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☆ Old trailer parks are being torn down, driving up homelessness as one of the last options for low-income renters fades away
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Anita Snow | Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Residents of mobile home parks in Arizona are being asked to leave, so student housing can be built. Mobile homes, not always mobile, are hard to repair so they're being razed. "We are in the deepest affordable housing crisis we've ever experienced," said Joanna Carr, acting head of the Arizona Housing Coalition. Efforts under way to revitalize old mobile homes have limits. Many park residents are Spanish-speaking immigrants earning minimum wage as landscapers or restaurant workers.

☆ This little-known rule shapes parking in America. Cities are reversing it
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Approximately 2 billion parking spots cover the country, enough to pave over the entire state of Connecticut. Cities have built so much parking through a policy few people know: minimum parking requirements. Mandatory parking minimums helped shape the modern makeup of America cities. More parking spaces mean bigger parking lots. There are an estimated three to eight parking spots for every car in America.

☆ Disney’s fight with DeSantis masks a bigger problem: Its business is struggling
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The company’s latest salvo in the back-and-forth with DeSantis came Thursday, when it pulled the plug on its Lake Nona office complex. For Team Disney, the move is just the latest in which the company is relentlessly dunking on a relatively inexperienced politician who picked a fight with the wrong conglomerate. If you’re on Team DeSantis, shutting down Lake Nona reflects the desperation of a company whose stock is tanking and whose core businesses face serious headwinds. But Disney’s financial problems have much more to do with its money-guzzling streaming business and its rapidly dwindling profit from traditional cable TV. Disney’s stock is down more than 5% this year, while the S&P 500 is up 2%.

Her mother Sarah — a former deli shop owner — was bored with retirement and had decided to open an ice cream shop in Bethesda, Maryland. "To be honest, at first I was like, 'ice cream shop?'" Running the ice cream shopDespite Sarah's Handmade Ice Cream successful grand opening, it took over six months for the business to become "a well-oiled machine," Park says. Instead, Park and her mother donate ice cream to local nonprofits and community organizations, which has attracted loyal customers in the Bethesda area. Within a few months of opening the first store, Park realized the business didn't have to be limited to just "a mom-and-daughter shop."

☆ Why missing one $2 expense could derail your whole national park trip
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

What this means: Travelers can't necessarily bank on showing up spontaneously to a national park and getting the experience they desire. Record park visitation spurred reservationsTourists crowd into the Midway Geyser Basin on July 14, 2021 at Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. One — Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas — saw record visitors last year. Overall visits to national parks jumped by 5% in 2022 versus the year prior, to 312 million recreation visits. These national parks require vehicle reservationsTraffic heading into Yosemite Village on Oct. 6, 2019, in Yosemite National Park, California.

☆ Tesla? Caviar? Boots? At These Resorts, Everything’s Included
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Danielle Braff | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The all-inclusive resorts are happy to oblige. “Primarily, the difference is in the location, the higher level of accommodations and more personalized guest services — not to mention bragging rights,” said Mr. Fareed, the hospitality consultant. Big-name hotel brands including Marriott and Hyatt are entering the scene with their own ultraluxe all-inclusives. W Hotel (part of Marriott) is planning its all-inclusive Dominican Republic debut in 2025, while Hyatt is opening its new Inclusive Collection portfolio of resorts in Portugal, Mexico and Bulgaria. It follows in the footsteps of the Château de Villiers-le-Mahieu, an upscale all-inclusive estate that opened its doors in 2019 in a wooded park 45 minutes outside Paris.

☆ How the $8 billion parking industry is evolving to stay alive
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Robert Ferris | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

There are between 700 million and 2 billion parking spaces in America — or put another way, between 2.5 to seven spots for every registered vehicle. The entire parking industry pulled in about $121 billion in 2022, according to Jerry Marcus, who runs a Boston-based parking consultancy called the Parking Advisory Group. The entire parking industry is projected to pull in about $144 billion in 2023. Within the larger parking industry, there's a group of companies that manage parking facilities for owners. That industry pulled in somewhere between $8 billion and just over $10 billion in revenue in 2022, according to market estimates.

☆ Opinion | The Closing of This School Is Bad News for America
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Tim Wu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The area on the far western side of Manhattan now known as West Chelsea was once a working-class neighborhood of industrial docklands. Today it is better known for its art galleries and luxury apartments, but its past can still be glimpsed, sometimes literally. They belong to students at Guardian Angel School, a small private school founded in 1911 that serves students from pre-K through eighth grade. It is a school that primarily serves middle-class and poorer families looking for a better alternative to public schools. In an age of persistent and often painful inequality, the need for institutions like Guardian Angel has never been greater.

☆ Deadly NYC parking garage collapse leads to safety sweep and closure of 4 garages in the city
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

NYC building officials have inspected 78 buildings so far since the collapse of a three-story parking garage in April. Officials closed four NYC parking structures over safety concerns, AP reported. City building officials said they closed down four parking garages in a safety sweep of about 78 structures, the Associated Press reported. "During our sweep of 78 parking structures, we found four locations where structural concerns necessitated areas of the buildings to be immediately vacated," he added. A 2022 mandate required parking structures to be inspected by owners at least every six years, the AP reported.

