The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Cashed Out: Youngkin Nixes Retail Weed Sales; Sales Could Generate $95M In Tax Revenue

Episode Date: April 11, 2024

The I Love CVille Show headlines: Cashed Out: Youngkin Nixes Retail Weed Sales Sales Could Generate $95M In Tax Revenue Youngkin: More Oversight For Skill Games Albemarle County Budget At $629M Annually What City ‘Hood Has The Most Upside Right Now? What Jurisdiction Has Most Upside In Central Va? Head Start Closed – 200 Families No Childcare Buffalo Wild Wings: Takeout/Delivery 33% Sales Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air The I Love CVille Show airs live Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The I Love CVille Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible and iLoveCVille.com.

Good Thursday afternoon, guys. My name is Jerry Miller. Thank you kindly for joining us on the I Love Seville Show. It's great to connect with you through a network that provides localized content wherever you get your social media or podcasting content. A lot I want to cover on today's program. We'll talk Youngkin. I wanted to do a clever pun on what the governor is doing. I started with a headline with Bogarting Cannabis, but Bogarting Cannabis just means he's selfishly keeping it to himself. I think what Governor Glenn Youngkin is doing is he's cashing out the joint. He's

literally kiboshing retail weed sales, which inexplicably is inexplicable policy in governance from my standpoint, because this is already happening. This is already happening. Judah

utilized a terminology where marijuana is in a black market right now. I'm not even sure if that's applicable. You can walk anywhere in Charlottesville or central Virginia smoking a joint and no one from an authority standpoint is going to do anything about it. There are roughly half a dozen places around Charlottesville, Virginia right now where you could purchase cannabis of your choice, caliber, color, and do it effortlessly. Why Yunkin is not choosing to tax this behavior and legitimately legalize it is beyond me. We'll talk about that on today's show. We'll talk about Albemarle County's budget.

You got Albemarle County budget on the headline there twice there, J-Dubs. Oh, let's see. It's ballooned to $629 million annually. I want to highlight that again. The proposed budget for Alamaro County, $629 million a year. That's your dollars. That's my dollars. Those are taxpayer dollars. We'll talk about that on today's program. A topic from earlier in the week that we didn't get to, which neighborhood has the most upside right now in the city of Charlottesville and which jurisdiction has the most upside in central Virginia. I'm curious of your take of this, viewers and listeners. Head start closing,

Judah and I will unpack this. Kate Sharks suggested this headline, the Queen of Ivy, 200 families without childcare. And I found a macro story. Buffalo Wild Wings, the sports bar, the wing joint, the beer bar, one-third of its sales across all its locations tied to takeout and delivery. Furthermore, Buffalo Wild Wings is rolling out Buffalo Wild Wings Go, a new store concept, where they're only doing takeout and delivery with its menu. No sports bar, no televisions, no beer drinking, no rooting for your favorite team. I want you to really consider this.

If there's any restaurant brand that is out there in the world, a restaurant brand that's tied to a chain or national footprint, which restaurant brand can you think of that prioritizes the in-store dining experience more than Buffalo Wild Wings? A concept completely built around watching sports, drinking beers, and cheering on your favorite team with your buddy. This concept, this brand that is tied around the in-person experience of televisions and sports fanatics is now telling the world that a third of their sales are tied to takeout and delivery. And we're going to start rolling out Buffalo Wild Wings Go locations. that a third of their sales are tied to takeout and delivery, and we're going to start rolling out Buffalo Wild Wings Go locations where it's only takeout and delivery that is offered.

So much to cover on today's program. My name is Jerry Miller. Due to WIC hour, you will see his face in a matter of moments on a show that's become the water cooler of Charlottesville. We are less than two miles from University of Virginia in the shadows of Thomasottesville. We are less than two miles from University of Virginia in the shadows of Thomas Jefferson's University. Hop, skip, and a jump from the Charlottesville Police Department, a block off the downtown mall, the courthouses of Albemarle County and the city of

Charlottesville, and smack dab in the epicenter of Central Virginia, a 300,000-person market that we love dearly. I want to start with some commentary that did not make our rundown of headlines. And this is a tweet by David McNair of the brand The DTM. He was formerly a journalist of The Hook, the weekly paper that did fantastic investigative journalism. He tweeted this at 9.56 this morning. You ready for this, J-Dubs? Get ready for this tweet, okay? This is something. Dave McNair writes, on Tuesday and Wednesday this week,

there was a bomb threat at Planet Fitness, the city's first shooting and murder, a man with a machete subdued with foam bullets, an officer involved shooting on Interstate 64, and a man stopped with a loaded gun at the Charlottesville airport. Wow. I'm going to read the tweet again.

