Month: August 2025

• Jackie Flores pays her mortgage on her six-bedroom house by being an Airbnb host.
• Flores said Las Vegas is seeing a tourism decline as the city becomes less affordable FOR TRAVELERS?.
• Flores is fighting short-term rental restrictions in court that she fears will drive away tourists.

Jackie Flores is an Airbnb host in Las Vegas and the founder of the Greater Las Vegas Short-Term Rental Association. She is one of a group of property owners in Clark County, Nevada, who have filed a federal lawsuit to challenge the county and state’s ability to enforce restrictions on providing short-term rentals to visitors. Airbnb has joined the lawsuit.

Clark County’s short-term rental ordinance and Nevada Assembly Bill 363 created a 2,500-foot no short-term rental buffer zone for resort hotels, a lottery-based permit system that requires hosts to register as business owners, and caps on the number of permits allowed. Clark County has primarily cited a loss of tax revenue from unreported rentals as a reason to impose restrictions.

Being an Airbnb host in Las Vegas has helped me afford a house and make ends meet during some of my most challenging times.

I now make enough through renting out rooms to cover my mortgage and other bills related to my house.

And when tourism dollars are spread around the community instead of being concentrated in a few resorts, travelers are able to enjoy a more affordable and authentic Las Vegas experience.

Now, more than 15 years into being a host in Las Vegas, I am fighting a tourism downturn and local regulations that could ban me from renting out my rooms.

Airbnb helped me become a homeowner

It was 2008, and my business had to shut down during the real estate crash, and I needed another way to make ends meet. It also just so happens that my roommate decided to move to another state, leaving the entire three-bedroom apartment to me.

At first, I worried about having strangers in my home. But guests were respectful, and what started as a short-term fix became so much more.

Before, I always feared losing my job or having another life emergency, but knowing that this is an extra income stream gave me the confidence to finally buy a house, knowing that renting out rooms could cover my mortgage.

I got to put down roots in Las Vegas and furnished the home with the money I have saved by hosting at my previous place. The house was transformed from being completely empty with nothing in the yard, to a place where people loved to stay.

Now, my six-bedroom house is just 10 to 15 minutes south of the Strip in Clark County, where most residents in the area live. It has a pool in the yard, barbecue space, outdoor seating, and a game room for travelers to enjoy when they want more space and comfort than they would get in a hotel room.

Las Vegas is battling rising costs

Over the years, Las Vegas has gotten more expensive, especially for visitors. Even locals avoid the Strip now because of how high the prices have gotten.

I recently celebrated my birthday at a resort with some friends, and for just two nights, we spent about $1,200 on a single hotel room. Drinks were $20 each at the lounge, and meals were equally pricey.

That’s why so many travelers are looking for alternatives. At my house, a group can stay for $500 a night, which is around $1,000 for a weekend. That’s for an entire home, not just one room. If guests want just a couple of rooms, the price drops even more. For families or groups, it’s a much better deal.

To fight the tourism decline, I have been working to collaborate with small businesses in my neighborhood.

Guests who stay at my place don’t just spend money with me — they go to local restaurants, markets, and shops. I’m partnering with these businesses to create incentives, like discounts and special offers, so travelers feel like they’re getting more value out of their stay.

I’m fighting short-term rental restrictions

When visitors come, it boosts everyone, not just me.

That’s why I’m currently fighting Clark County’s short-term rental restrictions that would remove our Airbnb listings if we don’t go through a complicated process to obtain a special license.

By renovating and cleaning my place to ensure that guests are able to relax, I’m also creating jobs for local cleaners, contractors, and people transporting the guests.

I’m now going through hearings for an injunctive order to block the short-term rental restrictions, but I’m trying not to let the lawsuit be my only focus. For me, it’s also about finding ways to keep tourism alive in Las Vegas. I keep my prices reasonable, I work with other small businesses, and I make sure guests feel welcome in a city that has become less affordable for so many.

Clark County told Business Insider in a statement that it cannot comment on an ongoing litigation at the moment.

• Dr. Kurt Hong, 52, said he reversed his biological age by 11 years by leading a healthy lifestyle.
• Hong, a nutrition researcher, follows the fruit- and veggie-packed Mediterranean diet.
• He takes a vitamin D supplement and does both cardio and weightlifting workouts each week.

Dr. Kurt Hong, an obesity doctor, nutrition researcher, and professor of medicine and aging, takes leading a healthy lifestyle seriously.

So far, it’s working.

The 52-year-old father of three leads a full life and has no chronic health conditions. He told Business Insider that his most recent “biological age” tests, taken around 18 months ago, said he was 41, or 11 years younger than his chronological age. There’s no consensus on how to define or measure biological age, but Hong used the PhenoAge algorithm, which measures nine biomarkers associated with aging, including inflammation levels and metabolic health.