☆ I left a high-rise apartment to live in a van. It's not that much cheaper, but I've saved $70,000 over 3 years and won't ever go back to a traditional home.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

She described the joys of living in a van — and its less romantic sides, like showering at the gym. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with a 38-year-old personal assistant about going from a traditional apartment to living in a van. For the first couple of weeks of living in my van, I would park in front of the high-rise apartment complex that I used to live in. I also learned that van life is very popular in the West. I'm never going back to traditional housingWhen I first got into van life, I didn't research how to make it work.

☆ What it’s like to be a theme park designer
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Kate Springer | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

“Back then, it definitely wasn’t cool to be into theme parks, but I was obsessed,” Jeffs, 39, tells CNN. Jeffs points to the immersive “Pacific Rim: Shatterdome Strike” ride at Trans Studio Cibubur, part of Indonesia’s largest theme park chain, as an example. “When I was growing up, theme park design was often dismissed as a rinky-dink, second-class artistic discipline simply because it was rarely well done. “That first summer, we drove 10,000 miles and hit up virtually any theme park that had managed to re-open,” he says. Courtesy Taylor JeffsAnd though he’s ridden over 600 roller coasters and explored theme parks worldwide, Disneyland in California remains his all-time favorite park.

☆ Opinion: How the battle for Bakhmut exposed Russia’s ‘meat-grinder’
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Michael Bociurkiw | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

It will also be recorded in history as a battle that exposed more than anywhere the meat-grinder approach of Russian fighting. Taking Bakhmut would be the first Russian gain since it captured (and later lost) the key southern Ukrainian city of Kherson in November. That Ukrainian forces have demonstrated such endurance in the battle for Bakhmut should come as little surprise. Like the current battle for Bakhmut, it too became emblematic of Ukraine’s tenaciousness to defend itself against Russia’s aggression – particularly considering the Ukrainian Armed Forces were far less prepared and equipped. “The battle for Bakhmut in winter-spring 2023 will surely enter the history books as the bloodiest battle in Europe since World War II,” said Masliychuk.

☆ World Transplant Games: The unexpected journeys of four athletes to one of the biggest competitions you've probably never heard of
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Eryn Mathewson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

British supporters gesture during the opening ceremony of the XXI World Transplant Games 2017 in Malaga, Spain on June 25, 2017. Jorge Guerrero/AFP/Getty ImagesWhat are the World Transplant Games? The World Transplant Games is not a household name like the Special Olympics or the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. The Road Race starts at the 2019 World Transplant Games in Newcastle-Gateshead, United Kingdom. Price is currently recovering from a non-transplant related surgery, but said she’s ready to make her second appearance at the World Transplant Games.

☆ The Five Basic Rules for Designing a Great Golf Course
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( Bradley S. Klein | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Some golf courses are better than others. That isn’t surprising, what with 15,945 golf courses in the U.S. and 21,779 in the rest of the world. On top of that, unlike other sports, golf has almost no rules regarding its playing field. The only standard specification is that each hole in the ground to which you play has to measure 4¼ inches in diameter and at least 4 inches deep. It could be through a wooded park, in an open meadow, atop an urban landfill or along beachfront dunes.

☆ Fact Check-Michael Rapaport added audio to video of Marjorie Taylor Greene, duping some
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

In the video, Greene is called a “filthy animal” and a “QAnon lunatic.” A search for the video shows an April 4 tweet by Rapaport with more than six million views at the time of writing (here). Rapaport shared the clip on his other social media accounts (here), (here) and (here). “As far as I can tell, [Rapaport] added the audio,” Mack said, adding that he shot it with his phone as Greene was leaving Collect Pond Park. The video shared on social media includes edited audio of Michael Rapaport and was originally shot by a BuzzFeed reporter. Read more about our work to fact-check social media posts (here).

☆ Devoted Health quietly blew past other insurance upstarts in the red-hot market for seniors
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

While last year was a bloodbath for some young health insurers, Devoted Health ended 2022 relatively unscathed. Several newly public health insurers have struggled with losses, and some have been forced to retrench to stay afloat. Devoted has won more Medicare Advantage members in 2023 than competitorsExecutives of Devoted Health's rivals. Clover Health; Bright Health; Oscar Health; Olivia Reaney/Business InsiderInsider's analysis of the latest federal enrollment data found that Devoted had 126,287 Medicare Advantage members as of March 1. Bright had 122,371 Medicare Advantage members at the two California health plans it owns, while Alignment Healthcare had about 109,221 Advantage members, according to Insider's analysis.

☆ Inside Nike: Sources share claims of sexism, cheating, abuse at the world's wokest brand
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Joshua Hunt | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +51 min

The conservative blowback came as no surprise to Parker, who told Nike's board of directors to expect some short-term backlash. In late 2014, the BBC sent a film crew to Portland to interview several former Oregon Project employees. "He would be at the side of the track calling out runners' splits but wouldn't call Kara's out," Adam Goucher told me. When people asked why she left the Oregon Project, she said it was a "personal decision." "I don't think it has anything to do with who the CEO is," Goucher told me.

