Author: openjargon

• Veteran treatment courts provide comprehensive rehabilitations for convicted veterans.
• Adult drug treatment courts are struggling to provide comparable support due to lack of resources.
• The success of adult drug treatment courts depends on government funding and community integration.

Veteran Treatment Courts give convicted US military veterans a shot at rehab and comprehensive care, but similar treatment courts made for the public have more work to do to be of more help.

"We don't have a very robust treatment infrastructure in this country and there are many communities where adequate treatment is difficult to access," said Christopher Deutsch, the communications director of All Rise, a nonprofit focused on assisting drug court, veterans treatment court, and DWI court professionals.

Veteran treatment courts, which prioritize rehabilitation for convicted veterans, provide comprehensive care, but the public version of these courts fail to deliver comparable support.

Deutsch added that these public-facing treatment centers are lacking sufficient accessibility and medical care individuals need to properly provide effective treatment.

"Outside of treatment courts, we know that things like substance abuse counselors, mental health counselors, in general, there's a struggle for those positions to be filled," said Christina Lanier, the co-director of the National Treatment Court Resource Center.

"I would imagine that that trickles down to the treatment court world," she said.

There are other challenges as well. Counties receive federal funding to provide and pay for mental health and substance abuse services, but instead of establishing or assisting an existing a treatment court with more funds where it is needed, counties may decide to put the money elsewhere.

Lanier, who is also a sociology and criminology professor at UNC Wilmington, said issues with treatment courts having sufficient resources and providing proper care is often "location specific."

For example, there are very few treatment courts in Raleigh, North Carolina's capital city, compared to Wilmington, a city which is almost 130 miles away with a population that is four times smaller.

Landing in a treatment court

As of 2022, there were over 4,153 adult drug courts and 511 veteran treatment courts in the United States.

Based on a 2019 NTCRC survey, responsive veteran treatment courts had a graduation rate of 76.7% with 9,592 active participants at the time, and responsive adult drug courts had a graduation rate of 56.6% with 90,990 active participants at the time.

There are numerous ways a person who has been convicted can enter a drug treatment court.

"There are some people that enter the program, what we call 'pre-plea,' so they're gonna do the program and once they do the program, their charges are going to maybe be dismissed. There's people that come into the program, that are what we call 'post-plea,' so as part of their plea, they're pleading guilty, and doing the program is part of that," Lanier said.

While a person with a drug offense may be eligible to participate in drug treatment court, a person whose substance use has been determined to be an underlying cause of the criminal activity may also be eligible.

In addition to a substance abuse diagnosis, other criteria that makes an incarcerated individual eligible for drug court is their risk and need placement on the Risk-Need-Responsivity model.

The model displays contributing factors and characteristics that determine whether an incarcerated person is at risk of repeat offense or recidivism. The higher the level of risk and need, the more eligible they could be for drug court participation.

The veteran courts are modeled off of general treatment courts, which began 30 years ago as a way for those who were convicted of crimes and dealing with substance use to work with court staff and receive successful treatment to prevent them from becoming repeat offenders.

Deutsch explained to Business Insider that "the treatment court is a way to incentivize them to participate in treatment and the other social support that comes along with it with the idea that they can emerge from the program without a felony conviction and be able to be back with their families and in their communities and be productive."

Veteran treatment courts may have different criteria for veterans they can accept into their program. In addition to treatment, these courts can provide support in housing, employment, and more.

Veteran treatment courts are exclusive to veterans and there, they can interact with mentors who may have faced similar circumstances.

Depending on the institution funding an adult drug court, it may or may not be able receive violent offenders for treatment. The Bureau of Justice Assistance, a federal agency, prohibits its funds be used by drug treatment courts to take in violent offenders.

Many adult drug treatment courts are unable to admit violent offenders due to the BJA prohibition.

The veteran treatment courts, however, are not prohibited to admit violent offenders unless the individual court has its own prohibition.

"They are the only court that can get funding from BJA that can accept violent offenders into their program," Lanier said.

Hondo's story

"There's a lot of mentors that come in and different organizations, whether it be housing veteran groups for community outreach, things of that nature," recounted Hondo Underwood, a former marine who participated in a veteran treatment court to avoid extensive prison time after being convicted of car theft. "I was able to reach out to David's House, which is a sober living home."

Underwood was also using drugs while he was stealing cars, using the money he made from stealing cars to purchase drugs.

He describes his veteran treatment court experience as going through an "intense supervised probation" that gradually lessened. He was then placed in a rehab facility and was required to check in with his probation officer.

"I got a 12 to 18 year deferred sentence," he explained. "As long as I was able to accomplish veterans treatment court, which I successfully did once I graduated from Harbor Lights rehab facility, I still had the choice to stay there because I was a veteran."

