped onto a credit card. A last-minute birthday gift. Soccer cleats, shin guards and gloves for her youngest teenager.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Rhonda Alvarez Rhonda Alvarez
"You don't think about it," says the 45-year-old. "Or you do after you've done it — you're like, 'God, what did I do?' "
Debt is powerful, which is why most Americans have it. For Rhonda, a loan helped her discover a dental assistant career she loves both for the work and for the pay. After never going to the dentist until she was 18, she now geeks out learning about gum surgery, earning about $45,000 a year.
A series of false starts came first. Pressure to be the first in the family to attend college. Then culinary school, with another student loan, and food-service jobs. A marriage and a house. A bankruptcy and a divorce.
Debt can also bog you down. When her personal crises piled up, and the sale of the dental practice where she worked pushed her into a new job, Rhonda felt overwhelmed by her loans and bills. She cashed out her retirement savings early and paid some of them off.
Still, she's kept several credit cards. You never know what might happen. Like a worldwide pandemic, perhaps. Or like losing that new job at the very start of it. Rhonda has deferred her mortgage and some utilities; life trudges on despite the global crisis. A minor surgery gets scheduled. Her oldest starts driving and needs car insurance. The younger one needs that soccer gear.
Loading...
"You're trying to be careful and then you're like, this sucks," she says. "I make decent money now, and I shouldn't have to live paycheck to paycheck."
Rhonda wishes school would teach children money management. "It's way more important sometimes than algebra or geometry," she says. For herself, she's looked at going back to train as a hygienist, too. But it's another $30,000 in student loans — more debt she's not ready to take on.
"Up and down on a roller coaster"
While more education usually does mean more income over a lifetime, it's also expensive. The cost of college has more than doubled in just 20 years, and student loans are the fastest-growing type of debt in America. Many people use this money to learn a trade, like Rhonda — or Robi Hamilton.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Mary Inhea Kang for NPR Mary Inhea Kang for NPR
Robi, 28, spent virtually all her savings to get out of her home in Houston and move to Austin for massage school. Between classes, she worked at a salon around the corner, sweeping hair and doing laundry. Her boss paid for her state licensing exam as a Christmas gift, shelling out the $200 that Robi couldn't afford.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Mary Inhea Kang for NPR Mary Inhea Kang for NPR
She now owes more than $10,000 in student debt, but has kept it in forbearance, or on hold, "trying to get to a point where paying my student loans wouldn't actually break me," she says. That debt relief plus full-time massage therapy work — $24 an hour with generous tips — had Robi feeling solid financial footing for the first time in her life.
"I didn't know what to do with myself," she says. "When you start making more money, you can upgrade your bills just a little bit. I got a new phone. I was like, 'This is a whole new world for me.' Still living — more comfortably — paycheck to paycheck."
The move to Austin proved more difficult for Robi's boyfriend Andrew Mentzel, 30. America's music capital lured him with the promise of lucrative opportunities for his line of work in audio and video tech. Back in Houston, a phone call or two had him running visuals for big oil board meetings or shepherding rock stars to concert sets. In Austin, he struggled to book enough gigs, even after slicing his rates.
"Once the shows stopped coming in, I was completely at a loss," Andrew says, "and I have been kind of pivoting ever since."
The pandemic has undercut both of their careers. Canceled live events meant no work for Andrew. Robi hasn't done much massage therapy since the spring, relying on unemployment benefits and occasional side hustles. Andrew is now baking at a restaurant for $17 an hour.
Loading...
Bills are a prominent expense for the two — rent and utilities are pricey in places like Austin. The couple defray the cost by living with a roommate. They have also spent more during the pandemic, thanks in part to the boosted jobless benefits.
A new floppy-eared responsibility entered their life: a long-coat Dalmatian puppy named Libby, both the keeper of household sanity and agent of adorable chaos. Homebound life called for splurges at GameStop, Nintendo and Google for video games and streaming. Andrew paid off a TV he'd been financing and began a new plan for a bicycle that gets him out of the house.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Mary Inhea Kang for NPR Mary Inhea Kang for NPR
Financially, "it feels kind of like going up and down on a roller coaster," Andrew says. "I'm able to stay above water miraculously sometimes. But other times, it's too close for comfort."
"Panicky in our gut"
For the Lemieurs, after the amplifier fight, budgeting became serious business: a painstaking accounting of birthday presents and vet visits, car payments and utilities, that ran 12 pages long.
With three children, one expense or another has always popped up, but health care costs have always been the heftiest, as for many families. In the U.S., medical issues are a major reason people file for personal bankruptcy.
The Lemieurs' medical costs weren't just big, they were many. Their son with special needs underwent numerous therapies. They lost a daughter, who died after seven years of fighting brain cancer. Debi had her own cancer battle. Nick had heart surgery.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Hannah Yoon for NPR Hannah Yoon for NPR
"We just never had the way to save," Debi says. To this day, health insurance runs almost $1,000 a month. At 64, Debi looks forward to ditching her high-premium plan when she qualifies for Medicare.
She believes they would've done better with more education. That's remarkable because she holds two master's degrees in classics, Latin and Greek. But in academia, without a doctorate, Debi became an adjunct professor — a higher-ed gig worker — making less than $30,000 a year. She couldn't afford to finish her Ph.D. after her health problems and a funding cut by the university.
Nick, 66, did not finish college. He fell into a solid job in tech, rising from technician to engineer managing software contracts. Then, a few years ago, his work got outsourced. Unexpectedly retired, he aced a community college course in 3D-modeling, but nobody hired him.
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Nick picked up a school crossing-guard gig — to pay for the beer, he jokes — but had to stop during the pandemic. Debi's college wages lag in the summer and her tutoring dried up. They've deferred some bills, took their two cats off pet insurance, cut back on museum memberships and charity donations.
Looking back, Nick ponders whether their early start on children was what got them into the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle. What if they'd been more disciplined about budgets and savings earlier? Debi shakes her head. They never made enough money, she says.
"We just would have more savings and so it wouldn't be quite as panicky in our gut knowing that we're pulling from the savings," Debi says. "I think we still would be living paycheck to paycheck."