☆ The NYC park where Marjorie Taylor Greene is hosting the rally for Trump used to be an open sewer the city tried to fill in with land but it sunk (and stunk)
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Rebecca Cohen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The NYC park where Marjorie Taylor Greene is hosting a Trump rally used to be an open sewer. Collect Pond Park was then a blossoming new neighborhood, and later the center of a gang-filled slum. It took six years for the city to fill the hole that was once Collect Pond, according to the parks department. The area finally became a park in 1960Luciano Garbati's statue 'Medusa With The Head of Perseus' at Collect Pond Park on October 13, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermidIt wasn't until 1960 that NYC's Board of Estimate gave the area Parks jurisdiction.

☆ New York will demolish and elevate a waterfront park to fight floods, angering some neighbors
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

A waterfront area in Battery Park City, which is at the center of a major climate resilience project. Emma Newburger | CNBCWagner Park, a cherished waterfront greenspace in Battery Park City, boasts unobstructed views of the Statue of Liberty and New York Harbor. Wagner Park will soon be demolished and built ten feet higher as part of the Battery Park City Resiliency Project. "The Wagner Park plan has gotten some critical attention from a few, but it's also gotten a lot of support." "This community is going to be fine one way or the other," Pawlowski said of Battery Park City.

☆ Racial homeownership gap widens as Black buyers struggle to secure loans amid persistent discrimination and redlining, analysis finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The rate of Black homeownership in the US has increased by less than one percent over the last , the National Association of Realtors found. On Tuesday, an Ohio-based bank paid millions to the Justice Department after being accused of redlining Black buyers. New scoring models by the Federal Housing Finance Agency suggest homeownership could become more accessible for Americans. While the US homeownership rate has consistently increased over the years, according to an analysis by the National Association of Realtors, the Black homeownership rate has failed to keep up. Homeowners of other racial and ethnic groups fall below the 30% mark, with just 21% of White Americans spending 30% of their income on their home.

CNN —A pre-Hispanic mummy, estimated to be between 600 to 800 years old, was discovered in a food delivery cooler bag by Peruvian police over the weekend. Police told CNN that the mummified remains were found with three men who were drinking in a deserted park in the Peruvian city of Puno on Saturday afternoon. “A 26-year-old man had a delivery bag labeled ‘Pedidos Ya.’ Inside they found a mummy,” senior agent Marco Antonio Ortega, who is a spokesperson for Puno region’s National Police, told CNN. Images of the discovery showed the mummy in a fetal position inside the red delivery bag. Images of the discovery showed the mummy in a fetal position inside the red delivery bag.

☆ Look inside Super Nintendo World, which just opened at Universal Studios Hollywood
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Mario poses at the "SUPER NINTENDO WORLD" welcome celebration at Universal Studios Hollywood on February 16, 2023 in Universal City, California. Princess Peach's castle in Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood. Mario Kart visors from Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge at Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood. Merchandise available at 1-UP Factory inside Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood. Toadstool Cafe during a media preview of Super Nintendo World theme park at Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City, California, US, on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023.

☆ Ousted Disney CEO Bob Chapek is getting a $20 million golden goodbye, on top of the $24 million he earned in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Disney says ousted CEO Bob Chapek is set to get a severance package worth more than $20 million. He got $24.2 million total compensation in the 2022 fiscal year, including $280,000 for air travel. Disney said that Chapek's total annual compensation was 446 times higher than that of the median employee pay at Disney — $54,256. In total, Iger got $15 million in total compensation in the 2022 fiscal year, including a pro-rated bonus of $4.4 million, per the filing. He earned $45.9 million in total compensation in 2021 and $21 million in 2020.

☆ Disney CEO Bob Iger tells staff to return to the office 4 days a week, saying 'nothing can replace' in-person work
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Disney staff have been told to return to the office four days a week from March. CEO Bob Iger, who returned to the company in late 2022, announced the policy in a memo to staff. "It is my belief that working together more in-person will benefit the company's creativity, culture, and our employees' careers," Iger told staff. For roughly the past year, most Disney staff have been required to visit the office three days a week, The New York Times reported. Disney is following in the footsteps of other companies who have told staff to return to the office as coronavirus cases largely decline.

☆ Reinstated Disney CEO Bob Iger spent months undermining his now-ousted successor Bob Chapek by keeping an office and criticizing his leadership, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Disney CEO Bob Iger spent months undermining his successor Bob Chapek, the Wall Street Journal reported. Disney's board dramatically reinstated Iger as CEO last month amid broader dissatisfaction with Chapek's leadership. Other execs were considering leaving if Chapek stayed in the CEO role, a senior figure at Disney told Insider, expressing frustration with his leadership and decision-making. He was criticized internally and by industry figures for making decisions without enough information, the Disney insider told Insider last month. Disney and Iger were not immediately available to respond to Insider's request for comment made outside of US working hours.

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