• I got my dream job at Apple on my fourth attempt. Here’s why I left the 6-figure job after only 2 years.

    A lightbulb and hand
    Corey Griffin's side hustle he started alongside his job became his full-time gig

    • Corey Griffin landed a job as a software engineer at Apple after showcasing his side hustles.
    • He worked for Apple Music but left to pursue his business this year.
    • Griffin said he left because he wanted more control over his schedule to spend time with his kids.

    This is an as-told-to conversation with Corey Griffin, a 31-year-old former Apple employee and entrepreneur from Los Angeles. Business Insider has verified their employment and income. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

    I started coding when I was 14. I made animations for games and learned how to make my own website for my games.

    I studied computer technology at college. While studying, I worked freelance for record labels, helping them make their marketing websites.

    In 2014, I was hired by an agency to make marketing websites after college. There, I learned software engineering.

    I knew I wanted to work for Apple or another Big Tech company, but I felt like I was at a disadvantage because I didn't get into software engineering before college or go to a school like Stanford or Harvard.

    I tried to make up for it by working as a software engineer for many different companies and getting a lot of experience, including Rotten Tomatoes, Vox, and Shopify.

    I found my niche working in marketing engineering, which included SEO implementation, making logo generators and domain name generators.

    I freelanced on the side, building marketing websites and doing graphic design. I started my own media company, CG3, and launched a directory for Black-owned businesses and a service similar to Linktree called Hyper Link.

    In January 2019, I launched a free teleprompter product called teleprompt.me, which I later renamed to Speakflow. I turned it into a subscription service, and it gained over 1,000 subscribers in a year from 2020 to 2021.

    I applied for a job at Apple 4 times

    I landed a job as a software engineer at Apple in August 2021. I'd applied three times before.

    Having lots of side projects helped me land the job.

    Most of my side projects are now inactive, but, at the time, I was able to showcase them on my résumé and talk about them in my interview. One of the interviewers had heard of Speakflow, which was still doing well.

    A lot of my work in previous jobs was under an NDA, so I couldn't discuss them in the interview. I could show my wide skillset through my side projects, including graphic design, animation, marketing, and coding. I also had clients in a range of industries, such as the music industry and small technical clients. We talked a lot about that in the interview process.

    I left my Apple job after 2 years

    I worked on software for the Apple music team, including radio and podcasts. I started fully remote and then worked a hybrid pattern that included going to our office in Culver City, California.

    I really enjoyed the work, and the office was cool. I worked hard to get that job.

    I never imagined I'd leave within two years.

    I wanted more freedom over my schedule

    I have two kids, and I wanted to have complete control over my schedule.

    I figured I could probably replace my Apple salary with my media business, especially Speakflow, which made six figures in revenue in the last year. The side project had been live in the background while I was at Apple.

    I'd had some family members who were sick and others who passed recently. Mortality was on my mind. Working for myself full-time was a big life goal. It seemed like the right time to make the jump.

    I left Apple in December 2023 to pursue my media business full-time, particularly the Speakflow product. I wasn't sure it was the right decision and it felt risky, but I wanted to take a gamble on myself.

    I have so much more flexibility now. I can drop my kids off at school every day and pick them up.

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  • Malaysia might add a casino to boost troubled $100 billion mega-development Forest City

    a mall without people in malaysia
    The mall in Forest City in March.

    • Malaysia may add a casino to Forest City, a mega-development that has turned into a ghost town.
    • The casino, which would be the second in the country, could rejuvenate the struggling property.
    • The move may attract Singapore tourists, who pay a daily tax to gamble at home.

    Malaysia's Forest City mega-development started with big ambitions and big money.

    Announced in 2006, the luxury housing project in the south — easily accessible from Singapore — would house 700,000 people and feature a waterpark and hotels. The whole project cost its developers $100 billion.

    But, eight years after construction began, only a few thousand people live there. The project has turned into a ghost town — and a major liability for its developer, which is facing sizable financial issues elsewhere.

    Now, Malaysia is in talks with several high-profile investors to add a casino to Forest City, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg on Wednesday.

    The southeast nation's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim met with the heads of a Malaysian property development firm and a resort company at Forest City last week. A representative of Malyasia's billionaire king, Ibrahim Iskandar, also attended, the people told Bloomberg.