npr--2020-12-16--Scores Of Private Charitable Foundations Got Paycheck Protection Program Money

Scores of private charitable foundations , set up by some of the nation 's wealthiest people , received money from the federal government 's Paycheck Protection Program , which was created last spring to save jobs at small businesses as the coronavirus tanked the economy .
NPR has identified at least 120 foundations that collectively received more than $ 7.5 million in PPP funding .
That 's a small slice of the overall program , which disbursed about a half-trillion dollars , but some of the foundations are linked to individuals of considerable means : an oil magnate , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the father of modern hair transplantation , and an aviation entrepreneur who founded companies with annual sales of more than a billion dollars .
Recipients also include the Walt Disney Family Foundation , the foundation of late celebrity photographer Robert Mapplethorpe , and a foundation affiliated with multi-billionaire investor Warren Buffett .
Private foundations appear to have been eligible for PPP funding because many of them have employees , and the program 's purpose was to protect jobs .
But some nonprofit experts questioned the public perception of monied foundations , which have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. taxpayers when they could have tapped their own assets to cover expenses .
`` Like my grandma said , 'It may be legal , but it does n't look right , ' '' said Jeff Williams , director of the Community Data and Research Lab at the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University in Michigan .
`` And at a time in American society when we are wrestling with big questions of trust in institutions , stories like this can increase the divide . ''
The Paycheck @ @ @ @ @ @ @ revelations that many large companies and wealthy nonprofit organizations had received the federal funding .
But the majority of private charitable foundations that took the money were not disclosed until recently , when the Small Business Administration released additional data about the program .
Previously , the agency had provided only the names of borrowers whose loans exceeded $ 150,000 .
More than a dozen private foundations were on that list .
But in early December , the SBA also released the identities of borrowers who received less than $ 150,000 .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than 100 additional foundations that received PPP funding .
They include : Some of the foundations contacted by NPR said the stock market plunge early this year caused their investment portfolios to decline , and they did n't want to sell assets at a loss to cover budget shortfalls .
The Boston-based Letters Foundation , officially known as the Sunshine Lady Humanitarian Grants Program , falls in that category .
It began as a sibling partnership between Warren Buffett and his late sister Doris : Strangers would often ask them for money , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and she and Warren paid for it .
Over time , they gave away millions .
Yet the Letters Foundation applied for PPP funding and received nearly $ 270,000 .
( Another private foundation affiliated with Doris Buffett , the North Carolina-based Sunshine Lady Foundation , did not apply for the funding . )
In an email to NPR , Letters Foundation executive director Tyra Sidberry said its budget is funded through Doris Buffett 's personal stock portfolio — the foundation 's most recent publicly available tax filing shows she contributed more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 2018 — and `` during the market upheaval brought on by the pandemic , those stocks lost considerable value . ''
As a result , Sidberry said , the foundation applied to the Paycheck Protection Program to `` safeguard staff positions . ''
However , Doris Buffett 's portfolio is composed of stock in Berkshire Hathaway , Warren Buffett 's Omaha-based company , and when markets nosedived in late March it was trading at about $ 240,000 per share — almost as much as the amount of PPP funding the Letters Foundation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rebounded and is currently trading at about $ 335,000 per share .
`` I think it 's a problem for them to take federal money , for sure , '' said Alan Cantor , a New Hampshire-based nonprofit consultant .
`` I struggle to get into the mindset of these individuals who are wealthy enough to set up private foundations , and then too cheap to reach into their pockets to keep things going when times get tough . ''
The whole purpose of most private charitable foundations is to give money away @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wealthy benefactors should have used their own assets to cover operating costs .
`` It 's just a question of reaching into their investment accounts and providing it to their foundations to pay their staff , '' he said .
`` It 's just this very simple act of giving a little bit more during tough times . ''
After the Letters Foundation was contacted by NPR , it said it planned to give its PPP funding back .
But even if it does , Cantor said , having taken the money means @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the first PPP round eventually ran out of funding .
`` They were competing for the same dollar , '' he added , `` and for the foundation to get that money instead of , let 's say , a food pantry — I just do n't see that as being right . ''
Williams , of Grand Valley State University , defended the decision by some foundations to take PPP funding .
He noted that this year 's market turmoil left investors worldwide uncertain about their financial security , and foundations were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were in February , March and April of this year : We collectively thought we were facing the second coming of the Great Depression , '' Williams said , so `` it 's perfectly logical for a foundation , especially when they watch their assets do a 30 or 40 percent dip , to be rightfully concerned that if they used foundation assets to cover payroll , that 's selling into a downturn and eating into their corpus . ''
Intent on protecting their endowments and reluctant to liquidate assets , Williams said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the potentially forgivable government loans .
Other nonprofit experts noted that some foundation assets may have restrictions on their use .
Contacted by NPR , the San Francisco-based Walt Disney Family Foundation and New York-based Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation — which received about $ 150,000 and $ 100,000 in PPP money , respectively — said their assets are primarily illiquid , such as Disney collectibles and Mapplethorpe photos , so can not easily be turned into cash to cover budget deficits .
And both said that accepting PPP funding let them avoid layoffs .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ board of directors , Michael Ward Stout , acknowledged that the foundation has about $ 4 million in cash reserves , but said , `` I hate touching it '' and `` I did n't want to deplete that fund . ''
He also noted that with so many art galleries closed by the pandemic , the foundation lost numerous opportunities this year to generate revenue by selling Mapplethorpe photographs .
`` I think that we were very justified in applying for and accepting this money .
I really do , '' said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the Walt Disney Family Foundation — which operates a museum that was shuttered during the pandemic — acknowledged that the foundation is partially funded by the Walt and Lilly Disney Foundation , which has $ 157 million in assets , but said she did n't want to ask it for additional funding when the museum was closed .
`` We want to be very careful about how we deploy those resources , '' Komoroske said .
`` It 's easy to sit here now and look back , but there was a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at that time . ''
The PPP funding that the Walt Disney Family Foundation received , she said , `` helped us bridge the gap while we were scrambling and trying to justify keeping people on . ''
The Small Business Administration declined to comment on whether private charitable foundations were intended recipients of PPP funding .
In an email to NPR , an agency spokeswoman said only that borrowers had to `` self-certify '' that they were eligible for the money .
Ray Madoff , a Boston College Law School professor who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have set higher eligibility standards that discouraged wealthy foundations from applying for federal support .