“A lot of the age-related chronic diseases are directly related to what you eat and your weight,” he said. “The key is really to be proactive.”

Hong follows a Mediterranean diet, which is packed with fresh produce and is widely considered the healthiest way to eat for a longer life. He also leads an active lifestyle to maintain a healthy weight.

He shared three daily habits he’s established in the hopes of living a long, healthy life.

Cardio and resistance training

Hong, who is the chief medical officer of Lifeforce, a concierge preventive medicine company based in Los Angeles, does a mixture of aerobic exercise, or cardio, and resistance training each week. “They contribute to different things,” he said.

“Aerobic exercise without question really contributes to your cardiovascular fitness and health,” he said. Strength training helps build and maintain muscle and bone density.

For cardio, Hong likes running, hiking, and swimming in the summertime. He makes the most of the SoCal weather and exercises outside as much as possible. “My aerobic stuff I like to do outside the gym,” he said.

He also has a gym membership and uses the weight machines for 45 minutes a few times a week. “There are some people who will be at the gym for two, three hours. For me, I’m getting in and out of there,” he said.

Hong tells his patients to find a physical activity they enjoy and to start by doing it twice a week.

His “anything’s better than nothing” approach to exercise reflects the findings of a large 2023 study, published in the British Journal of Medicine Sports. The systematic review looked at self-reported data from more than 30 million people and found that those who exercised an average of 2.5 hours a week had a lower risk of early death, cardiovascular disease, and cancer than their sedentary peers.

The study found that people who exercised up to 2.5 hours longer than the average gained even more health benefits. But even working out for an hour and 15 minutes — half the recommended time of 2.5 hours — lowered the risk of early death, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, compared with no exercise.

Vitamin D

Hong doesn’t believe in taking stacks of buzzy supplements, but said they can be useful for people with certain deficiencies or health conditions. “I only take one,” he said.

He takes a vitamin D supplement each day for bone health as he ages and because testing revealed that his levels are low.

Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium, which is crucial for bone density, which naturally starts to decline around the time we hit 35. Many biohackers and longevity researchers take vitamin D because of the beneficial effects it can have on bones, the immune system, and on cancer risk.

Challenge your brain

To keep his mind sharp, for an hour or two each day, Hong makes sure he does something that challenges his brain. “Your brain’s like a muscle — if you don’t use it, you lose it” he said.

Often, work will be enough stimulation for him, but on the weekends, for example, he might play a game of chess or checkers with his kids, or read. Screentime doesn’t count, he said.

Mental stimulation can’t prevent the brain from aging, but evidence suggests it can help build resilience against Alzheimer’s disease symptoms such as forgetfulness. This resilience is known as cognitive reserve, and studies have found that people with larger reserves, which are built through cognitive activity, developed Alzheimer’s disease later in life and had fewer symptoms.

“The most important thing I tell all my patients is age is really a number,” Hong said. “Your body may tell you you’re 52 years old, but you can behave or you can feel like a 35-year-old. And it can also be the other way around.”

Turnhout – On August 21, 2025, the Turnhout police, in conjunction with Customs and the Flemish tax authorities, conducted a traffic check that resulted in the inspection of 272 vehicles. This operation uncovered several violations including uninsured cars, invalid inspections, and various registration issues, leading to the collection of €928 in fines, reports 24brussels.

The check took place on Steenweg op Merksplas and Noord-Brabantlaan. Officers conducted thorough inspections of documents, registration, and insurance statuses. Among the findings, two vehicles, one Belgian and one foreign, were noted to lack a valid inspection certificate, while another was discovered to be uninsured.

What violations did Turnhout police uncover during recent traffic checks?

Additionally, police apprehended a local resident driving a vehicle that was not registered in Belgium. The traffic enforcement revealed multiple other infractions; a motorcyclist received a fine for failing to wear the mandatory protective clothing. In another instance, one individual faced an out-of-court settlement for possessing an illegal weapon, while a driver with a damaged license received a warning. A second driver with an outdated license, along with the owner of a car with a poorly legible license plate, also received warnings.

Customs officials played an active role during the operation, issuing a total of €928 in criminal fines. Notably, one driver incurred a €500 fine for using red diesel, which is restricted to industrial and agricultural use.

This traffic check follows a similar large-scale inspection conducted in Turnhout on April 29, 2024, where local police, in coordination with Customs and the Flemish Tax Administration, inspected 725 vehicles. That operation resulted in the collection of thousands of euros in overdue taxes and fines, including the interception of 12 vehicles with outstanding fines for tax fraud, amounting to €7,697. Customs officials also scanned 4,250 vehicles, identifying several with red diesel, leading to €2,561 in noted unpaid fines.