    King Ibrahim owns more than 20% of Forest City as part of a joint venture with Chinese real estate developer Country Garden, Bloomberg reported. The king took the throne in January for his five-year term and said last month he is ready to "begin my real way of ruling." The other partner, Country Garden, is facing significant financial issues from China's floundering property market and had nearly $200 billion in liabilities at the end of last June.

    The two tycoons who met with the prime minister last week own some of Malaysia's most prominent businesses. One of the companies is Genting Group, a resort and theme park operator that owns Malaysia's only casino, located in a central Malaysian hill town. Genting operates other casinos in Singapore, the US, and the UK. The other, Berjaya Corp., runs hotels and develops properties, among other businesses.

    The casino talks are in early stages and it is unclear if Prime Minister Anwar will allow such a business. Malaysia has a Muslim-majority population and those following Islam are prohibited from gambling.

    Forest City did not immediately respond to BI's request for comment.

    Expensive, empty apartments

    A casino — which would only be the second in Malaysia — could help struggling Forest City.

    While advertised as a "popular short-haul tourist destination," the complex, which includes apartments, hotels, a waterpark, and a mall, only sees a few dozen visitors each day, Business Insider reported in April. Those who do come are typically on a budget and don't spend much.

    As of last year, only about 15% of the planned property had been completed, local media reported.

    a corridor in the apartment complex
    The corridor in one of the condominiums in Forest City.

    Most apartments look like they've never been lived in, a BI reporter who visited earlier this year observed. They're almost twice the price of other apartments in the city, and wealthy people prefer to buy single-family homes, BI reported in April.

    A new casino could attract tourists from Singapore. Singapore's government disincentivizes gambling by taxing residents 150 Singapore dollars, or $110, to enter local casinos. Singapore is connected by a one-kilometer bridge to the state of Johor, where Forest City is.

    Cities around the world are similarly looking to add casinos to boost tourism.

    The United Arab Emirates, another majority-Muslim country, is betting big on gambling. Earlier this year, it launched a federal-level gaming authority, and plans are in place to create an "Arabian Strip," an Emirati version of the Las Vegas Strip of hotels and casinos on the island of Al Marjan.

    New York City is also looking to cash in. In April last year, the state government authorized up to three casino licenses for downstate New York, which includes the city and surrounding counties.

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  • Russian courts saw hundreds of AWOL cases in March alone, a record high since the war began: report

    Pedestrians walk past a poster honoring the Russian Armed Forces in Moscow on April 2, 2024.
    Pedestrians walk past a poster honoring the Russian Armed Forces in Moscow on April 2, 2024.

    • In March, Russia dealt with its highest-ever number of AWOL cases since the war began, Mediazona reported.
    • Russian courts issued a daily average of 34 AWOL sentences in that month alone, per the outlet.
    • Almost all of the cases in March were related to those conscripted in the September mobilization.

    Russian courts assessed 684 absences without leave in March, the highest-ever monthly count since the war in Ukraine began, independent Russian media reported.

    Citing public records, independent outlet Mediazona reported on April 12 that a daily average of 34 AWOL sentences were carried out in military courts that month.

    Mediazona reported that almost all of the cases were related to men recruited in Russia's mobilization, which began in September 2022 and saw some 300,000 men conscripted to fight in Ukraine.

    The independent report was cited in a UK Defence Ministry intelligence update on Wednesday.

    "Russian soldiers, including those forcibly recruited during the September 2022 partial mobilization, are required to remain in military service indefinitely, with little prospect of release," the update said.

    Men found guilty of going AWOL were typically handed suspended sentences to allow them to return to their units, some of which are on the front lines, Mediazona reported.

    At least some of these AWOL cases played out over the last year, including the unauthorized absence of a contract soldier who returned home in May 2023 and was later diagnosed with a mental disorder, per Mediazona.

    Russian courts have dealt with some 2,300 AWOL cases since the start of 2024, and about 7,400 total cases since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022, according to Mediazona.

    Moscow was the region with the most such trials, with 496 cases, per Mediazona.

    The Russian Ministry of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular hours by Business Insider.