`` When they announced the program , they could have said , 'Look , we have limited funds , the government can only do so much right now , and we want to make sure there 's plenty for those in need , ' '' Madoff said .
`` But I do n't recall any messaging that said , 'Please do n't take this money unless you need it . '
'' NPR 's Robert Benincasa and Huo @ @ @ @ @ @

Scores Of Private Charitable Foundations Got Paycheck Protection Program Money
Enlarge this image toggle caption Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Updated at 12:21 p.m. ET
Scores of private charitable foundations, set up by some of the nation's wealthiest people, received money from the federal government's Paycheck Protection Program, which was created last spring to save jobs at small businesses as the coronavirus tanked the economy.
NPR has identified at least 120 foundations that collectively received more than $7.5 million in PPP funding. That's a small slice of the overall program, which disbursed about a half-trillion dollars, but some of the foundations are linked to individuals of considerable means: an oil magnate, a cable television tycoon, a dermatologist called the father of modern hair transplantation, and an aviation entrepreneur who founded companies with annual sales of more than a billion dollars.
Recipients also include the Walt Disney Family Foundation, the foundation of late celebrity photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and a foundation affiliated with multibillionaire investor Warren Buffett.
Private foundations appear to have been eligible for PPP funding because many of them have employees, and the program's purpose was to protect jobs. But some nonprofit experts questioned the public perception of monied foundations, which have tax-exempt nonprofit status, being subsidized by U.S. taxpayers when they could have tapped their own assets to cover expenses.
"Like my grandma said, 'It may be legal, but it doesn't look right,'" said Jeff Williams, director of the Community Data and Research Lab at the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University in Michigan. "And at a time in American society when we are wrestling with big questions of trust in institutions, stories like this can increase the divide."
The Paycheck Protection Program came under heavy scrutiny following revelations that many large companies and wealthy nonprofit organizations had received the federal funding. But the majority of private charitable foundations that took the money were not disclosed until recently, when the Small Business Administration released additional data about the program.
Previously, the agency had provided only the names of borrowers whose loans exceeded $150,000. More than a dozen private foundations were on that list. But in early December, the SBA also released the identities of borrowers who received less than $150,000. In that new data, NPR found more than 100 additional foundations that received PPP funding. They include:
Anverse ($611,300)
Ben Bronz Foundation ($317,666)
Fred and Clara Eckert Foundation for Children ($253,100)
Garfield Foundation ($167,157)
Interactivity Foundation ($283,010)
Joe W. and Dorothy D. Brown Foundation ($175,510)
Koenig Private Foundation ($150,521)
Letters Foundation aka Sunshine Lady Humanitarian Grants Program ($268,800)
Mission Increase Foundation ($277,320)
Niswonger Foundation ($200,529)
Orentreich Family Foundation ($13,100)
Peter and Elizabeth C. Tower Foundation ($154,800)
Piedmont Triad Charitable Foundation ($150,900)
Richard Diebenkorn Foundation ($157,380)
Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation ($103,200)
Walt Disney Family Foundation ($146,700)
Willard G. Pierce and Jessie M. Pierce Foundation ($156,400)
Some of the foundations contacted by NPR said that the stock market plunge early this year caused their investment portfolios to decline and that they didn't want to sell assets at a loss to cover budget shortfalls.
The Boston-based Letters Foundation, officially known as the Sunshine Lady Humanitarian Grants Program, falls into that category. It began as a sibling partnership between Warren Buffett and his sister Doris: Strangers would often ask them for money. Doris decided which requests to fund, and she and Warren paid for it. Over time, they gave away millions. Yet the Letters Foundation applied for PPP funding and received nearly $270,000. (Another private foundation affiliated with the late Doris Buffett, the North Carolina-based Sunshine Lady Foundation, did not apply for the funding.)
In an email to NPR, Letters Foundation executive director Tyra Sidberry said its budget is funded through Doris Buffett's personal stock portfolio and "during the market upheaval brought on by the pandemic, those stocks lost considerable value." As a result, Sidberry said, the foundation applied to the Paycheck Protection Program to "safeguard staff positions."
The foundation's most recent publicly available tax filing shows Doris Buffett contributed more than $5 million to the foundation in 2018.
However, Doris Buffett's portfolio is composed of stock in Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett's Omaha, Neb.-based company, and when markets nosedived in late March, it was trading at about $240,000 per share — almost as much as the amount of PPP funding the Letters Foundation received. Berkshire Hathaway stock has since rebounded and is trading at about $335,000 per share, as of Wednesday morning.
"I think it's a problem for them to take federal money, for sure," said Alan Cantor, a New Hampshire-based nonprofit consultant. "I struggle to get into the mindset of these individuals who are wealthy enough to set up private foundations and then too cheap to reach into their pockets to keep things going when times get tough."
The whole purpose of most private charitable foundations is to give money away, noted Cantor, who said their wealthy benefactors should have used their own assets to cover operating costs.
"It's just a question of reaching into their investment accounts and providing it to their foundations to pay their staff," he said. "It's just this very simple act of giving a little bit more during tough times."
Private charitable foundations are typically funded by a single family or individual or business, whereas public charities usually accept donations from the general public.
After the Letters Foundation was contacted by NPR, it said it planned to give its PPP funding back. But even if it does, Cantor said, having taken the money means other applicants were shut out because the first PPP round ran out of funding.
"They were competing for the same dollar," he added, "and for the foundation to get that money instead of, let's say, a food pantry — I just don't see that as being right."
Enlarge this image toggle caption Keith Bedford/Boston Globe via Getty Images Keith Bedford/Boston Globe via Getty Images
Williams, of Grand Valley State University, defended the decision by some foundations to take PPP funding. He noted that this year's market turmoil left investors worldwide uncertain about their financial security, and foundations were no different.
"Remember where we were in February, March and April of this year: We collectively thought we were facing the second coming of the Great Depression," Williams said, so "it's perfectly logical for a foundation, especially when they watch their assets do a 30 or 40% dip, to be rightfully concerned that if they used foundation assets to cover payroll, that's selling into a downturn and eating into their corpus."
