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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Police say a person who misplaced an election misplaced once more when he plotted towards the rival social gathering.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Solomon Pena ran for state Legislature in New Mexico. The Republican refused to just accept his overwhelming defeat, and in keeping with police, he then paid folks to open hearth on the houses of Democrats. He is anticipated in courtroom right now.
INSKEEP: Our colleague Alice Fordham is with member station KUNM and is on the road from Santa Fe. Good morning.
ALICE FORDHAM, BYLINE: Good morning, Steve.
INSKEEP: What are the fees towards this man?
FORDHAM: Nicely, they’re quite a few. He is charged with a number of counts of taking pictures at houses, taking pictures from a automobile, conspiracy, firearms offenses. All of them are associated to 4 incidents in latest weeks the place two Democratic county commissioners and two legislators in Albuquerque had their houses shot at. In at the least one case, the bullets handed by means of the partitions of a house. And Pena visited at the least one of many county commissioners, uninvited, beforehand with paperwork falsely claiming the election he misplaced was fraudulent. Nobody was injured in these assaults, however in fact, they had been scary, not only for these focused however for different elected officers. Police say they’ve numerous proof that Pena gave cash and firearms to 4 males to hold out these assaults and personally rode alongside for at the least considered one of them.
INSKEEP: This election that he was upset about was not precisely a barnburner, as they are saying.
FORDHAM: No.
INSKEEP: He is a Republican, ran in a closely Democratic district, misplaced to an incumbent by 48 factors, however made this declare that the system was rigged. Is that this a widespread perception at this level in 2023 in New Mexico?
FORDHAM: Yeah. There are lots of people in New Mexico. There are activists who consider that elections aren’t carried out appropriately. One outstanding couple is David and Erin Clements, who journey the state and past, giving displays falsely saying that Dominion voting machines are to not be trusted. They’ve a giant following. And a former county commissioner from the south of the state, Couy Griffin, was convicted of trespassing after he participated within the occasions of January 6. But when these allegations about Solomon Pena grow to be true, it will be an intersection of violent crime and election skepticism in a method we’ve not seen like this earlier than.
INSKEEP: How are folks responding who’re in workplace proper now?
FORDHAM: Nicely, he was arrested Monday, the day earlier than the New Mexico Legislature started its 2023 session. In order that was prime of everybody’s minds yesterday. Democrats have a majority within the Home and Senate right here, and the governor referred to as for gun management laws, together with a ban on assault weapons. On the Republican aspect, state leaders have condemned the violence, praised police, however did not tackle the alleged political dimensions of the assaults thus far.
One individual I spoke with was New Mexico’s secretary of state, Maggie Toulouse Oliver. Now, she’s personally confronted threats which had been investigated by the FBI, and she or he’s highlighted the danger that native elected officers face, typically whereas administering elections. She laid the blame for these alleged assaults on the widespread promotion of the lie that the 2020 election and different elections within the U.S. aren’t legitimate.
MAGGIE TOULOUSE OLIVER: That is precisely the problem that I’ve been making an attempt to sound the alarm on right here in our state for the final couple of years, based mostly on what I have been by means of and what others are actually going by means of. That is when political rhetoric and, frankly, lies are used to incite political violence.
FORDHAM: And I spoke with Senator Linda Lopez, whose dwelling was focused, and she or he mentioned that she was frightened that folks may not need to run for workplace in the event that they thought the worth could be placing their household and their neighborhood in danger.
INSKEEP: Reporter Alice Fordham with our member station KUNM. Thanks to your reporting.
FORDHAM: Thanks for having me.
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INSKEEP: You can consider this because the winter of respiratory viruses.
MARTÍNEZ: Yep. You title it, somebody’s caught it. RSV, flu, COVID – they’re all spreading quick this season, and a few folks come down with all three on the identical time. So what does that appear to be? And who’s most in danger? A brand new examine from the CDC is out right now.
INSKEEP: NPR well being correspondent Rob Stein is right here. Rob, good morning.
ROB STEIN, BYLINE: Morning, Steve.
INSKEEP: Simply to be clear on the science right here – can folks be sick with multiple virus on the identical time?
STEIN: Sure, it positively can occur. There’s loads of proof of individuals testing constructive for, say, COVID and the flu or flu and RSV. I talked about this with Dr. Tina Tan, an infectious illness specialist at Northwestern College.
TINA TAN: Completely. You’ll be able to catch multiple virus on the identical time. We have had children which have really had three completely different viruses. A few of them are available in with RSV. They’ve additionally had influenza and enterovirus. There have been different children who’ve introduced with COVID and influenza. And so you will get multiple virus on the identical time.
STEIN: And, you understand, Steve, particularly this 12 months, which is so uncommon as a result of so many viruses have been surging concurrently.
INSKEEP: Yeah.
STEIN: Now, you understand, it is unclear simply how typically this occurs as a result of many of the testing for this form of factor is completed on hospitalized sufferers, who in all probability aren’t consultant of most people. However some research have discovered co-infections in as much as 20% of these sufferers.
INSKEEP: Wow. Are some folks extra weak than others to this co-infection?
STEIN: Sure. Sure, children. Youngsters look like way more prone to get multiple bug on prime of the opposite, particularly very younger children. This is Amanda Jamieson, who research respiratory viruses at Brown College.
AMANDA JAMIESON: It may very well be simply ‘trigger they’re continually being uncovered to respiratory infections, but it surely may be that their immune programs simply have not constructed up the immunity that older folks have.
STEIN: And, you understand, regardless of the cause, numerous research have discovered that children are more likely to get these so-called co-infections than older folks. That mentioned, co-infections can happen at any age, you understand, and particularly older folks and others with weaker immune programs.