Underwood had stolen hundreds of cars in Colorado prior to his arrest in 2017.

"Going through Veterans Treatment court, again, it gave me a sense of purpose, a sense of 'I can get out of the neighborhood and I can give people an option or somebody to look up to,'" he told BI's Ju Shardlow.

Veteran treatment courts are partnered with local Veterans Affairs branches and other veteran organizations which can provide help for veterans who may experience PTSD, traumatic brain injuries, and other conditions specific to veterans.

Deutsch said that the VA's inclusion in veteran treatment courts is an advantage because it "removes one of the major issues that any program that's working with people who need treatment is going to be confronted with, which is how to access that treatment and how does that treatment get paid for."

To get access to an adult drug court, an individual must undergo an assessment that demonstrates whether they have a substance use disorder. Oftentimes these individuals have gone through treatment before or have had long criminal histories.

Care out of reach

However, adult drug treatment courts as well as treatment facilities countrywide are in need of more trained professionals, open beds, and treatment availability to properly serve vulnerable individuals.

Many of these issues could be solved with adequate distribution of federal funds from local governments, but in addition to crucial funding, another key to a successful drug treatment court is how it interacts with the community it's established in.

"The screening and assessment can tell you what the person needs, but then whether or not it's out there for them is another challenge," Deutsch said. "The courts themselves need to understand who they're serving and make sure that their programs are adequately, culturally responsive."

The treatment court can be subjected to varying levels of skepticism and pushback from community members depending on where it's based, but treatment courts can map out local resources in order to provide even better accessible assistance to the participant.

One way to do this is for centers to survey their jurisdiction at the beginning of their establishment, what Deutsch called "community mapping."

Key factors like the demographics of those participating in the courts, as well as the scope and number of those needing treatment, play into the success of the treatment court at its inception.

"These programs should be reflective of their community," Deutsch added.

If programs reflect the wider community they're serving, the more effective they'll be in being able to take advantage of existing resources and serve the public's specific needs.

Some of these services might look like financial literacy and employment assistance programs.

Bringing different faces of the community together around this treatment court to provide services outside of criminal justice allows for the treatment court participants to not only connect with the community they reside in but to also help them get back on their feet.

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• Ukraine said it had shot down a Russian supersonic Tu-22M3 plane.
• It marks the first time Ukrainian forces have successfully taken down one of the bomber planes.
• Here's everything you need to know about the Tu-22M3 and how Ukraine says it shot it down.

Ukrainian intelligence said on Friday that it had shot down a feared Russian Tu-22M3 bomber plane for the first time as it launched a combat mission on Ukraine.

The Tu-22M3, which has the NATO codename "Backfire," is a "long-range supersonic missile carrier bomber," according to its manufacturer Tupolev's website.

The Soviet-era plane, made from alloys of aluminum, titanium, and magnesium, as well as "high-strength and heat-resistant steels," made its maiden flight in 1977, with the most up-to-date version entering service in 2018.

It is designed to take out sea- and ground-based targets using guided missiles and aerial bombs.

Tupolev describes the Tu-22M aircraft series as a "conventionally designed aircraft with a variable-swept low wing."

A weeklong ambush

Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (HUR), told BBC Ukraine that the Tu-22M3 carries Kh-22 missiles, which he said "have perhaps brought the most destruction" to Odesa in southern Ukraine.

The Kh-22 missile was originally designed to target ships and is capable of carrying either a nuclear or a conventional warhead.

Budanov added that his forces had been ready for the bomber. "For a week we were, put it this way, lying in ambush. We were waiting for it to reach the right line," he said.

The HUR said the operation led to "the first successful destruction of a strategic bomber in the air during a combat mission during Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine."

A video circulating on social media appeared to show the bomber in flames and falling from the sky.

Despite Russia's claim that the bomber had crashed, the British Ministry of Defence said in an update on the Russia-Ukraine war on Saturday that "it is almost certain that reports of a S-200 missile (SA-5) being used are accurate and that this was another successful Ukrainian action against the Russian Air Force."

It added that it was "highly likely that Russia has now sustained at least 100 fixed-wing combat aircraft losses to date."

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• An American sniper in Ukraine said his unit prefers  AK-74 rifles over Western ones.
• That's partly because they can get more bullets when they attack a Russian position.
• Ammunition and other supplies from the West have dried up, leaving Ukraine running short.

An American veteran fighting in Ukraine said soldiers in his unit prefer to use Soviet-era rifles over modern ones because it's easier to find ammunition, including by taking it from the Russians.

Jonathan Poquette is currently serving as a sniper in Ukraine, and he said that his unit prefers AK-74 rifles, which are chambered for 5.45×39mm rounds.

"The reason why our unit in particular preferred the AK-74 platforms is because that weapon system is plentiful for the Ukrainians and Russians."