Intent on protecting their endowments and reluctant to liquidate assets, Williams said, some foundations chose to apply for the potentially forgivable government loans. Other nonprofit experts noted that some foundation assets may have restrictions on their use.
Contacted by NPR, the San Francisco-based Walt Disney Family Foundation and New York-based Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation — which received about $150,000 and $100,000 in PPP money, respectively — said their assets are primarily illiquid, such as Disney collectibles and Mapplethorpe photos, and cannot easily be turned into cash to cover budget deficits. And both said that accepting PPP funding let them avoid layoffs.
The president of the Mapplethorpe Foundation's board of directors, Michael Ward Stout, acknowledged that the foundation has about $4 million in cash reserves, but said, "I hate touching it" and "I didn't want to deplete that fund." He also noted that with so many art galleries closed by the pandemic, the foundation lost numerous opportunities this year to generate revenue by selling Mapplethorpe photographs.
"I think that we were very justified in applying for and accepting this money. I really do," said Stout.
Kirsten Komoroske, executive director of the Walt Disney Family Foundation, which operates a museum that was shuttered during the pandemic, acknowledged that the foundation is partially funded by the Walt and Lilly Disney Foundation, which has $157 million in assets, but said she didn't want to ask it for additional funding when the museum was closed.
"We want to be very careful about how we deploy those resources," Komoroske said. "It's easy to sit here now and look back, but there was a lot of fear, confusion and uncertainty at that time."
The PPP funding that the Walt Disney Family Foundation received, she said, "helped us bridge the gap while we were scrambling and trying to justify keeping people on."
Congress is currently negotiating a new coronavirus relief package that could include a third round of PPP assistance.
The Small Business Administration declined to comment on whether private charitable foundations were intended recipients of PPP funding. In an email to NPR, an agency spokeswoman said only that borrowers had to "self-certify" that they were eligible for the money.
Ray Madoff, a Boston College Law School professor who studies philanthropy, said the SBA could have set higher eligibility standards that discouraged wealthy foundations from applying for federal support.
"When they announced the program, they could have said, 'Look, we have limited funds, the government can only do so much right now, and we want to make sure there's plenty for those in need,' " Madoff said. "But I don't recall any messaging that said, 'Please don't take this money unless you need it.' "
NPR's Robert Benincasa and Huo Jingnan contributed to this report.


npr--2020-12-16--Ex-Houston Police Officer Charged In Attack Over Bogus Election Fraud Plot

An ex-captain in the Houston Police Department was arrested Tuesday for allegedly running a man off the road and assaulting him in an attempt to prove a bizarre voter-fraud conspiracy pushed by a right-wing organization .
The suspect , Mark Anthony Aguirre , told police he was part of a group of private citizens investigating claims of the massive fraud allegedly funded by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and involving election ballots forged by Hispanic children .
He said the plot was underway in Harris County , Texas , prior to the Nov. 3 election .
Aguirre said he was working @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Country when on Oct. 19 he pulled a gun on a man who he believed was the mastermind of the scheme .
His victim , identified as `` DL '' in the police affidavit , is an air conditioner repairman .
Authorities found no evidence that he was involved in Aguirre 's alleged fraud .
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said Aguirre `` crossed the line from dirty politics to commission of a violent crime and we are lucky no one was killed . ''
`` His alleged investigation was backward @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crime had occurred and then trying to prove it happened , '' Ogg said .
Claims of voter fraud during this year 's election — by President Trump , Aguirre , and others — have been debunked .
Evidence that President-elect Joe Biden won the presidential election has n't stopped Trump and others from challenging the results in court — an effort that has also repeatedly failed .
This week , the Electoral College made Biden 's victory official .
Aguirre 's scheme was reportedly part of a paid investigation by the right-wing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Republican activist Steven Hotze .
It was later discovered that Aguirre was paid $ 266,400 by this organization for this involvement .
The Houston Chronicle says Aguirre was fired from the police department in 2003 after a controversial raid at a Houston Kmart parking lot .
Liberty Center for God and Country 's Facebook page says the organization 's goal `` is to provide the bold and courageous leadership necessary to restore our nation to its Godly heritage by following the strategy that our pilgrim forefathers gave us . ''
In a meandering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's page , Hotze said Texas Gov .
Greg Abbott should be `` tarred and feathered '' for coronavirus lockdown measures in the state .
He went on to say that he had raised more than $ 600,000 over a three-week period leading up to Nov. 1 `` to hire private investigators and attorneys to discover , expose and disrupt the Democrats ' massive election fraud scheme in Harris County . ''
That fundraising push , Hotze said , `` prevented the Democrats from carrying out their massive election fraud scheme in Harris @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Texas for Biden .
Our efforts saved Texas . ''
The Texas Tribune says Hotze was also among a group of Republicans who unsuccessfully sued to have nearly 127,000 Harris County ballots tossed out this year and to stop the governor from extending early voting during the pandemic .
Aguirre and two other unidentified companions with the Liberty Center watched the victim for four days prior to the Oct. 19 attack , according to police records .
They were convinced that there were 750,000 fraudulent ballots in the man 's vehicle and home @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hispanic children to sign the ballots because children 's fingerprints would n't appear on any database , according to the affidavit .
He also claimed Facebook 's founder gave $ 9.37 billion for `` ballot harvesting . ''
Three days before the attack , Aguirre contacted law enforcement with his allegations of the alleged fraud .
He called Lieutenant Wayne Rubio in the Texas attorney general 's office for a traffic stop to help in his investigation — a request Rubio denied .
Concerned with Aguirre 's claims that he would `` handle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ police .
Aguirre was also rebuffed when he contacted the Texas Rangers and the Texas Department of Public Safety .
Prosecutors say Aguirre decided to take matters into his own hands .
Aguirre and at least two other companions set up a `` command post '' at a Marriott Hotel in Pearland , where they planned their attack , Aguirre told police .
He has refused to identify his co-conspirators , claiming he does n't know who they are , according to the affidavit .
The victim was driving his box truck during @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , when he noticed a black SUV pull into his lane , almost hitting him .
A few seconds later , the driver of the SUV later identified as Aguirre , allegedly slammed into the back of the man 's vehicle .
When the victim pulled over and got out to check on Aguirre , the former police officer allegedly pointed a gun at the victim and demanded he get on the ground .