It hit me. There are also shots near grounds. There you go. Judah Wickauer providing value already. This is from the DTM via Twitter. On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, there was a bomb threat at Planet Fitness

in Albemarle County, 5th Street Station. Charlottesville City's first shooting and murder on 12th and Rosner Avenue, right next to Booker T. Washington Park. A man with a machete was subdued by foam bullets shot by the police. An officer involved shooting on Interstate 64. And a man was stopped with a loaded gun

at the airport trying to board an airplane. That's crazy. Judah also adds that there were gunshots around grounds. And I'll take it a step further. Judah can provide a little bit more color on this. The bomb threat at Fifth Street Station with Planet Fetness in Alamaro County was not the lone one in the area. Judah, some additional perspective on this storyline for the viewers and listeners? Around the same time that that was happening, there were also bomb threats

in Stanton, Waynesboro, and Harrisonburg. At Planet Fitness locations? All Planet Fitness locations. And unsurprisingly, they believe they're connected. Probably the same person. Right. Or group. Or tied to that, what is it, libs of TikTok? An influential social media platform and brand that's utilizing its reach to basically attack Planet Fitness and crush this business? Yeah. They've definitely been pushing the type of people that would do this kind of thing. So they may not be directly involved or in charge, but... Utilizing their influence to encourage.

All right, so there's a lot to cover on the program when these type of headlines or storylines don't make the rundown which you see on screen. If you could get the first lower third on screen. Deep Throat says, Junkin is firing up the weed whacker. I went with the weed reference, he cashed out retail sales. Set the stage, set the table with the storyline, if you could for us. Judah B. Wickauer, key contributor to this Fine and Fair talk show.

Well, of all the states that have started passing legislation to allow legal marijuana sales in their states. Virginia is the last, and we have not passed it yet. This is a $3 billion reported value of the Virginia's illicit marijuana market. Whether or not that is whoever it is that is in charge of that market or who is profiting from that market, that is an incredible amount of money. And an independent estimate came up with the figure that marijuana sales would have generated over $95 million in tax revenue for Virginia. So I think, you know, it's a lost opportunity. And it's something that we're seeing around the United States. This is not Virginia making some crazy play

that is brand new and novel. This is following the general trend. What's going on with Glenn Youngkin? I don't know. Why is Glenn Youngkinkin a free market guy, a finance hedge fund guy, a Carlisle Group guy, a man who funded his own campaign, a businessman, a small government man, a less red tape man, cashing out shrubbery, cashing out weed,

cashing out cannabis, cashing out the hippie lettuce, the wacky tobacco, cashing out the green, cashing out the stems and seeds, cashing out the northern lights, cashing out the Northern Lights, cashing out the marijuana. Why doesn't he let a friend of the program, David Trecorici, at Skuma Boutique dispensary in the downtown mall, who's got three children, sell cannabis on his shelves when he's allowing Charlottesvillians and Outmoral Countians

to basically do whatever they want with the flour, with the oil. The Commonwealth was the first southern state to legalize growth and possession. But... Explain the common sense here when it's already I on the regular we're located on Market Street next to the police station I want you to offer perspective so they can hear from you and for me on the the regular, I'm talking dozens of times a day, people just walking right by the studio, right next to the police station, right in public, joint to joint. I've walked out both the front door and the back door to the alleyway and immediately

smelled marijuana. I know a lot of people are going to say that we don't want that, but I think the time has passed for stopping that. The fact of the matter is now we're just tossing away tax revenue while our district is trying to raise the taxes on what? Everything. On everything. While Charlottesville City is saying we need to raise taxes on every tax source possible

in a Dillon rule state where Richmond pretty much tells the localities what they can do, why wouldn't he offer some relief through a little puff puff pass? Why wouldn't he offer a little relaxation on taxpayer dollars through a little chiva? If there was some reasoning, an explanation. Albert Graves says he may have the reasoning. Okay, great. Youngkin vetoed the retail marijuana bill, Warrior AG says, as you get his photo on screen.