He said that when you go to a Ukrainian position, they are more likely to have that type of bullet available as many Ukrainians fight with that rifle. Ukraine, once a part of the Soviet Union, fights with a lot of Soviet-era weaponry that has long been in the country.

There are, of course, other ways to get the necessary rifle ammo as well, Poquette said, noting that "if you go and you attack a Russian position and you need to resupply, the Russians are usually going to have 5.45."

Poquette is a member of Chosen Company, a unit of fighters within the Ukrainian army's 59th Motorized Brigade. The force is technically a reconnaissance unit, but it also executes both front-line assault operations and defensive actions. He was injured in January and has been in recovery and training in Kyiv, Ukraine' s capital city, since the incident.

He said that the prolific availability of older rifles among Ukraine's soldiers was also partly an issue with Ukraine's planning.

"The West has donated a lot of Western rifles that use 5.56," Poquette said, referring to the standard 5.56X45 mm NATO round, "but the problem is that the Ukrainians didn't necessarily consolidate those weapon platforms very good in certain areas."

Ukraine has used captured Russian tanks and weaponry for its forces to use them to fight back against Russia's invasion. This has also included ammunition from defeated Russian soldiers, or that fleeing Russians have left behind.

The Kalashnikov AK-74 was first designed in the 1970s, and an updated version, the AK-74M, was first adopted by the Russian army in 1991. Per the weapon's manufacturer, the latter is still widely used across the Russian military as a standard service rifle.

The problem with some of the weapons donated by Western countries is that they are often chambered in 5.56, Poquette said, and ammunition from the West has been in pretty short supply lately.

Ukraine's ammunition shortages

Ukraine is suffering from extensive shortages of ammunition and weaponry that have had serious ramifications all along the front lines. The US recently transferred thousands of small arms and about 500,000 rounds of Iranian ammunition taken from smugglers to Ukraine, but it's only a stop-gap measure.

Shortages have been exacerbated by Republicans in the US stalling further aid for the past six months. That's despite most of that money being funding that would go back into the US economy as so many American defense companies would get the work, particularly to replace systems sent to Ukraine.

Soldiers say this means that they have had to ration their ammunition and, in some cases, have had nothing to fire for a day, leaving them unable to hit Russian targets that they can reach. Sometimes when another team takes over a position, the incoming forces will ask for the departing team's ammunition and grenades.

Some of Ukraine's biggest shortages right now are in air defense and artillery, which are leaving cities defenseless and making front-line combat much tougher to sustain.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zekenskyy said this week that Russia has 10 times more artillery shells than Ukraine. He said that unless aid from the US resumes, "we will have no chance of winning." It's a stark warning, one that experts have echoed as well, such as Frederick Kagan, who said that if Ukraine loses, the US and its allies will face a Russia more easily able to invade NATO if it chooses to do so.

Letting targets go

Poquette said that his unit has had to get more and more selective with its targets, even holding fire with what were once game-changing weapons.

The Ukrainians, he said, aren't firing their US-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) like they used to. He said the unit had to stop hitting targets that they would have hit earlier in the war because of a shortage of rockets.

He also said that his unit has had to send infantry out to fight small groups of advancing Russian soldiers rather than use indirect fire to take them out, putting Ukraine's soldiers at greater risk.

Europe has been trying to increase Ukraine's ammunition supply, but many of its international partners say that there is not enough to spare on the continent and that not enough new ammo is being produced.

A Czech Republic-led initiative has been attempting to source ammunition from outside the EU. The country's president said this week that the first 180,000 rounds have been contracted and will be delivered to Ukraine's front lines "in the coming months."

Poquette said that Ukraine desperately needs artillery and ammunition more than it needs more advanced equipment like tanks from its partners. He said that what matters most right now is "ammunition, grenades, claymores, or other types of mines, rockets, various different rocket systems."

"What can one tank do?" he asked, rhetorically. "Not as much as 50,000 artillery shells, 5,000 mortar shells."

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• A Florida man died after setting himself on fire outside Trump's trial in Manhattan.
• Max Azzarello was motivated by a web of conspiracy theories and paranoia, reports say.
• Azzarello was described as a caring individual with a passion for social justice.

Max Azzarello, a 37-year-old from Florida, died after setting himself on fire outside the Manhattan courthouse where Trump's hush money trial is underway, The New York Times reports.

Azzarello succumbed to his injuries on Friday night. Emergency responders received a 911 call at 1:37 p.m, and paramedics rushed the man to a local hospital in critical condition, a New York Police Department spokesperson told Business Insider, where he later died, BBC News reported.

Despite the proximity to Trump's trial, his actions did not appear to align with any specific political agenda but rather stemmed from a web of conspiracy theories and paranoia, per The Times.