While Aguirre had his knee into the man 's back , according to the affidavit , he ordered two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to search the victim 's truck .
One of the suspects then drove away with the truck as Aguirre kept the man pinned to the ground .
His truck was found abandoned a few blocks away about 30 minutes after the incident .
When police searched the victim 's truck , only air conditioner parts and tools were found .
No ballots were discovered in the truck or in the man 's home .
Aguirre was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon , a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 @ @ @ @

Ex-Houston Police Officer Charged In Attack Over Bogus Election Fraud Plot
Enlarge this image toggle caption Ethan Miller/Getty Images Ethan Miller/Getty Images
An ex-captain in the Houston Police Department was arrested Tuesday for allegedly running a man off the road and assaulting him in an attempt to prove a bizarre voter-fraud conspiracy pushed by a right-wing organization.
The suspect, Mark Anthony Aguirre, told police he was part of a group of private citizens investigating claims of the massive fraud allegedly funded by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and involving election ballots forged by Hispanic children. He said the plot was underway in Harris County, Texas, prior to the Nov. 3 election.
Aguirre said he was working for the group Liberty Center for God and Country when, on Oct. 19, he pulled a gun on a man who he believed was the mastermind of the scheme. His victim, identified as "DL" in the police affidavit, is an air-conditioner repairman. Authorities found no evidence that he was involved in any fraud scheme claimed by Aguirre.
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said Aguirre "crossed the line from dirty politics to commission of a violent crime and we are lucky no one was killed."
"His alleged investigation was backward from the start — first alleging a crime had occurred and then trying to prove it happened," Ogg said.
Claims of voter fraud during this year's election — by President Trump, Aguirre and others — have been debunked. Evidence that President-elect Joe Biden won the election hasn't stopped Trump and others from challenging the results in court — an effort that has also repeatedly failed. This week, the Electoral College made Biden's victory official.
Aguirre's scheme was reportedly part of a paid investigation by the Liberty Center group, whose CEO is Republican activist Steven Hotze. It was later discovered that Aguirre was paid $266,400 by the organization for this involvement.
The Houston Chronicle says Aguirre was fired from the police department in 2003 after a controversial raid at a Houston Kmart parking lot.
Liberty Center
Liberty Center for God and Country's Facebook page says the organization's goal "is to provide the bold and courageous leadership necessary to restore our nation to its Godly heritage by following the strategy that our pilgrim forefathers gave us."
In a meandering Nov. 18 Facebook post on the organization's page, Hotze said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott should be "tarred and feathered" for coronavirus lockdown measures in the state.
He went on to say that he had raised more than $600,000 over a three-week period leading up to Nov. 1 "to hire private investigators and attorneys to discover, expose and disrupt the Democrats' massive election fraud scheme in Harris County."
That fundraising push, Hotze said, "prevented the Democrats from carrying out their massive election fraud scheme in Harris County, and prevented them from carrying Texas for Biden. Our efforts saved Texas."
The Texas Tribune says Hotze was also among a group of Republicans who unsuccessfully sued to have nearly 127,000 Harris County ballots tossed out this year and to stop the governor from extending early voting during the pandemic.
The attack
Aguirre and two other unidentified companions with the Liberty Center watched the victim for four days prior to the Oct. 19 attack, according to police records. They were convinced that there were 750,000 fraudulent ballots in the man's vehicle and home.
Aguirre said the victim was using Hispanic children to sign the ballots because children's fingerprints wouldn't appear on any database, according to the affidavit. He also claimed Facebook's founder gave $9.37 billion for "ballot harvesting."
Three days before the attack, Aguirre contacted law enforcement with his allegations of the alleged fraud. He called Lt. Wayne Rubio in the Texas Office of the Attorney General for a traffic stop to help in his investigation — a request Rubio denied. Concerned with Aguirre's claims that he would "handle" the situation himself, Rubio contacted police.
Aguirre was also rebuffed when he contacted the Texas Rangers and the Texas Department of Public Safety. Prosecutors say Aguirre decided to take matters into his own hands.
Aguirre and at least two other companions set up a "command post" at a Marriott hotel in Pearland, where they planned their attack, Aguirre told police. He has refused to identify his co-conspirators, claiming he doesn't know who they are, according to the affidavit.
The victim was driving his box truck during the early morning hours of Oct. 19, when he noticed a black SUV pull into his lane, almost hitting him. A few seconds later, the driver of the SUV later identified as Aguirre, allegedly slammed into the back of the man's vehicle. When the victim pulled over and got out to check on Aguirre, the former police officer allegedly pointed a gun at the victim and demanded he get on the ground.
While Aguirre had his knee into the man's back, according to the affidavit, he ordered two other people arrived on the scene to search the victim's truck.
One of them then drove the truck as Aguirre kept the man pinned to the ground. The truck was found abandoned a few blocks away about 30 minutes after the incident. When police searched the victim's truck, only air-conditioner parts and tools were found. No ballots were discovered in the truck or in the man's home.
Aguirre was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.


npr--2020-12-16--From Congress To Local Health Boards, Public Officials Suffer Threats And Harassment

From Congress To Local Health Boards , Public Officials Suffer Threats And Harassment '' My 12-year-old son is home by himself right now , and there are protesters banging outside the door .
I 'm going to go home and make sure he 's okay , '' she said , before disappearing from the Zoom meeting .
The board had planned to vote on an order that would have required indoor mask usage and would have limited the size of indoor gatherings .
Lachiondo 's fellow board members ended up ending the meeting early , and another member said he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
She was never expecting this level of hostility in health board politics .
`` The most controversial thing that we were dealing with , really , up until March were septic system approvals , '' she said .
But this is among many examples of how national crises of both a pandemic and mass misinformation around the election — including from the president himself — have combined with polarization to create a toxic political atmosphere .
`` They had a bullhorn and were talking into that and then running sirens , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ drums outside .
They were playing the soundtrack from Scarface , '' Lachiando said .
Protesters showed up the next night as well , upsetting her 8-year-old son .
`` He 's slept on my floor the past two nights because we 've had protesters at our house these past two nights , '' she said in an interview last Thursday .
`` I am just very sad that a decision that I made to put myself out there for public office has resulted in my kids feeling unsafe in our own home @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , threats against and harassment of public officials also seem to be on the rise , according to Rachel Kleinfeld , a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace .
`` We are facing a pretty unusual uptick in violence and threats and intimidation against public officials across the range , from the really hyper-local people who are either running for their state assemblies or public health officials , who are working on basic public health in the COVID pandemic , all the way to AOC and members of Congress and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ referring to New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez .
Even a simple formality like the Electoral College was tense this year , with the president himself spreading misinformation about voter fraud .
In the swing state of Michigan , they closed down the State Capitol .
`` The Capitol Commission , because of intel that they had , decided to close the Capitol for the purposes of our Electoral College vote today , '' Michigan Gov .
Gretchen Whitmer told NPR Monday .
`` In our Capitol currently , bringing guns is permitted .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Capitol Commission took these steps . ''
State Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey told USA Today that there were `` credible threats of violence '' behind the closure .
The vote occurred without disruption , as it did in Arizona , where electors met in an undisclosed location .
From state and local officials to members of Congress , it 's hard to keep an exact count of exactly how many officials are being harassed or threatened .
But there are some numbers to support that this has been a growing trend .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ for example , Capitol Hill law enforcement reported that threats against members of Congress were increasing .
That trend followed the 2017 shooting at a congressional baseball practice , where a gunman who had shown animosity towards Republicans injured six , including GOP Rep. Steve Scalise .
And while there have been instances of violence across the political spectrum in recent years , Kleinfeld says that right now there seems to be more violent rhetoric and behavior on the conservative end of the spectrum .
`` We 're at a moment of polarization @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the last moment of militia activity , '' she said .
`` The level of polarization [ is ] quite a bit higher even than the 1970s , when we had a lot of political violence in this country , mostly from the left then .
Now it 's mostly from the right . ''
It 's not just Democrats like Lachiondo who have experienced this harassment , however .
Gabriel Sterling , a Republican election official in Georgia , told NPR 's Ari Shapiro that rampant misinformation on the far right played @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recount .
`` It 's been like playing a game of whack-a-mole .
With every new conspiracy theory [ that ] gets put up , we had to whack down , '' he said .
`` And we saw kind of a rising level of , you know , language of violence around things and even death threats against my boss , Secretary Rod Raffensperger , sexualized threats to his wife on her personal cell phone and threats against me . ''
One fear Kleinfeld has is that the misogynistic and racist harassment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ others out of politics .
Michigan State Rep. Cynthia Johnson , a black woman , last week posted to Facebook voicemails she received containing racist and sexist slurs , as well as threats .
Those came after the Democratic lawmaker questioned Rudy Giuliani and other witnesses at a Michigan House hearing on the election .
`` I hope you like burning crosses in your front yard , because I 'm sure by the time this is all said and done , there will be several , and maybe even a noose or two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , '' a voice says on one , before calling her a sexist slur .
`` I mean , just nasty foul things that I was receiving , all because I was challenging , really , the president of the United States : Do n't come in our state bringing this nonsense to the people , '' she told NPR .
`` That 's in essence what I was really saying . ''
Johnson 's responses to the threats themselves stirred up anger , however , particularly a video she posted to Facebook @ @ @ @ @ @ @ yell .
You do n't have to curse anybody out , '' she said in the video .
`` You do n't have to call people names ; hit their asses in the pocketbook . ''
However , Republicans in the Michigan House saw a part of that video as threatening .
`` This is just a warning to you Trumpers : be careful .
Walk lightly , '' she said .
`` We ai n't playing with you .
Enough of the shenanigans .
Enough is enough .
And for those of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ how to do it .
Do it right .
Be in order .
Make them pay . ''
House Republicans removed her from her committee assignments as a result .
Johnson told NPR that that section of the video was a reference to her call hit opponents `` in the pocketbook . ''
She also said , `` All of what I posted , some of them have names attached .
We will get you fired .
Absolutely , some of you trying to undermine our election and try to throw threats at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ go to jail .
I have every intention of pressing charges against every single name that the FBI gives me . ''
NPR has reached out to the Republican speaker and speaker-elect of the Michigan House of Representatives but has not received comment .
However , in a statement , Republican House leaders in Michigan condemned Johnson 's words as `` unacceptable and un-American . ''
They added : `` We have been consistent in our position on this – violence and intimidation is never appropriate in politics .
We have said that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ] Whitmer , Secretary [ Jocelyn ] Benson , Rep. Johnson herself , and others .
That applies to threats made toward public officials , and it must also apply when the threats come from public officials , '' as reported by Michigan Public Radio 's Rick Pluta .
On Monday , they also stripped a fellow GOP lawmaker of committee assignments after he warned there would be violence with the protests against the state 's Electoral College vote .
For her part , Johnson said she was dismayed by the thousands of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but not shocked .
`` Oh , my gosh , this does n't surprise me .
This is not new , '' she said .
That echoed something Kleinfeld said about political violence and violent rhetoric : that it 's easy to become inured to it when it becomes commonplace .
`` And because it 's not new , it 's actually more worrying because what we know about political violence is that countries that have had it in the past are more likely to have it in the future , '' she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but President Trump has at times fanned the flames of partisan animosity and even violence , rather than trying to quell it , as when he tweeted , `` when the looting starts , the shooting starts , '' during summer racial justice protests .
More than 2,000 miles from Washington , D.C. , Lachiondo says she sees Trump 's effects on local politics .
`` Trump did n't come here and tell people to do this , '' Lachiondo said .
`` But this starts at the top and the way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ last eight months , it has consequences , and I feel that it 's had consequences for my family . ''
Some voters already voiced their displeasure with Lachiondo through peaceful democratic means before these recent protests , voting her out in November .
She will leave office in January .

From Congress To Local Health Boards, Public Officials Suffer Threats And Harassment
Enlarge this image toggle caption Carlos Osorio/Pool/AP Carlos Osorio/Pool/AP
Last week, Idaho's Ada County Commissioner Diana Lachiondo interrupted a district health board meeting tearfully.
"My 12-year-old son is home by himself right now, and there are protesters banging outside the door. I'm going to go home and make sure he's OK," she said before disappearing from the Zoom meeting.
The board had planned to vote on an order that would have required indoor mask usage and would have limited the size of indoor gatherings. Lachiondo's fellow board members ended up ending the meeting early, and another member said he had protesters outside his home as well.