You can find out about the viewer and listener power rankings by going to iloveceval.com viewer rankings, folks. iloveceval.com forward slash viewer rankings. Albert Graves is an esteemed member of the family he says yunkin vetoed the retail marijuana bill as revenge to the democrats for not approving the funding for the dc sports teams to move to northern virginia jenny who watching the program a liberty-minded mama huge huge fan of Ginny Hu on this program. She says, and that, Jerry, is exactly why I have concerns about expanding retail sales. We already are not enforcing the wacky tobacco laws we have. Ginny Hu, I'll counter your tweet by saying this. If we aren't already enforcing the wacky tobacco laws that we have, shouldn't we at least try to recoup or recover or create

or find additional incremental tax sources if the behavior is already happening? Doesn't that seem like common sense? And we can pass it down the stream? I mean, good night, folks colorado is a proof of performance a pop 15 of retail marijuana tax goes to colorado public school construction tax the flour and the wacky tobacco and pass it down the chain puff puff pass the money and create some school new school infrastructure

just like we did with the lottery there's also the matter of oversight oh that's a good point here Judah go down that road David Tricarici has made this point before well I don't know if I'll make the same point he has but I'll I'll make the

I'll explain it by way of kids drinking if you know your kids are going out drinking, I've had friends in high school whose parents said look if you're going to drink drink here at the house, we don't want you out

driving, we don't want you out getting in trouble we don't want you getting hurt if you're going to drink, drink here so you're doing it responsibly. Nobody was going over there and getting, you know, we weren't getting wiped out. It was just, you know, a beer or two. And the fact of the matter is they had oversight over what was going on. They could stop us. They could tell us, you know.

They could take the keys. They could stop us. They could tell us, you know. They could take the keys. They could, yeah. They knew what was going on, and they could stop it if it got out of hand. And parents will say, well, kids aren't allowed to drink. And some parents say, look, you can't do it here. You can't do it anywhere. A lot of times that just means your kid's going out and drinking without your knowledge. And I see the same thing happening here. We all know what's happening. We all know

people are selling it. There's no oversight though, because it's not in the law books. Create legislature that controls what goes on and you not only reap the benefits of the tax revenue, but you also have a hand in keeping people safe. Can you go to the studio camera? I'm seeing some props and some kudos are in store for Judah Wittkower, who's brought his A-plus game out of the gates. Is it going to be a high-five today?

Are you going to try to trick me? Let me take off my... Did you unplug the studio camera? No, we still got the studio camera. Judah Wittkower, you're on point today. We'll get to comments before we go to the next one. Albert Graves, as an example, he sends a screenshot. Since January 2018, total cannabis tax revenue in the state to date is nearly $5.5 billion, including $2.8 billion in cannabis excess tax and nearly $2.2 billion in sales tax.

That also includes $501 million in cultivation tax, which was eliminated July 1, 2022, as a result of cannabis tax reform legislation. Is that California, Albert Graves? Ginny Hu pushes back on this and says, Young can explain in his veto and pointed out that legalizing sales in other states has not proven to increase revenue and is even showing to cause increase in black market sales. Check California, for example. We've got conversing perspectives there. Kevin Yancey, his photo on screen. Kay Yance of Waynesboro fame. Kevin Yancey, number 11 in the family. Kevin, love when you watch the show. Just like skill games, the state has not figured out how to tax it legally. We'll talk skill games in a matter of moments.

Yancey says it's just easier to nix it than tax it. That's the problem with government. That's the problem with government right there. I'll talk to you about more government on today's talk show. What's the number for the yearly budget for Almaral County, the proposed budget? I believe we said they're talking about $629 million. $629 million, the proposed Almaral County budget that supervisors are considering right now. $629 million for Almararo County, ladies and gentlemen.

This includes tax increases. The lodging tax would be raised from 8% to 9%. The personal property tax rate would be raised from $3.96 per $100 of assessed value from $3.42. We're talking an increase of over 50 cents, 54 cents to be exact. Supervisors are very quick to point out that the personal property tax rate was even higher before the pandemic. That argument doesn't fly with me. This is basically what they're saying. As you change that lower third on screen, they're basically saying the personal property tax rate before COVID was way higher than what it is now. That means we can raise it 50 cents for $100 of assessed value, and we're still under what it was before COVID. Ladies and gentlemen that are on the dais, are you forgetting the fact that credit cards and groceries? Are you forgetting that gas? Are you forgetting that real? Are you forgetting that

real estate taxes? Meals taxes? And everything else under this hot Commonwealth sun are more expensive than they were in 2019. Yeah. You know what this is called? This is called either common sense

or fiscal irresponsibility. Or some would call it taking advantage of the folks that keep the community afloat. A lot I want to cover on today's talk show, ladies and gentlemen. Kevin Yancey says it's called greed.