    The Kremlin's partial mobilization in 2022 was deeply unpopular, sparking an exodus of affluent Russians and protests in Moscow.

    Thousands of draftees were sent to combat units and were widely reported to have initially received little training and equipment. Some died in their first month of deployment.

    Grueling conditions on the front line and heavy fighting in the summer of 2023 slammed Russian morale, with multiple reports and rumors of infighting, desertion, and malingering.

    But Russia's all-out push to boost its numbers appears to be taking effect. Its army has grown by about 15% since the war in Ukraine started, according to an estimation on April 10 by US Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe.

    This spring, Russia is set to call up some 150,000 men for routine, statutory military service, which typically lasts about one year. These men are not legally obliged to fight outside the country.

    Meanwhile, Ukraine has also struggled to replenish its hard-hit forces, with thousands of military-age men trying to flee the country or hide from Kyiv's military draft.

    To shore up its manpower, Ukraine's parliament on April 2 lowered its draft age for males from 27 to 25. On Tuesday, the country's foreign ministry also announced that it was temporarily suspending issuing passports to Ukrainian military-age men abroad, requiring them to return home to renew their documents.

    Russia has slowly been making gains in Ukrainian territory since the start of 2024, with Ukraine saying its troops are struggling without vital ammo and weapons previously supplied by NATO. After stalling in Congress for months, about $60 billion in US assistance to Ukraine was approved on Wednesday.

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  • Jefferies CEO sold $65 million in stock to buy a yacht from a client

    Rich Handler and Tilman Fertitta
    CEO of Jefferies Rich Handler (left) and CEO of Mastro's Restaurants Tilman Fertitta (right) attend the Mastro's Steakhouse Grand Opening Celebration on November 11, 2014 in New York City.

    • Jefferies CEO Rich Handler sold $65 million in company stock to buy a luxury yacht.
    • He's buying a Westport 164 from his friend and Jefferies client Tilman Fertitta.
    • Handler isn't planning any more stock sales, he said on Wednesday.

    Jefferies CEO Rich Handler sold $65 million of his stock in the company to buy himself a gift — a luxury yacht.

    Handler sold 1.5 million shares, or 7% of his holdings, to purchase a "personal boat and to pay tax obligations," the investment bank said in a Wednesday statement.

    "My sale of shares today was a gift to myself and my family, and I do not intend to sell any further shares," Handler said in the statement. "I remain extremely bullish on Jefferies."

    The boat is a Westport 164 yacht and was purchased from Jefferies client and Handler's longtime friend Tilman Fertitta, the Financial Times reported.

    Fertitta is the billionaire CEO of hospitality company Landry's and owns the Houston Rockets, an NBA team. The two men jointly own Lancadia Holdings, a blank-check company.

    Handler, who has been with the bank since 1990, has received about 70% of his pay in the form of company shares, Jefferies said in the statement. He has previously sold shares only for tax purposes and charity, the bank said.

    Jefferies did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

    Investors often view executives' stock sales as a signal about lack of company confidence, so any sales are carefully messaged.

    In October, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said he would sell 1 million of his 8.6 million shares, his first sale since becoming CEO in 2006. The filing announcing the planned sale said Dimon chose to sell the stocks "for financial diversification and tax-planning purposes" and that he "continues to believe the company's prospects are very strong." He sold the first of the sets of shares in February for $150 million.

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  • ‘Americans just work harder’ than Europeans, said the CEO of Norway’s $1.6 trillion oil fund

    Nicolai Tangen at a press conference just after he was appointed new general manager of Norges Bank Investment Management, on May 28, 2020 in Oslo.
    Nicolai Tangen at a press conference just after he was appointed new general manager of Norges Bank Investment Management, on May 28, 2020 in Oslo.

    • The CEO of Norges Bank told the FT that he thinks Americans work much harder than Europeans.
    • Nicolai Tangen made the remark as he explained the sovereign fund's push toward investing in the US.
    • About half of the $1.6 trillion oil fund's equities are now invested in the US.

    Europeans are less ambitious and don't work as hard as Americans, said Nicolai Tangen, the CEO of Norway's $1.6 trillion oil fund.