Azzarello walked into the center of Collect Pond Park, across from the courthouse. He threw conspiracy pamphlets into the air before pouring an accelerant onto himself and self-immolating, USA Today reports.

The pamphlets were titled "The True History of the World" and linked to a Substack post that reads, "I am an investigative researcher who has set himself on fire outside of the Trump trial in Manhattan."

The post includes conspiratorial ideas about the US government.

"We are victims of a totalitarian con, and our own government (along with many of their allies) is about to hit us with an apocalyptic fascist world coup," reads the post.

When Azzarello lost his mother in 2022, grief consumed him, leading to increasingly erratic behavior, friends told The Times.

Steven Waldman, a high school friend of Azzarello, told The Times his late friend was "heartbroken" when his mother passed."

"That was around the time when he became more outspoken," Waldman said.

Azzarello was described as a caring individual with a penchant for social justice, having pursued degrees in anthropology and public policy.

"He was super curious about social justice and the way things 'could' be," a former classmate of Azzarello told The Times.

"He was a good friend and person and cared about the world," said Waldman.

Larry Altman, the property manager at Azzarello's apartment building, called Azzarello an "extremely nice person."

Azzarello's career trajectory led him through various fields, including marketing and technology, with a brief stint in political campaign work, according to his LinkedIn.

"We've got a secret fascism problem," his bio reads beneath his profile picture, snapped alongside former US president Bill Clinton.

Larry Altman told the Times that Azzarello "had political views that I would not consider mainstream. He called our government and the world government a Ponzi scheme."

Self-immolation is mostly carried out as a form of protest for religious or political reasons.

In February of this year, 25-year-old Aaron Bushnell died after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC.

Azzarello commended Bushnell for his final act of protest, posting "Heroes and martyrs, folks," on his Instagram page, Newsweek reports.

Trump's historic hush money trial kicks off

Trump's hush money trial, making history as the first-ever trial of a former president, kicked off earlier this week with the selection of the jury.

The trial resumed Friday afternoon with a pre-opening hearing.

The former US president, vying for reelection in 2024, has promised to testify at the trial.

The indictment alleges 34 Trump Organization business records were falsified, including hiding a hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.

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• A Colorado Rockies coach was filmed in a United Airlines cockpit mid-flight, reports say.
• A video appeared to show Hensley Meulens cracking jokes with others on the flight deck.
• The alleged unauthorized cockpit visit breaches federal safety regulations.

Federal aviation officials have launched an investigation after a viral video appeared to show a Colorado Rockies coach making a cockpit visit during a United Airlines charter flight from Denver to Toronto last week, said reports.

It is against federal safety regulations, made more strict following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, for unauthorized people to be in the cockpit during a flight, said the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

In the video, the Rockies hitting coach, Hensley Meulens, appears to be sitting in one of the two pilot seats while the plane is flying at cruising altitude. He cracks jokes with other people on the flight deck.

"Flying the plane, here to Toronto," Meulens says as he gestures toward a pilot sitting beside him.

"I'm going to land the plane tonight. So relax," he says. Meulens then reaches toward the flight controls and makes as if to take hold of the steering wheel, saying, "I just press this button — and it goes down."

The video was originally posted to Meulens' social media, though it has since been deleted.

"Had some fun in the cockpit on our flight from Denver to Toronto," the post's caption read, according to The Denver Post. "Thanks to the captain and the first officer of our United charter that allowed me this great experience."

United spokesperson Russell Carlton told various news agencies that United was "deeply disturbed" by the content of the video.

The cockpit visit was "a clear violation of our safety and operational policies" and has been reported to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Carlton said that United Airlines removed the pilots from service during the investigation.

FAA spokesperson Chris Mullooly told several news outlets that they were investigating the incident but provided no further details.

"Federal regulations restrict flight deck access to specific individuals," Mullooly said.

Some airlines do allow cockpit visits but only when the plane is on the ground.

The Rockies' manager, Bud Black, told The Denver Post that Meulens had apologized to the team and United Airlines and that the incident would not affect his employment with the club.

"I can't comment really any further because of the investigation of the matter," Black said.

United Airlines and the FAA are yet to respond to Business Insider's request for comment, sent outside of regular working hours.

The news comes after United suffered a cascade of issues last month. On March 4, United Flight 1118 from Houston to Texas was forced to turn around after one of the plane's engines caught fire after take-off. Three days later, one of the airline's flights from San Francisco to Japan lost a tire during take-off and was forced to make an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport.

A post-flight inspection revealed that United Flight 433 from San Francisco to Oregon on 15 March had lost an external panel. The aircraft was an older model Boeing 737-800. The plane landed safely without any issues: the external panel had been discovered missing only after the fact.