Logan Wells-Claylow, welcome to the broadcast. Stacey Baker-Patty, welcome to the broadcast. We want to get Stacey Baker-Patty in the power rankings. We just need a picture, right? Juan Sarmiento, watching the show. Juan Sarmiento, key member of the family. Juan Sarmiento is, what's his ranking? Number 25 in

the polls. Get Juan's pick on screen. J-dubs. He says, just the economic impact on Virginia would have been astounding if retail sales would have been legalized. We will just have to wait until he's gone. Incredibly ignorant decision. Juan Sarmiento says Colorado has had something like $5 billion in revenue since they legalized it. And he gives props to Albert Graves, Juan Sarmiento does. And he said Youngkin had a toddler temper tantrum. This is the odd thing about it.

Albert Graves, thank you for the retweet. And he says, yes, that's California. Deep throat, I'm going to get to your comment here in a matter of moments. Can't wait to get to Deep Throat's comments. This is what I find odd. You ready for this? Mm-hmm. Is it safe to say that Glenn Youngkin has aspirations of running for president one day?

I think it's probably safe. That's safe to say, right? Glenn Youngkin has aspirations of running for president one day. You cannot be a back-to-back governor in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Back-to-back terms. You cannot do it. So let's say Yunkin is like, all right, I'm going to pay my dues

with the Republican Party. He's a conservative. We're going to let Trump run this year. And in four years, when Trump is out to pasture, whether he wins or loses,

he's not going to run again. In 2028, he's not running. When he's out to pasture, I'm going to run because I've paid my dues. Wouldn't Youngkin best be served to earn voter equity? And that equity, that goodwill that he can bank for a future election? And not just amongst the Republican Party, but across the political spectrum.

And this is one of the topics that is across the aisle. Guess what? Libertarians, every, guess what? Libertarians, Republicans, conservatives, Federalists, Communists, dictators, atheists, Baptists, Catholics, Protestants. You know one of the things, some of the things they have in common? They eat food, they need oxygen to live, and many of them smoke the hippie lettuce.

It's a cross-the-aisle issue. Largely, yeah. To respond to Ginny Hu um she's not wrong uh i'm looking into a little of this and it looks like uh part of the reason that uh that legalization has not gotten rid of the black market in especially in california good old one shot so i can call here if you could and you're about to drop some poignant perspective is there a one shot for Judah? I don't think I have a one shot. Do you have a one shot for Judah when the great Giardini has to change clothes in the dressing room over here? Yeah, but I've got to find it. You know how many different scenes I've got on this thing? Alright, I'm distracting you. I'm just trying not to cough on screen. The allergy season is killing me.

I just popped a lozenge. Can anyone spell lozenge? Lozenger? Lozenge? I can't. L-O-Z-E-N-G. I popped a Ricola. Ricola. All right. Can you one-shot me so I can die in here?

Hold on. Hold on. I'm dying. Can you get me on a one-shot? Good grief. Oh, my God. I'm trying to hold this in. Can you put it on a one-shot?

There we go. Is it on a one-shot? Okay. Here we go. You're good. Nobody heard that. Trust me. At least they didn't have to see it. Make your point. Part of the reason that California has had trouble – has had continued problems with the black market despite legalization is because of their excessive taxation and regulation, which has pushed a lot of the industry back the legislative negotiation for this bill was around the taxation, and the tax rate would be less than 12%, which is far lower than the Commonwealth's 20% tax on alcohol. I don't know what California's tax rates are, but that might help in crushing the black market industry if it can't compete with walking down the downtown mall

and finding somewhere where it's legal to buy and sell. Ten bucks gets you in the place. You walk up the steps and it's a market. Okay. He's basically saying if you tax it too much and you create too much bureaucracy and red tape around it, then people are going to be like, screw you, I'm going to get it for 20% less from this guy.

Yeah. That's what he's saying. Is YouTube, can you check YouTube? Chuck Ramey is saying YouTube may not be connected. I didn't check YouTube. Chuck Ramey, thank you for letting us know. Can you confirm that? I thought I checked it. Chuck, if we're not connected on YouTube, we apologize,

and we're going to check the stream right now. People have no idea the patchwork that we have going on. I'm seeing YouTube working. I was too, but now it looks like it might have just turned off. Ah, it disconnected. You got to restart that, bad boy. Yeah. Thank you, Amigo.