    "There's a mindset issue in terms of acceptance of mistakes and risks. You go bust in America, you get another chance. In Europe, you're dead," Tangen told The Financial Times in an interview published on Wednesday.

    "We are not very ambitious," Tangen added. "I should be careful about talking about work-life balance, but the Americans just work harder."

    Tangen made these remarks as he gave an overview of his firm's push toward investments in the US, which now make up half of the equities held by Norges Bank.

    Norges Bank is in charge of Norway's sovereign wealth fund, which manages revenue from the country's massive oil and gas reserves and holds some $1.6 trillion in assets.

    Tangen said his firm is watching the US 2024 elections closely and told the FT that it is concerned about the possible outcomes, though he declined to share more.

    "We just invest in America in great companies for the long term. It won't have any implications for how we allocate our capital," he said of the election, per the FT. "We have nearly half the assets in America, we will stay invested in America."

    The CEO added that US shares have been beating Europe's because American companies are innovating and growing technology faster than their European counterparts, telling the FT that he felt the trend is "worrisome."

    About 71% of Norges Bank's holdings are in equities, with large stakes in US companies, including $19.2 billion in Alphabet, $17.4 billion in Amazon, and $33 billion in Apple.

    Norges Bank is the world's largest sovereign wealth fund and the largest single owner in the global stock market. The firm invests in 72 countries and is estimated to own 1.5% of all shares worldwide.

    It's true that Americans, on average, work longer hours than their European counterparts, according to data collected from 2019 to 2022 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

    The average polled US worker said they worked 1,811 hours a year, or about 35 hours a week, compared to an average of 1,571 hours a year among workers in European Union countries. That's also compared to a total average of 1,752 hours a year documented by the OECD.

    UK employees said in the same survey that they worked 1,532 hours a year, while German employees say they've worked the least out of all OECD countries — at an average of 1,341 hours a year, or about 26 hours a week.

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  • McKinsey advised drug companies on how to ‘turbocharge’ opioid sales. Now it’s under criminal investigation.

    McKinsey.
    Management consultancy McKinsey has paid nearly $1 billion to states, Native American tribes, and other groups to resolve opioid-related lawsuits.

    • The Department of Justice is investigating McKinsey for advising opioid producers on boosting sales.
    • The firm previously paid nearly $1 billion to resolve lawsuits related to its opioid work.
    • The investigation is also looking at potential obstruction of justice by McKinsey and its employees.

    Premier consultancy McKinsey & Company is under investigation by the US Department of Justice for its past work advising opioid manufacturers on how to juice sales, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

    The probe is also investigating whether the firm or its employees obstructed justice relating to record-keeping.

    McKinsey has long been under scrutiny for its yearslong work with various drugmakers, including Purdue Pharma. The consultancy has paid nearly $1 billion to all 50 states, Native American tribes, local governments, and other groups to resolve a host of lawsuits without admitting wrongdoing.

    Hundreds of thousands of Americans have died in the opioid crisis.

    A spokesman for McKinsey declined to comment. The DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside normal business hours.

    The DOJ investigation was years in the making. Former McKinsey client Endo, a pharmaceutical company, said in a regulatory filing that it received subpoenas about McKinsey in December 2020 and May 2021.

    A grand jury has been set up in Virginia, and US attorney's offices in the Western District of Virginia and the District of Massachusetts are working together on the investigation, the Journal reported.

    News of the investigation underscores how McKinsey's opioid work — which the firm said it stopped in 2019 — continues to plague the consultancy.

    Project Turbocharge

    McKinsey worked with opioid-producing drugmakers for decades, but its work ramped up as the opioid crisis took hold.

    After Purdue pleaded guilty to misleadingly marketing OxyContin in 2007, for example, McKinsey created a plan called "Project Turbocharge" to boost sales. This plan involved doubling Purdue's marketing budget, lobbying doctors, and targeting medical practitioners who already wrote the most prescriptions for OxyContin, Seattle prosecutors wrote in a 2022 lawsuit.

    Various lawsuits have surfaced internal McKinsey communications, including information about the firm's record-keeping practices. In a 2018 email, for example, a since-fired McKinsey executive wrote to another senior executive about the firm's legal risk.