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• Elon Musk might need to start sleeping at Tesla again as tough times mount, according to top bull Adam Jonas of Morgan Stanley.
• The firm may slowly be exiting the EV industry, given rising Chinese competition and dimming outlooks, he said.
• Jonas holds a Street-high $310 price target on the firm, but says Musk's compensation deal is also adding uncertainty. 

It might be time for Elon Musk to bring back an old corporate habit to reignite Tesla's spark, according to Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas.

"Looking ahead to Tesla's 1Q results … investors are starting to ask: 'Is it time to sleep on the floor again?'" Jonas said in a note published on April 18.

The reference is to when the CEO would spend nights doing so over past years, in an effort to encourage hard work during tough times. 

Just a year ago, this would be an unlikely comment from the long-standing Tesla bull. But now, tougher times might indeed be back, as Jonas acknowledged that an electric vehicle recession has engulfed the leading manufacturer. 

With conditions deteriorating and competition rising, it may even be that Tesla is starting to eye an exit from the traditional EV-maker industry. Such a shift has been signaled by the company's recent decision to scrap plans for a low-cost Model 2, and instead focus on autonomous driving and robotaxis. Wall Street didn't love the move, sending the stock even lower to fresh year-to-date lows this past week.

"Is Tesla exiting the (traditional) EV auto industry? At the margin, it seems so. This doesn't mean that Tesla won't keep selling cars (including new launches) for many years to come. But this cannot be the end game," Jonas wrote, adding that Tesla's 50% targeted annual growth rate is no longer valid.

Generally, challenges are penetrating the EV market from all sides, whether they be infrastructure, vehicle affordability and repairability, or rising competition from hybrids. It's not only a domestic issue for Tesla, as cheaper Chinese alternatives are cutting deep into crucial offshore demand.

Most recently, this has snapped Tesla's first quarter deliveries — where these increased 40% last year, they plummeted 10% year-to-year in 2024's opening months.

With more industry players popping up, the firm has taken to slashing its pricing, and Musk has hinted for years about a model that would cost under $30,000. Tesla is in fact planning a mass-market vehicle to start producing next year: the ramp up will require workers to sleep at the factory, Musk warned in the last earnings call.   

But even if the company succeeds to create a appealing and affordable model, Jonas is skeptical that this is a winning strategy to the Chinese threat:

"How long would it take for a Chinese EV company to make one like it at a lower price? 9 months? 3 months? Less? New models are important for Tesla and we expect half a dozen or so different 'shapes' and form factors launched in the years ahead," he said. "But perhaps Tesla has already learned what most autos analysts have long known about the car industry."

Nor should investors bet solely on Tesla's ambitions in automotive driving. Though other analysts have touted full self-driving technology as a stock price headwind, Jonas sees commercialization at scale of these developments as far out. 

Market challenges have already tanked Tesla's stock over 41% year-to-date. Consensus expectations need to stabilize before it can begin to outperform again, Jonas said. 

He continues to hold an overweight on Tesla, with a price target of $310. However, aside from earnings strength, the stock's success also hinges on Musk's compensation package, Jonas added. 

That's as the CEO has previously threatened to move AI capabilities away from Tesla if he is not given a 25% stake in the company, adding existential uncertainty for investors, the analyst said.

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• Last October, my fiancé was laid off and he has been unemployed ever since, so we are now in debt.
• We decided to keep planning our wedding, so I've used my tax refund to pay for deposits. 
• We are eloping in the mountains and trying to remind ourselves it isn't about the wedding. 

When my fiancé, Collin, was unexpectedly laid off last October, he told me it would likely delay his marriage proposal. We had already picked out a ring, and he had bought the center diamond, but he was hoping to save a little more money before buying the ring itself.

The night before Thanksgiving, we were sitting on the couch when I casually said, "You know, you could always borrow one of my fashion rings until we can purchase the real one."

We agreed it felt silly to wait on a major purchase to promise our futures to one another since the ring was just a symbol anyway. I lined up all the rings I owned on the bathroom counter and let him pick one out.

It was around 11:30 p.m. when he said, "Want to go to the beach?"

What I thought would be a promise ring situation ended with him getting down on one knee in the dark on an empty South Carolina beach after midnight and asking me to be his wife. (Spoiler: I said yes.)

He slipped a sapphire ring I had bought on sale from Kohl's onto my finger to a choir of crashing waves.

To me, his proposal was more romantic than any surprise candlelit picnic where my family and friends jumped out from behind the bushes. Instead, it was just us and our shadows in the moonlight because he simply couldn't wait to make me his wife.

But planning the actual wedding while in debt has been anything but romantic.

Planning a wedding while in debt isn't easy

Fast-forward to the present day and Collin is still having trouble finding a new job despite vigorously searching and applying for 40 hours a week. His unemployment eligibility has run out, and we're barely scraping by to cover rent and other bills.