She was never expecting this level of hostility in health board politics.
"The most controversial thing that we were dealing with, really, up until March were septic system approvals," she said.
But this is among many examples of how national crises of both a pandemic and mass misinformation around the election — including from the president — have combined with polarization to create a toxic political atmosphere.
"They had a bullhorn and were talking into that and then running sirens, and they were banging on some kind of drums outside. They were playing the soundtrack from Scarface," Lachiondo said.
Protesters showed up the next night as well, upsetting her 8-year-old son.
"He's slept on my floor the past two nights because we've had protesters at our house these past two nights," she said in an interview Thursday. "I am just very sad that a decision that I made to put myself out there for public office has resulted in my kids feeling unsafe in our own home."
As politics grow increasingly acrimonious, threats against and harassment of public officials also seem to be on the rise, according to Rachel Kleinfeld, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
"We are facing a pretty unusual uptick in violence and threats and intimidation against public officials across the range, from the really hyper-local people who are either running for their state assemblies or public health officials, who are working on basic public health in the COVID pandemic, all the way to AOC and members of Congress and so on," she said, referring to U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
Even a simple formality such as the Electoral College was tense this year, with the president spreading misinformation about voter fraud. In the swing state of Michigan, they closed down the state Capitol.
"The Capitol Commission, because of intel that they had, decided to close the Capitol for the purposes of our Electoral College vote today," Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer told NPR on Monday. "In our Capitol currently, bringing guns is permitted. And so I am glad that the Capitol Commission took these steps."
State Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey told the Detroit Free Press that there were "credible threats of violence" behind the closure. The vote occurred without disruption, as it did in Arizona, where electors met in an undisclosed location.
A rising trend
From state and local officials to members of Congress, it's hard to keep an exact count of exactly how many officials are being harassed or threatened. But there are some numbers to support that this has been a growing trend. In 2018 and again in 2019, for example, Capitol Hill law enforcement reported that threats against members of Congress were increasing.
That trend followed the 2017 shooting at a congressional baseball practice, where a gunman who had shown animosity toward Republicans injured GOP Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana and others.
And while there have been instances of violence across the political spectrum in recent years, Kleinfeld said that right now there seems to be more violent rhetoric and behavior on the conservative end of the spectrum.
"We're at a moment of polarization right now that's much higher than the last moment of militia activity," she said. "The level of polarization [is] quite a bit higher even than the 1970s, when we had a lot of political violence in this country, mostly from the left then. Now it's mostly from the right."
It's not just Democrats such as Lachiondo who have experienced this harassment, however. Gabriel Sterling, a Republican election official in Georgia, told NPR's Ari Shapiro that rampant misinformation on the far right played into threats surrounding that state's election recount.
"It's been like playing a game of whack-a-mole. With every new conspiracy theory [that] gets put up, we had to whack down," he said. "And we saw kind of a rising level of, you know, language of violence around things and even death threats against my boss, Secretary Brad Raffensperger, sexualized threats to his wife on her personal cellphone and threats against me."
One fear Kleinfeld has is that the misogynistic and racist harassment and threats some politicians face will keep others out of politics.
Michigan state Rep. Cynthia Johnson, a Black woman, last week posted to Facebook voicemails she received containing racist and sexist slurs as well as threats. Those came after the Democratic lawmaker questioned Rudy Giuliani and other witnesses at a Michigan House hearing on the election.
"I hope you like burning crosses in your front yard, because I'm sure by the time this is all said and done, there will be several, and maybe even a noose or two hanging from the tree in your yard," a voice says on one before calling her a sexist slur.
"I mean, just nasty foul things that I was receiving, all because I was challenging, really, the president of the United States: Don't come in our state bringing this nonsense to the people," she told NPR. "That's in essence what I was really saying."
Johnson's responses to the threats themselves stirred up anger, however, particularly a video she posted to Facebook.
"You don't have to yell. You don't have to curse anybody out," she said in the video. "You don't have to call people names; hit their asses in the pocketbook."
However, Republicans in the Michigan House saw a part of that video as threatening.
"This is just a warning to you Trumpers: be careful. Walk lightly," she said. "We ain't playing with you. Enough of the shenanigans. Enough is enough. And for those of you who are soldiers, you know how to do it. Do it right. Be in order. Make them pay."
House Republicans removed her from her committee assignments as a result. Johnson told NPR that that section of the video was a reference to her call to hit opponents "in the pocketbook."
She also said, "All of what I posted, some of them have names attached. We will get you fired. Absolutely, some of you trying to undermine our election and try to throw threats at this representative, some of you will go to jail. I have every intention of pressing charges against every single name that the FBI gives me."
NPR has reached out to the Republican speaker and speaker-elect of the Michigan House of Representatives but has not received comment. However, in a statement, Republican House leaders in Michigan condemned Johnson's words as "unacceptable and un-American."
They added: "We have been consistent in our position on this – violence and intimidation is never appropriate in politics. We have said that about threats against Gov. [Gretchen] Whitmer, Secretary [Jocelyn] Benson, Rep. Johnson herself, and others. That applies to threats made toward public officials, and it must also apply when the threats come from public officials," as reported by Michigan Public Radio's Rick Pluta.
On Monday, they also stripped a fellow GOP lawmaker of committee assignments after he warned there would be violence with the protests against the state's Electoral College vote.
A long pattern of political violence
For her part, Johnson said she was dismayed by the thousands of phone calls she said she received but not shocked.
"Oh, my gosh, this doesn't surprise me. This is not new," she said.
That echoed something Kleinfeld said about political violence and violent rhetoric: It's easy to become inured to it when it becomes commonplace.
"And because it's not new, it's actually more worrying because what we know about political violence is that countries that have had it in the past are more likely to have it in the future," she said.
It may not be new, but President Trump has at times fanned the flames of partisan animosity and even violence, rather than trying to quell it, as when he tweeted that "when the looting starts, the shooting starts," during summer racial justice protests.
More than 2,000 miles from Washington, D.C., Lachiondo said she sees Trump's effects on local politics.
"Trump didn't come here and tell people to do this," Lachiondo said. "But this starts at the top and the way that people have been fomented over the last eight months, it has consequences, and I feel that it's had consequences for my family."