    "It probably makes sense to have a quick conversation with the risk committee to see if we should be doing anything other that [sic] eliminating all our documents and emails," the former McKinsey partner, Martin Elling, wrote. "As things get tougher here someone might turn to us."

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  • The man who audited Trump’s social media company misspelled his own name in 14 different ways: FT

    Former President Donald Trump.
    Former President Donald Trump.

    • Trump's company hired an accountant who couldn't get his name right in filings, per the Financial Times.
    • Ben F Borgers spelled his name in 14 different ways, the FT reported.
    • Some variations were just minor typos, but others were entirely different names.

    The accountant hired to audit former President Donald Trump's social media company seemed to have a lot of trouble spelling his name, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

    Ben F Borgers, the founder and managing partner of the accounting firm BF Borgers, spelled his name in 14 different ways in regulatory filings, the Financial Times reported, citing data it had reviewed from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

    Some variations, like Ben F Brogers and Ben F orgers, appeared to be minor spelling mistakes. But others, like Blake F Borgers and Ben F Vonesh, were entirely different names.

    Representatives for BF Borgers and Trump Media & Technology Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.

    These spelling snafus aren't the first time Borgers' work has been scrutinized.

    The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board said it identified multiple deficiencies in every audit it had received from Borgers' accounting firm in the past two years, Bloomberg reported on April 8.

    In November, Borgers' firm was also removed from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants' peer review program.

    BF Borgers, the organization said, was "so seriously deficient in its performance that education and remedial, corrective actions are not adequate."

    Trump Media & Technology Group engaged BF Borgers as its auditor in January 2022, after their previous auditor, WithumSmith+Brown, quit just months after being appointed.

    WithumSmith+Brown quit because the firm no longer wanted to be associated with Trump and his company, the Financial Times reported on April 15, citing people familiar with the matter.

    The news surrounding Borgers' spotty record comes as Trump Media's stock price continues to tumble since its debut in late March.

    Trump Media shares had initially soared when it went public, only to crash by nearly 40% in a matter of weeks. The roller coaster ride that Trump Media's stock prices have taken has also sent Trump's net worth swinging up and down.

    At one point, Trump's net worth went up by over $4 billion when the shares rallied. But Trump's gains were quickly erased when the stock went into free fall, booting him off of Forbes' list of the world's 500 wealthiest people.

    Although Trump wouldn't have been able to sell his shares due to a six-month lockup period, the windfall would have boosted his flailing finances. The former president's legal debts have been growing since he left office.

    On April 1, Trump posted a $175 million bond for his New York civil fraud case. He also owes E. Jean Carroll, a writer that a jury ruled last year he had sexually abused, $83.3 million in defamation damages.

    Trump's legal troubles, however, don't end there.

    On April 15, Trump appeared in a Manhattan court for his first criminal trial, where he's been accused of falsifying his business records to cover up a sex scandal with porn star Stormy Daniels. The trial is ongoing.

    Trump has also been charged in three other criminal cases, including two federal cases relating to his alleged attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and another on accusations that he hoarded classified documents in Mar-a-Lago after leaving office. All three cases do not have firm trial dates set yet.

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  • Ukraine says it caught a man trying to escape the country by paddling on an inflatable mattress to Moldova

    The 39-year-old Dnipro resident was caught trying to paddle his way out of Ukraine.
    The 39-year-old Dnipro resident was caught trying to paddle his way out of Ukraine.

    • A man was caught trying to leave Ukraine via the Dniester River — on an air mattress.
    • Ukrainian border agents found him paddling with his arms in an attempt to reach Moldova.
    • The border service said he was paying another person $4,200 for advice on the crossing.

    Ukraine's border service said on Wednesday that it caught a man attempting to cross into Moldova by "swimming" on an inflatable mattress in the Dniester River.

    The State Border Service released footage of the 39-year-old man lying on his stomach atop the mattress and paddling through the water with his arms.

    He was fully clothed, wearing a hoodie, long pants, and a pair of sneakers while carrying a backpack.

    Law enforcement agents spotted him with a drone, then reached the man by boat and detained him, the border service said in a statement.

    Border officials said the unnamed Dnipro resident had contacted a person on a messaging app who coordinated his attempted crossing for about $4,200.

    The border service said the money was for instructions on using the mattress and how to store a mobile phone and spare clothes.