As a result, we spent months feeling on hold with any and all wedding planning efforts, including setting a date. We needed a deposit for our vendors to lock in a date, which we didn't have.

Still, we don't believe our financial situation should delay us starting this next chapter of our lives. We've continued finding creative ways to move forward despite debt.

For example, I used my tax refund money to put a deposit down with a wedding photographer, which allowed us to set a date in September. We also worked with her to negotiate a different payment schedule due to our situation. Instead of her typical deposit of $1,500, she agreed to let us put $500 down to secure the date as long as we paid the rest of the deposit by the end of June.

To help us afford engagement photos, I joined a local photography Facebook group and responded to model calls from photographers looking to add to their portfolios. We found a photographer who heavily discounted our session because he wanted to shoot a couple in downtown Charleston, South Carolina. We couldn't be happier with the photos.

We have planned our elopement for a Monday to help avoid peak fall wedding costs. This also leaves us more time to secure vendors, as many vendors maintain availability for weekday weddings since they're less popular.

Instead of booking vendors like a local hair and makeup artist in advance, I've done the research to know which salon I want to reach out to once I have the required deposit. This will help speed up the process once we have the funds.

Since we wanted a mountain wedding, we planned our elopement location around our upcoming cross-country move so that we could drive instead of needing to purchase advance plane tickets and a rental car. We secured a furnished apartment in our new city so we could sell all of our belongings to help fund our travels. This also helped us avoid spending thousands of dollars on a moving truck.

Focusing on what matters most

The most important part of this process is ensuring we don't postpone our vows because of a temporary, short-term cash flow issue. We are willing to sacrifice the material things and finer details involved in many weddings so we can make our commitment sooner.

This lack of focus on the smaller details has also helped us plan an elopement that's entirely focused on our relationship and our love for one another.

At the end of the day, if I have to choose between marrying the guy of my dreams and having the perfect wedding bouquet, the answer is pretty obvious to me.

Kelsey Herbers is a freelance marketing writer and journalist based in Charleston, South Carolina. Connect on LinkedIn.

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• Fast food is getting more expensive, and Americans are annoyed about it.
• Diners told BI they're cutting back on how often they get fast food because of rising prices.
• They say they're eating at sit-down restaurants or cooking at home more instead.

Fast-food chains have raised prices drastically in recent years — blaming everything from rising food costs and labor shortages to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Because of this, some fast-food customers are starting to cut back and are opting to eat at home or switch to dine-in options, which are increasingly viewed as better value for money.

Sara Senatore, a restaurant analyst at Bank of America, told Business Insider that fast-food restaurants historically increased prices by about 2% yearly. At some restaurants in 2022 and 2023, they went up by double-digits, she said.

As general inflation, including for groceries, comes down, she's expecting consumers to be even "less tolerant" of the price increases in the restaurant industry.

But cheaper fast food may be some way off. California's new $20 minimum wage for limited-service restaurant workers kicked in this month and has prompted price hikes on menus statewide.

Experts say it could have a ripple effect on wages across the fast food industry nationwide, meaning that your favorite spots could become even pricier.

Even the more loyal fast-food diners are cutting back

In interviews with BI, more than a dozen consumers from different parts of the US referred to a range of fast-food chains they said had gotten more expensive in recent years — from McDonald's and Dunkin' to Subway and Chipotle.

Warren Colehour, a 40-year-old student in Kentucky, said he used to go to Dunkin' almost every morning for a breakfast sandwich and coffee but has cut it down to about four days a month because of the price. "I can't bring myself to spend $8 on that food," he said.

Chad Frye, a cartoonist and illustrator based in California who said he used to be a "fast-food junkie," said he's cut down his fast-food habit from four or five times a week to just twice.

He said that he had particularly noticed price increases at McDonald's.

"You could go into McDonald's and there would be a whole array of choices on a value menu, and they used to call it the dollar menu, and you can't get anything in there for a dollar anymore," he said.

McDonald's USA told BI that pricing is set by local franchisees and varies by restaurant.

"McDonald's always strives to strike the right balance of value for money," a company spokesperson said, noting that customers can also get offers and free items through its app.

Some diners said that they thought the quality of fast food meant that it just wasn't worth the price anymore.

"I think mentally you maybe don't think it tastes as good anymore because you're paying a lot more for it," Frye said.

For Martin Jennings, a 51-year-old Florida-based truck driver, fast food is often the only meal available on the road, and it's become increasingly hard to find affordable options.

Most truck stops have chain fast-food restaurants, "and you're just stuck with whatever's there," he said.

"It's just so expensive that we try to avoid it," he added. Instead, he uses the freezer and microwave in his truck to store and heat up leftovers he brings from home.

"I pack as much food as I can before I leave the house to avoid eating out," he said.