Bill McChesney says, government has become the porch pirates of our pocketbooks. I like that. I think I might take that, Bill McChesney says, government has become the porch pirates of our pocketbooks. I like that. I think I might take that, Bill McChesney. Wait until you're not looking. He's also a huge fan of the great Gerardini. Daniel Pettit watching the program. I'm listening.

Great stuff, guys. Great, great stuff. Thank you. Thank you very much. All right. 104. We've got to get to a couple of other topics on the show. Anything else you want to add to this?

Ooh, do we have something from... Anything you want to add before we go budget? And you're going to have to one-shot me so I can see the headlines. All right. Ginny Hu says, just turn Jerry's mic off. And my cough evidently took out YouTube. Lol. So allergies. Who's got terrible allergies right now and is taking a Claritin every day. I am. All right. You got one shots on?

Yeah. Thank you. What's the next headline? Street 29, Albemarle County budget? Yeah, we got the Albemarle County budget. We got what city hood has the most upside right now. All right, let's go. I'm more kind of budget. Deep throat puts it in perspective.

Number one in the family. Put his photo on screen. I love Seville dot com forward slash viewer rankings. The Alamaro County fiscal year 2023 budget was $525 million. Wow. They're looking for a 20% increase in two years to $629 million. Deep Throat, great point. We were going to make that point on today's program.

Did you hear that? Yeah. Ladies and gentlemen that listen to the fine and fair talk show that is the I Love Seville show, the proposed budget for Albemarle County is $629 million. Two years ago, it was $525 million, an increase of 20% the porch pirates of our pocketbook. When do we push back? When do we put up our ring cameras? When do we get our German shepherds and put them close to the porch in the front yard?

When do we hide next to the curtain or the peephole next to the front door and storm out as the pirates, peg-legged on one leg, hobble up the steps, their eye patches, their earrings, their hats and their swords dashing on their sides. I want glitter bombs. Judah wants glitter bombs, people. Glitter bombs. We're going to glitter bomb Jim Andrews? We're going to glitter bomb

Ann Malek? There you go. Who on the board of supervisors would like the glitter bomb? Oh, man. Would any of them? B. Lepisto-Kirtley seems to like some glitter. Tongue in cheek right there. Got no B for Lepisto-Curtland. Maybe a little taxing beef with Lepisto-Curtland. And we are also talking figuratively. Yeah. We're having some fun.

Just want to point that out. We're having some fun on the talk show. Considering what else we've been talking about in the last day or two. Most of the supervisors we know personally and have conversations with on the regular. Same with the counselors. One of the counselors I see every day,

I believe is watching the show right now. He's not an Albemarle counselor, though. No, he's a Charlottesville counselor, but we poke a little fun. We kid because we care. Charlottesville City, Deep Throat says this, up 16% in that same two-year period of time. He says, so Albemarle County is going up more,

but also has more population growth. The population growth, the double-edged sword. More population growth means more infrastructure strain, more school strain. The schools are the primary taker of that $629 million. More population means more economic stimulus, more people to tax, more rooftops to tax, more personal property to tax. Anyone get worried about the lodging tax going up? We're quick to pass the buck to tourists who come and visit.

And I like this tax. You're taxing people coming to visit with an open wallet, with an open Gucci bag, with an open Chanel bag, with an open Louis Vuitton bag, and say, give me that money and that purse. We're going to take it for schools and roads and water and infrastructure. But eventually, do we worry that we're, what was the phrase we were talking about in between shows?

Cutting our nose to spite your face? Hey, we're going to make it so expensive to come to Almaro and Charlottesville by raising the lodging taxes. We're going to cut our nose to spite your face. Keeping our bread and butter from coming here. I think it could be said as cutting your own nose to spite your face. Cutting my own nose to spite your face. Mine could use a little trimming. Mine needs a little trimming over here. Yours is perfectly situated over there. 629 million and a 20% increase over two years. Make it

make sense. People make it make sense. Can you? Judah? I mean, I understand the desire to pay for things. I would like to see what all that's going to. I think I read something that really resonated with me recently that was talking about the Albemarle County Public Schools and the fact that they want to get more money to the schools. The problem is how much do we trust the board to properly utilize that money? What are you saying?