INSKEEP: For those who get multiple virus, does that make you sicker?
STEIN: , it does not at all times, however there’s rising proof that it could possibly. Actually, a brand new CDC examine out right now finds that is the case. The examine, involving greater than 4,000 hospitalized children, discovered those that had COVID plus one other virus, reminiscent of, you understand, a chilly virus, had been considerably extra prone to require oxygen to assist them breathe and to finish up requiring intensive care. This is Dr. Nickolas Agathis from the CDC, who led the examine of what he calls co-detections.
NICKOLAS AGATHIS: We discovered that youngsters underneath 5 had about twice the percentages of getting extreme sickness once they had a co-detection in comparison with once they simply had SARS-CoV-2 an infection, and the youngsters underneath 2 who had RSV had been twice as prone to have extreme sickness in comparison with youngsters who simply had COVID and never RSV additionally.
STEIN: Now, the rationale for that is not completely clear both, but it surely may very well be as a result of a number of infections trigger extra irritation within the physique and since completely different respiratory viruses harm the lungs in several methods.
INSKEEP: Oh, yeah. So what can folks do about this?
STEIN: So right here I’ll sound like a damaged file and, you understand, speak about all of the belongings you’ve heard a lot about over the previous few years. Get vaccinated towards each COVID and the flu. Wash your palms quite a bit. Put on a masks in crowded, poorly ventilated locations, particularly round sick folks.
INSKEEP: Oh, positive. That is only a reminder that masks in a crowded place helps towards any virus in any respect.
STEIN: Completely. Completely.
INSKEEP: OK. NPR well being correspondent Rob Stein. Thanks.
STEIN: Thanks for having me.
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INSKEEP: And we’ve some revelations right now about companies that acquired federal funds through the early phases of the pandemic.
MARTÍNEZ: Fascinating new information is out on the Paycheck Safety Program – PPP for brief. It gave doubtlessly forgivable authorities loans to small companies throughout COVID. And that information exhibits the overwhelming majority of these loans have been forgiven. Sacha Pfeiffer of NPR’s Investigations staff is right here to elucidate why that prime forgiveness charge is troubling to many individuals. Sacha, individuals who acquired these loans had been hoping they’d be forgiven, so what’s to not like about these new numbers?
SACHA PFEIFFER, BYLINE: So there is no such thing as a doubt that these loans had been a lifesaver for a lot of firms, and anybody who acquired PPP funding might be relieved to listen to that 92% of all of the loans have been granted full or partial forgiveness thus far. That is in keeping with Small Enterprise Administration information launched this month. However quite a lot of that cash went to companies that did not want it, rich celebrities like Khloe Kardashian and Tom Brady, for instance. They’ve firms that every acquired a PPP mortgage of about $1 million completely forgiven. Additionally, many companies that thrived throughout COVID acquired their loans forgiven, like some manufacturing and building companies.
MARTÍNEZ: Was it authorized, although, for them to take that cash?
PFEIFFER: Sure, it was. To qualify for a mortgage, you simply needed to say you thought you wanted it, and to get it forgiven, you didn’t must show the cash was vital. In order that meant not solely did folks get loans they did not really want; it additionally attracted rip-off artists. This is how College of Texas finance professor Sam Kruger places it.
SAM KRUGER: The PPP program appears to have resulted in billions of {dollars} of fraudulent loans which have in the end become grants.
PFEIFFER: He estimates that $64 billion of the almost $800 billion in loans present indicators of fraud.
MARTÍNEZ: So why wasn’t the federal government stricter with forgiveness? I imply, could not they’ve tried just a little bit more durable to weed out the fraudsters or instructed a enterprise that prospered to repay the cash?
PFEIFFER: I spent quite a lot of time asking these questions. The straightforward reply is the federal government needed to get some huge cash on the market in a short time, and it was keen to just accept some waste. It additionally made forgiveness straightforward as a result of that is what many companies lobbied Congress for. I need to play one thing a former Treasury official underneath President Trump mentioned to me. His title is Michael Faulkender
MICHAEL FAULKENDER: As a result of PPP acquired up and working, we didn’t notice the disaster that might have taken place had we failed. What would breadlines throughout a pandemic have appeared like? Can we need to know? I did not. And so we had been going to get that program up and working.
PFEIFFER: He says the federal government prioritized pace over accuracy when giving out loans.
MARTÍNEZ: Is it me or did he sound just a little testy?
PFEIFFER: He sounded testy to me, too. I’d say he was, and so was a Biden administration SBA official named Patrick Kelley. He instructed me it frustrates him when his company is criticized over this system as a result of it was simply finishing up a regulation handed by Congress. This is a part of what Kelley mentioned.
PATRICK KELLEY: It is a simple sentiment to say, nicely, there goes the federal government once more; why did not they do it proper? However to me, it ignores the awesomeness of what did get carried out proper. I’ve met many, many, many, many, many extra people who find themselves grateful for his or her PPP mortgage.
MARTÍNEZ: So he is specializing in the nice the cash did, however can any of the PPP loans that went astray be recovered?
PFEIFFER: Nicely, prosecutors have as much as 10 years to chase pandemic fraud, however nobody might be asking wealthy individuals who did not want a mortgage to please give it again. That cash is theirs to maintain. And by the best way, A, that 92% forgiveness charge, it is anticipated to maintain getting increased as extra forgiveness requests are processed.
MARTÍNEZ: That is NPR’s Sacha Pfeiffer. Sacha, thanks.
PFEIFFER: You are welcome.
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