Dunkin' and Chipotle did not respond to requests for comment from BI. A Subway spokesperson said that "significant changes" have been made to the quality of its menu while "maintaining affordability."

"While pricing guidelines are provided to ensure we are maintaining our value proposition systemwide, pricing is set by our franchisees," the spokesperson noted.

Consumers are turning to sit-down restaurants

Rising fast-food prices are making sit-down meals — whether at formal restaurants or casual-dining chains like Chili's, Applebee's, and Olive Garden — more attractive to some diners.

While fast-food restaurants are generally chosen for their price and convenience, sit-down restaurants are usually seen as more expensive places where diners can relax and socialize.

But the closing price gap between full- and limited-service restaurants means some diners are going to sit-down restaurants more often.

Ben Heyworth, an account executive in Florida, is one example. He recently pivoted from dining in at fast-food chains such as Subway, Burger King, and McDonald's in favor of fast-casual and sit-down restaurants.

He's found that the food, service, and atmosphere are better in these chains and that they generally charge a similar price, he said.

Diners are hunting for bargains

While some diners are increasingly abandoning fast food, others are keeping a close eye on restaurant deals to get more bang for their buck.

Offers the interviewees highlighted included Del Taco's three tacos for $2 deal on Tuesdays, Arby's for their two for $6 deal on sandwiches, and Subway's coupons.

"I'm looking for extreme value when I'm going out," 58-year-old Oregon resident Richard McConnell said.

Others are using fast-food chains' apps to score cheap or free food, too.

Fast food still lures diners in

This isn't to say that sales at fast-food chains are slumping. In 2023, for example, comparable US sales at McDonald's were up 8.7% year-over-year. In 2022, they were up 5.9% in the US. At Burger King, this figure was 7.5% in 2023.

The taste and convenience of fast food is still bringing diners in.

Ricardo Rodriguez, a 60-year-old semi-retired finance worker in California, told BI that he gets "sticker shock" whenever he buys a Double Big Mac.

But he still goes to the chain about three times a month, and said his wife would use the app to get a free sandwich or portion of fries. Their average spend is about $25, he said.

The main reason Rodriguez gets fast food is the taste, he said.

"Even if they were to raise the price on the McGriddle sandwich, I probably would still go and buy it," he added.

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• Court proceedings for Donald Trump's various criminal and civil cases are beginning to overlap.
• Opening arguments for his first criminal trial are set to begin Monday at 9:30 a.m.
• A hearing over the bond in his civil fraud case is set to be held just down the street at 10 a.m.

Donald Trump is juggling so many court proceedings they're beginning to overlap.

Opening arguments will begin on Monday at 9:30 a.m. in Trump's hush-money case, the first-ever criminal trial to be held against a former president — and just the first of four criminal cases facing Trump to be heard in court.

In the hush money trial, prosecutors allege Trump cooked his books to hide a $130,000 payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels to cover up an affair the pair had. Trump denies the affair took place and refutes allegations that his financial records were falsified.

Down the street, at 10 a.m. on Monday, Judge Arthur Engoron will hear arguments over Trump's bond in his civil fraud trial after New York Attorney General Letitia James asked for the judge to reject the $175 million bond posted by Knight Specialty Insurance Company and declare the bond to be "without effect," James wrote in a memo filed Friday.

James argued that the company that posted the bond doesn't meet the "requirements of trustworthiness and competence" required for insurers doing this type of business. She added that the insurance group is not licensed to conduct new business in New York and has never before written a surety bond in the state.

The bond has been an area of fierce contention after Trump's lawyers argued he couldn't afford the original $454 million judgment amount initially ordered by the court and should not be made to pay the full amount pending appeal. The appellate court agreed and lowered his amount due to $175 million on March 25, with Trump posting the lower amount on April 1.

It remains unclear which courtroom Trump will be in on Monday. However, The New York Times noted that his court appearances have led to increased traffic on Centre Street in Manhattan and left officials scrambling to increase security around the city.

Representatives for Trump and the Attorney General's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

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• Over the last two years, our family has overhauled our budget to combat inflation.
• We were like many Americans who have a budget, but don't stick to it and sometimes overspend.
• Here are eight ways my family got our money situation under control.

With inflation still hitting bank accounts hard, our family of four — which includes two teenagers — realized it was time to start taking our household budget more seriously.

Over the last two years, our family has overhauled our budget, created important financial habits, and even involved our daughters. We are now making progress toward our money goals more than ever.

While I had a budget for many years, I suffered from lazy budgeting — treating it more like a suggestion than a rule and often overspending.

It turns out my family was not alone.

Eighty-four percent of Americans with a monthly budget sometimes overspent, according to a survey of more than 2,070 US adults over the age of 18 conducted last April by The Harris Poll on behalf of NerdWallet.