    The man had already paid half of the money in advance, authorities added.

    He is being charged with making an illegal attempt to cross the border, and his case will be brought to court, they said.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iucbFunDbQ?si=9UtWyya1ZkVB9qGt&w=560&h=315]

    It's unclear why the man was attempting to cross into Moldova.

    Thousands of men have been fleeing Ukraine in hopes of escaping the country's military draft. The recent outflow has risen so much that mountain-region smugglers are turning from importing contraband to guiding draft dodgers, The New York Times reported.

    The border service did not say if the man on the mattress was trying to dodge the draft.

    But many draft dodgers have tried to swim out of the country, with up to 6,000 men found on the Romanian side of the Tysa River since Russia's invasion began, per NYT.

    Some use Telegram groups to help evade draft officers, with several groups numbering up to 100,000 members, The BBC reported in August.

    Two years into the war, Russia and Ukraine are still locked in fierce fighting that Ukraine says it will lose without foreign aid. The US, for its part, is contributing about $60 billion in assistance this year, including NATO weaponry and equipment.

    Ukraine has been intensifying efforts to replenish its exhausted forces through an expanded draft that, since mid-April, enlists men 25 years old and above. The draft age was previously 27 but was lowered by the Ukrainian parliament on April 11.

    In a move to support the draft, Ukraine said on Tuesday that it would temporarily stop issuing passports for military-age men abroad, meaning anyone trying to get a renewal must return home. An estimated 650,000 Ukrainian men aged 18 to 60 left the country after Russia invaded.

    This isn't the first time the Ukrainian border service has caught someone in an air mattress-related incident. In February, border officials said they arrested two foreign agents planning to ferry a 37-year-old Kyiv resident to Hungary via a river.

    Agents found an inflatable mattress and a pump in their car and said the Kyiv resident was dressed in a wetsuit.

    An air mattress and pump were found in the car of the two men.
    An air mattress and pump were found in the car of the two men.

    The man had agreed to pay $4,000 for the crossing attempt, border authorities said.

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  • ‘Urban camping’ in this Montana city has spiked 200% as priced-out locals move into cars and RVs

    An aerial view of Main Street in downtown Bozeman, Montana in Fall. The autumn trees are turning bright colors color and there is a light dusting of snow as we look down Main Street.
    The unhoused population in Bozeman, Montana, has grown 50% since 2020, with urban camping making the problem more visible.

    • People living in RVs or cars has surged in Bozeman, Montana, as housing costs have spiked.
    • "Urban camping" has made the city's unhoused population more visible.
    • Bozeman has the highest rents of any city in Montana, which is dealing with rising housing costs across the state.

    So-called urban camping — when people live in RVs or vehicles parked on city streets — has risen rapidly in Bozeman, Montana, where locals are getting priced out by rising housing costs that are impacting many communities in the West.

    Bozeman, located in the Rocky Mountains about 80 miles north of Yellowstone National Park, has a population of around 56,000 people. City officials say the number of Bozeman residents living in their RVs or cars spiked by 200% in two years, according to Montana PBS, which cited the city. Since 2020, the overall unhoused population has grown by 50%.

    The rise in residents experiencing homelessness comes as housing costs have spiked. The median listing price for a home has gone from $669,000 at the start of 2020 to $1.2 million in 2024, according to city data. Meanwhile, rental costs in Gallatin County, where Bozeman is located, increased nearly 19% from 2019 to 2022 and continued to rise, leaving the county with the highest rents in the state.

    "Homelessness has always been on the radar," Bozeman Mayor Terry Cunningham told PBS. "This — with urban camping, RVs, more cars — This is a recent phenomenon."

    Though homelessness in the city has been rising since the pandemic, the increase in RVs and campers on city streets made the problem more visible, resulting in tensions over how to address it.

    "First, these folks are our residents too," the city website says when discussing how it's addressing urban camping. "Many contribute to the workforce, send their kids to our local schools, and may not appear 'homeless' when you see them at their jobs and in the area."

    Bozeman residents are divided over whether the city has been too lenient in addressing the issue. In some locations, the city has installed dumpsters and trash cans near areas with campers to prevent litter and provide the unhoused with a place to dispose of their garbage.