Some voters already voiced their displeasure with Lachiondo through peaceful democratic means before these recent protests, voting her out in November. She will leave office in January.


npr--2020-12-16--In Pandemic, The Most Wonderful Time For Christmas Songs Turned Out To Be ... In July

In Pandemic , The Most Wonderful Time For Christmas Songs Turned Out To Be ...
In July When listeners in Fort Wayne , Indiana , tuned into Majic 95.1 in July , they heard something both unexpected and all-too-familiar .
The station was playing Christmas music .
In the heat of summer .
With the pandemic making life miserable for people , the station was looking for a way to appeal to listeners and boost its ratings , and Christmas songs can be a dependable way of doing so .
`` We knew that the world was topsy-turvy and we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the years that there 's something special about it that people connect with , '' says Chris Didier , operations manager at Majic 95.1 , whose on-air name is Captain Chris .
All over the country this year , stations have been playing Christmas music much earlier than normal .
One Memphis station started doing it right after Halloween .
Another in Youngstown , Ohio , was decking the halls in September .
The radio industry has been hit hard by the pandemic , with ratings falling as much as 50 % at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ somewhat , says Mike McVay , a radio industry veteran who now works as a consultant .
`` There was an incredible drop in listening , mainly because of listening habits .
A lot of people who listen to radio listen in their car , and suddenly if you 're working at home and not commuting , that changed that , '' he says .
Station officials figured that starting the holidays a bit early might be a way to lure listeners back home .
After all , Christmas music has been a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1990 , when 99.9 KEZ , an adult contemporary station in Phoenix , created the format .
`` We had every consultant , every research person that I could think of , before we did it told us , 'You are crazy .
Do not do it . '
'' says Jerry Ryan , former vice president and general manager at the radio station .
But the format turned out to be an enormous success , and within a few years hundreds of stations were playing non-stop Christmas music for 24 hours a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Christmas music can create a powerful emotional bond with an audience , bringing in listeners of all demographics , who want to hear vintage tunes like `` Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer '' and Elvis Presley 's `` Blue Christmas . ''
Still , there have traditionally been limits to how far radio stations have been willing to go .
KEZ , the Phoenix radio station , traditionally began to air Christmas songs right after Thanksgiving , and Ryan says doing so much earlier than that can be jarring for an audience .
`` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ heck of a lot of emotional value to Christmas music outside of that particular time , '' Ryan says .
Not this year , however .
In an unprecedented year marked by the pandemic , many stations say the earlier start to airing Christmas songs has actually been a success with listeners .
Take Majic 95.1 , for example .
`` We got incredible feedback .
Lots of calls , lots of emails , people saying , 'Yes , thank you for doing this , we really love the Christmas music , ' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of its decision to play holiday music in July .
Emily Boldon , vice president of adult contemporary radio at Cumulus Media , which has some two dozen stations employing the holiday format , says she 's seen a similar response .
And she has a theory about what 's happening .
She says listeners associate Christmas with the year ending , and this has been a really terrible year .
`` I think everybody is trying to rush the holiday this year just so we can get beyond it , '' Boldon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the audience was just ready to get to the end of 2020 as fast as possible this year . ''

In Pandemic, The Most Wonderful Time For Christmas Songs Turned Out To Be ... In July
Enlarge this image toggle caption mattjeacock/Getty Images mattjeacock/Getty Images
When listeners in Fort Wayne, Indiana, tuned into Majic 95.1 in July, they heard something both unexpected and all-too-familiar. The station was playing Christmas music. In the heat of summer.
With the pandemic making life miserable for people, the station was looking for a way to appeal to listeners and boost its ratings, and Christmas songs can be a dependable way of doing so.
"We knew that the world was topsy-turvy and we just knew from playing Christmas music over the years that there's something special about it that people connect with," says Chris Didier, operations manager at Majic 95.1, whose on-air name is Captain Chris.
All over the country this year, stations have been playing Christmas music much earlier than normal. One Memphis station started doing it right after Halloween. Another in Youngstown, Ohio, was decking the halls in September.
The radio industry has been hit hard by the pandemic, with ratings falling as much as 50% at first, although they have since rebounded somewhat, says Mike McVay, a radio industry veteran who now works as a consultant.
"There was an incredible drop in listening, mainly because of listening habits. A lot of people who listen to radio listen in their car, and suddenly if you're working at home and not commuting, that changed that," he says.
Station officials figured that starting the holidays a bit early might be a way to lure listeners back home.
After all, Christmas music has been a reliable source of ratings gold since around 1990, when 99.9 KEZ, an adult contemporary station in Phoenix, created the format.
"We had every consultant, every research person that I could think of, before we did it told us, 'You are crazy. Do not do it.'" says Jerry Ryan, former vice president and general manager at the radio station.
But the format turned out to be an enormous success, and within a few years hundreds of stations were playing non-stop Christmas music for 24 hours a day.
As the industry discovered, Christmas music can create a powerful emotional bond with an audience, bringing in listeners of all demographics, who want to hear vintage tunes like "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and Elvis Presley's "Blue Christmas."
Still, there have traditionally been limits to how far radio stations have been willing to go.
KEZ, the Phoenix radio station, traditionally began to air Christmas songs right after Thanksgiving, and Ryan says doing so much earlier than that can be jarring for an audience.
"I don't think there's a heck of a lot of emotional value to Christmas music outside of that particular time," Ryan says.
Not this year, however.
In an unprecedented year marked by the pandemic, many stations say the earlier start to airing Christmas songs has actually been a success with listeners.
Take Majic 95.1, for example.
"We got incredible feedback. Lots of calls, lots of emails, people saying, 'Yes, thank you for doing this, we really love the Christmas music,'" says Captain Chris of Majic 95.1 of its decision to play holiday music in July.
Emily Boldon, vice president of adult contemporary radio at Cumulus Media, which has some two dozen stations employing the holiday format, says she's seen a similar response.
And she has a theory about what's happening. She says listeners associate Christmas with the year ending, and this has been a really terrible year.
"I think everybody is trying to rush the holiday this year just so we can get beyond it," Boldon says. "I really truly believe the audience was just ready to get to the end of 2020 as fast as possible this year."