When inflation hit, and prices started to soar, we realized our family was not making as much progress toward our financial goals as we would have liked. If we were going to pay off our car loan, permanently stay out of credit card debt, and do a better job of saving for our daughters' college education and our retirements, we needed to start taking our budget more seriously.

Here are some ways we got our money situation under control.

Start simple, be patient, and adjust

We first needed to get a better idea of how we were spending our money. To do this, we started using Mint, a budgeting app.

Mint was great at providing a clear picture of our spending habits. Unfortunately, Mint shut down, but there are alternatives depending on what you need.

Then, we needed to be patient. It took us about six months to get a good picture of our expenses since some categories, like medical costs, can vary greatly from month to month.

Once we had a clear picture of our expenses, we switched to the budgeting app YNAB, which stands for you need a budget. This app has a bit of a learning curve, so it is not ideal if you are just starting to budget. But once you have a good grasp of your finances and what you want to do, this app is great at prioritizing savings, making plans to pay down debts, and giving every dollar a purpose.

Make budgeting a part of the daily routine

To overcome my lazy budgeting, I knew that I had to hunker down and make better budgeting a habit. So now I make time every morning to review our family's spending.

Doing it every day only takes about five minutes of my time. I find that when I skip more than a couple of days, the log of transactions becomes overwhelming, and there is a greater risk of putting it off and falling behind.

Food savings have become our great equalizer

Food is the one place we found that we have the most control over how much we spend.

The first thing we did was cut down on how much we were eating out or ordering for delivery, especially when we realized just how much those indulgences had increased in price over the years.

When it comes to groceries, we are now more conscious about sticking to lists, meal planning, only buying some things in bulk, and using apps for coupons and rebates.

Despite inflation, our monthly grocery bill has fallen from at least $800 every month before the pandemic to an average of $650 since we stopped being lazy about our budget.

Review subscriptions with other household members once a month

Once we had a better sense of where our money was going every month, we saw how much we spent monthly on app subscriptions.

As a family, we had about 20 apps and streaming services with subscriptions, making it easy to forget how much we spent each month.

We weren't alone there either. A 2022 study showed consumers underestimated app subscription costs by $133 a month.

In addition to tracking all of our subscriptions, we followed some rules to get them under control, including avoiding bundles and annual subscriptions. While those may feel like a better deal, they often take away your flexibility to cancel or adjust anytime.

With the flexibility of going month-to-month on subscriptions, we can take a few minutes each month to go over each one and determine which ones we are no longer using.

Thanks to these changes, we save nearly $200 monthly on apps and streaming services alone.

Make weekly payments on credit cards

Like many Americans, our family uses credit cards for most purchases to take advantage of points and rewards.

The downside to using credit cards so frequently is that falling behind on paying down a card one month is easy. And once you do, it can snowball into a problem — especially now, due to sky-high interest rates following the Federal Reserve's fight against inflation.

While we typically paid off our credit cards every month, there were times when we carried a balance, and nothing ruins a budget quite like leftover expenses from the previous month.

Now that we have better control of our spending, we have taken the extra step to pay off our credit card balances every week. Not only does it help us stay permanently out of credit card debt, but it is also less overwhelming mentally to make smaller weekly payments than one large payment at the end of the month.

Constantly shop around for better deals

Many companies, either through websites or apps on your phone, have made it easy to sign up for their services and can often grab new customers with just a couple of clicks. The good news is that this also makes it easier than ever to shop around for the best deals.

We have made it a regular habit to check for the best deals from streaming services, phone companies, and car insurance companies.

For example, we had taken our car insurance for granted, letting it renew every six months without question. But with car insurance rates at a 50-year high right now, we shopped around and found another company with the same coverage that saves us about $600 every six months.

Profit-share with children to get them invested

Our daughters are 13 and 14, and are nearing high school. Their needs and wants are constantly changing, so I have to stay on my toes when it comes to budgeting.

There are several ways we have adjusted our budget to include two teenagers, including giving them an allowance that is not tied to chores and adding bonuses linked to good patterns of helping around the house, being kind, trying hard in school, and getting exercise.

But the most important step for the family budget was getting them involved by giving them a share of the monthly profits if we underspend.

Rewarding our daughters when the entire family spends well encourages them to be more conscious of our monthly spending. In addition, their money habits have improved greatly.

Despite inflation, we are spending less money every month

Getting over our lazy budgeting has been better than I ever imagined.

We are spending less money now than we were before the pandemic. As a result, we paid off our car loan, eliminated all credit card debt, and tripled our savings each month.

And that means more freedom for experiences like attending the occasional Austin FC soccer game or traveling to California for a Taylor Swift concert.

Have you adjusted your family finances or developed any tips or tricks for budgeting to fight inflation? Reach out to this reporter at cgaines@businessinsider.com.

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