    A group of local business owners sued Bozeman last fall, arguing the city was not doing enough to enforce existing laws that would prevent people from camping on public streets. Business owners say they have dealt with theft, vandalism, and instances of harassment.

    Residents have also complained that some people living in their cars are not doing so out of necessity but just to save money on rent, pointing to the presence of new cars and generators on the some of the campers, PBS reported.

    Mayor Cunningham told the outlet part of the issue is that the city cannot easily determine why individuals are living in their cars or RVs, and people are not required to disclose that information.

    In November, the city implemented an ordinance aimed at limiting urban camping. It prohibits camping at the same location for more than 30 days without getting an extension and also prohibits camping in front of certain places, like businesses and schools.

    The result has been like playing musical chairs, people living in their campers told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, which reported the city has hired three roles to enforce the ordinance.

    "They're making it harder to be homeless. It's already hard enough," Steven Ankney, who lives in an RV with family, told the outlet. "I understand they don't want us on the street, but it's going to happen until they get livable places for us, or affordable houses for us, or places that we can live."

    The city says it is working on bringing more affordable housing to Bozeman and is working with the nonprofit Human Resource Development Council to build a 24/7 shelter.

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  • Legal woes pile up for Trump allies: Giuliani, Meadows, and more indicted in Arizona election interference case

    Donald Trump speaking into a mircrophone.
    Former President Trump at rally in Ohio March 16, 2024.

    • Rudy Giuliani and Mark Meadows are among those indicted in an Arizona election interference case.
    • Multiple Trump allies and Arizona GOPers were charged with felony counts, including conspiracy.
    • The indictment also appeared to list former President Donald Trump as "Unindicted Coconspirator 1."

    Prosecutors charged Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, and a slate of Arizona Republicans with multiple felonies in a 58-page indictment made public on Wednesday. The charges are related to what prosecutors allege were efforts to overturn the 2020 election in favor of Donald Trump, who was also deemed an unindicted coconspirator in the case.

    The indictment, which was obtained by The Washington Post, was handed up by a grand jury on Wednesday in Maricopa County, Arizona. Prosecutors charged the defendants with conspiracy, fraudulent schemes and artifices, fraudulent schemes and practices, and forgery.

    In the indictment, prosecutors accused the defendants of trying to keep Trump in the office of the presidency "against the will of Arizona's voters."

    Eleven Arizona GOP "fake electors" were named as defendants; they were each charged with nine felony counts.

    Other defendants' names were redacted. The Post reported that they included former Trump lawyers Jenna Ellis, John Eastman, and Christina Bobb; former Trump campaign aide Mike Roman; and Trump campaign advisor Boris Epshteyn. Giuliani's and Meadows' names were also redacted from the indictment. The Post said descriptions of the individuals' actions made their identities evident, and that the names were redacted until the individuals could be served the indictment

    Ted Goodman, a political advisor to Giuliani, said in a statement to Business Insider when reached about the indictment: "The continued weaponization of our justice system should concern every Americans as it does permanent, irrevocable harm to the country."

    Meadows, Ellis, Eastman, Bobb, Roman, and Epshteyn, or their representatives, did not respond to requests for comment from BI. The Arizona Republicans did not respond to requests for comment or could not be reached.

    George Terwilliger, a lawyer for Meadows, told the Post he hadn't seen the indictment but said, "If Mr. Meadows is named in this indictment, it is a blatantly political and politicized accusation and will be contested and defeated."

    The indictment also referred to "Unindicted Coconspirator 1," who is described as "a former president of the United States who spread false claims of election fraud following the 2020 election." Another four people who are not named are referred to as unindicted coconspirators.

    A representative for Trump and the Trump Organization did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

    Arizona was one of several states, including Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nevada, in which so-called fake electors tried to cast electoral votes for Trump despite Joe Biden winning the election in their state.

    The Arizona attorney general's office did not respond to a request for comment from BI.

    The indictment comes as Trump runs for president again while also facing several criminal cases, including two cases related to efforts to overturn the election— one in Georgia and one at the federal level — and one related to documents found at Mar-a-Lago. Trump is currently on trial in New York for a case related to a hush-money payment.

    He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty in all four cases.

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