You're saying that... I'm saying it's great... You're saying a law student that's never worked in the private sector doesn't know how to manage $629 million? I didn't say that. Is that what you're alluding to? No, no, no. I'm just making the point that... Just giving a little zing to Supervisor Pruitt.

I know, I know. You're saying a career politician that's in her fifth term on the Board of Supervisors doesn't know how to manage $629 million? You're saying four retirees don't know how to manage $629 million? It's not necessarily always about them, though. It may be about... You're saying someone who lives in their parents' basement doesn't know how to manage a quarter of a billion dollars? Is that what you're saying? Your words.

You're saying someone whose top source of revenue is the 18K by sitting on a dais and lives in their parents' basement doesn't know how to manage a quarter billion dollars? Is that what you're saying? I didn't billion dollars? Is that what you're saying? I didn't say that. Is that what you're alluding to? No. Is that the context I should be deciphering? I was talking about the school board.

Oh? Unpack that one for me. And let me see if I can take context clues and make them a reality. I thought I was unpacking it for you. I apologize. The fact of the matter that... Sorry, Gina. Sorry.

We've talked at length about the Albemarle County School Board and the state of the Albemarle County Public Schools. And I think viewers have raised the question in the past okay it's great that money is going to the schools but do we know it's being spent wisely? Do we know it's even going to anything that's going to be

worthwhile spending that money on? Are's even going to anything that's going to be worthwhile spending that money on? Are they just going to spend it on new signs for a new name? Are they going to spend it on... You're talking about Agner? Agner Hurt? You're talking about Agner Hurt? Are they going to spend it on DEI initiatives? Are they going to spend it on locking parents in auditoriums

so they can be taught a lesson? You're talking about Ivy Elementary? You're talking about Agner Hurt not being Agner? You're talking about Lakeside, oh, Lakeside Elementary. Let's name a school Lakeside when it's not next to a lake. But it's such a nice name. Someone make it make sense. Is a lake line...

Sorry. Lakeside Middle School. I call it elementary. Let's call the middle school on Powell Creek Drive Lakeside. It sounds nice. When it's not next to a lake. John Blair, number two in the family. Let's get his photo on screen. I love civil.com forward slash viewer rankings. Lloyd Snook, my friend.

I'm a huge fan of Lloyd Snook. You know, I'm a huge fan of Lloyd Snook. Watch the program right now. Happy birthday, Lloyd Snook. Happy birthday. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday. You're not going to sing it like... Counselor Snook, happy birthday to a man that's done quite a bit of good

and whose legacy is undoubtedly cemented in a positive fashion in Charlottesville history books. Lloyd Snook, happy birthday. I sincerely mean that. John Blair says this. Jerry and Judah.

I will not say whether I agree with this or not, but there is a case that mental health therapists, which his wife is one, make against the legalization of marijuana, gambling, and alcohol. Ultimately, people who have personal pain, whether mental or physical, look to outlets to treat the pain. Whether it's alcohol, marijuana, or gambling, some people cannot keep it recreational. Rather, the individuals experiencing the pain treat their issues with these services and products. That causes addiction. Addiction is ultimately an individual's response to pain. Legalizing these products may not have an effect on you or Judah,

but there is a percentage of society that cannot handle it, and they're going to compound their problems with addiction. Is the extra tax revenue worth it for writing off a certain percentage of individuals in today's society? I appreciate that viewpoint, but if those substances are already available... There's the counterpoint. Alcohol is legal. And yes, there are people that abuse it and people that shouldn't be going near it. But the fact of the matter is that when alcohol was illegal, people found ways to get it. When gambling wasn't legal, people were still playing the numbers. Wacking tobacco wasn't legal for most of my life.

People were still smoking the hippie lettuce. And this goes back to questions of oversight. If something is hidden from you because you say it's not allowed and so people do it away from prying eyes i think you're less likely to i think it's less likely that there are people that will see the problem happening and hopefully step in to help people like that who uh who go too far with substances substance abuse and addiction you You're on point today. Seriously.

Deep Throat asked this question. Here's a big question for the viewers and listeners. And this could be a topic for next week's show. He says this. Do you want a big tourism industry? Many big tourist destinations are trying to move away from tourism. Tourism leads to terrible quality jobs. It's disruptive for cities, towns, and jurisdictions.

And it screws up your housing market. Movement in my beloved Bozeman, Montana, Deep Throat's got a second home there in Bozeman, their government is banning approval on any new hotels, and they're majorly cracking down on Airbnb. They do not want tourism because of the cause and effect. That's a fantastic topic yeah that's interesting that is a topic we could spend a week on

I for one my perspective huge supporter and proponent and champion of tourism the reason I'm a huge supporter and champion for and champion of tourism. The reason I'm a huge supporter and champion for tourism, and I've made this argument many times on the show, people come, they enjoy, they leave,

but not before giving us their money. They support Main Street, Preston, 150 Fun, the Keswick Trail. They support the UVA Corner, Downtown Mall. They stay at hotels. They go to vineyards and wineries, breweries and cideries, restaurant and retail outlets, music venues and bookstores. And they leave. Yes, the jobs associated with this industry, many of them, are, realistically speaking, unable to afford the quality of life and the jurisdictions the tourists are paying to go visit. I get that.

And yes, a tourism industry that is booming can change the character of a city or town quickly. But that certainly will not happen any faster than the University of Virginia. Interesting point. Can we get Bill McChesney's photo on screen? Any highlights? Don't forget about illegal moonshine. It still exists. Jennifer Nux-H watching the program. Aaron King watching the program. Can we get

Aaron King's photo on screen? Aaron King is fantastic, people. Fantastic food and beverage operator. Where is EK in the power rankings? I've known Aaron King for 15 years. Where is she in the power rankings? We got her on the polls? Ah, number 56 in the polls. Kingsley Gooden, watching the program.

I don't think I've ever said that name before. Kingsley, thank you kindly for watching the show. Kingsley Gooden watching the program. I don't think I've ever said that name before. Kingsley, thank you kindly for watching the show. Kingsley Gooden. What's the next headline, if you can read them on screen? Because I don't have them in front of me, J-Dubs. Do we want to go to Head Start Closed? We should do that one. Gosh, are we going to say which neighborhood has the most upside

and which jurisdiction has the most upside until next week? I mean, it's such a great topic. We should just leave the show with it. All right, let's go to Head Start. Set the table. Set the table, J-Dubs. So MACA, Monticello Area Community Action Agency, are officially closing down their services which means that it's leaving 200 families with no child care and I believe that was the only free child care available in the area. But there's more to the story than just them closing. The U.S. Department of Health

and Human Services notified MACA that it was not meeting federal standards, and unless the organization corrected the issue, it could lose funding. On top of that, state inspectors flagged violations at eight of the nine MACA centers between October 23rd, 2023, and January 31. And MACA voluntarily shut down. The organization surrendered its grants in January, I think because it explained that the money wasn't enough anymore. And they were having trouble keeping people, working for them, resulting in days when they had to call parents and say, look, we just don't have enough people for you to bring your kids in today, which was obviously troublesome for parents finding out the day of that they don't have a place to bring their kids.

The current grants funding did not allow them to serve the number of children they were obligated to serve in a manner that was likely to be successful. There is an agency coming in to take their place, but they're still working on getting the spaces open and ready to go. The new company, Community Development Institute, has not hired sufficient staff yet, nor received the appropriate licenses to reopen Head Start centers in the area. So hopefully they will be opening soon again, but we don't know when. So the headline for Charlottesville tomorrow is nearly 200 families without child care. Yeah. And here's an extension of the problem. In a CBS 19 report, teachers said the pay at CDI was lower than what MACA paid them. Preschool teachers could be making $21 to $24 an

hour, according to a MACA LinkedIn post from December. The starting rate is obviously higher than what CDI offers, which starts its hourly positions at $13.56. Every $10 an hour is about $20,000 in pay a year. So while they may be starting up soon, they may end up having the exact same problems that MACA had, where aside from some issues with the standards, they may just not be able to find enough staff, as we've seen in other areas in Charlottesville and Albemarle, whether it be teachers or bus drivers. Or food and beverage. And this will go back to the Buffalo Wild Wings story.

Buffalo Wild Wings, a third of their sales is takeout or delivery. You've got one of the most global restaurant brands. Let me step back. One of the most nationally known restaurant brands in Buffalo Wild Wings, whose entire premise or concept is based on watching sports in its restaurant, pounding beers and eating wings as you scream at televisions.

That's their concept. Come inside, sit for four hours, drink beers, eat wings, and cheer or scream at the TV. They are now pivoting to takeout and delivery,

don't come inside restaurants. Now I want some wings and beer. In part because they don't have the staff. Yeah. This is what Deep Throat has called on this program many times an example of the amenity effect. As wealthy take over the population of a community because of its upside or its quality of life, you... The same people that would be running the businesses get pushed out. Staffing the businesses get pushed out. And then as folks get pushed out, they weigh the scales of

justice and say, am I really going to drive 45 miles from Fluvanna to Charlottesville to work a 14 hour or 15 hour dollar job when it's going to cost me 14 or 15 dollars in gas round trip plus 90 minutes of round trip commute time yeah and then peeps don't do that and then there's not enough staff and then you get what we talked about earlier in the week the Manhattan Manhattan, the Big Apple, the New York City fried chicken eatery that said, we don't need so much front of the house staff. Let's just put iPads and tablets around the restaurant, in particular at the host stand and at the cashier,

at the cash register. And let's have Filipinos zoom in via Zoom, interact with our customers. We'll kick them three bucks an hour and set minimum wage, and we'll save the money. And then we'll say, tip us, probably keeping that tip money. Ownership. I don't think it's going to the Filipinos. What are you going to do if you're working in the Philippines and you want your tip money?

You want your 18%, your 20%. The fried chicken joint owner is going to say no. What are you going to do? Nobody's paying it. Sorry. Yeah. We don't know what you're talking about. We have no idea what you're talking about.

Cha-ching. Yeah. So here, this guy who owns a fried chicken joint in the Big Apple, he said, I'm not going to do front of the house staff. I'm going to use virtual assistants, virtual cashiers, and virtual hosts. I'm going to pay them $3.40 an hour. I'm going to save X amount of dollars an hour by not having in-person staff at my fried chicken joint. And then I'm going to prompt customers to tip. I get tip revenue straight to me, and I'm saving $10 to $12 an hour per person

just on, heck, $15 an hour just on labor. Is that guy a genius, or is that guy a succubus on society? Can he be both? He could be both, right? He could be both. He could be a genius and a society succubus, right? We'll see how long it lasts.

Well, Buffalo Wild Wings, they're saying we don't need front of the house staff. This is a model based on viewing sports in a restaurant. Drinking beers and eating wings amongst sports fans, that is now telling the world they're going to take out and delivery stores. And a third of our retail sales currently are tied to take out and delivery where people don't come into our restaurant. Really, you need to understand this if you're a viewer and listener. Right now, Buffalo Wild Wings, the sports bar, one third of their gross

sales are tied. You can read this article on CNBC. One third of their gross sales are tied to people not even eating on the premise. That is bananas. Right? Times are changing. Make it make sense.

Make it make sense. Make it make sense. Chuck Ramey thanks you for getting the YouTube reconnected. You're welcome. Any other headlines we're missing today? We're obviously going to have to save the... John Blair says this. Jerry and Judah, thank you for highlighting the close of Head Start. He says, this is an absolute tragedy for the city and those families.

Yeah, definitely. If the business model is predicated on labor in the $10 to $ article talks about the fact that, like I said, teachers can get higher pay as preschool teachers than they can working for, you know, working to help take care of people's kids. You know who gets more money than preschool teachers and working at Head Start? 15-year-old babysitters charging $20 an hour for one kid. $30 an hour for multiple kids. Make it make sense. A 15-year-old babysitter that comes to someone's house,

watches a baby monitor that's sitting next to the couch as the kid they're watching is sleeping in a crib. As they bust out their iPhone and scroll TikTok and have unlimited access to the fridge, Cool Ranch Doritos, Chips Ahoy chocolate chip cookies, string cheese, Pringles sour cream and onion chips,

and that night's leftovers, can charge $20 an hour while sitting in a leather couch in a living room with 22 foot ceilings that's not happening scrolling tiktok that's not happening for every babysitter and that's the going rate that may be the going rate but the people that are using would you be. But the people that are using the Head Start... Instead of watching 22 kids or 24 kids at once?

Yeah. Would you want to just be a professional babysitter and watch one kid? Sure. I don't know if you get 40 hours a week, but... You don't need 40 hours a week. Look at the Delta. All you have to do is figure out the Delta to get you what you would make at Head Start and you have better quality of life job-wise.

There you go. I'm proud of today's show. I've been proud of shows on back-to-back weeks, back-to-back days. Oftentimes I leave doing this show and Deep Throat says his babysitters are UVA undergrads. I've got friends who are utilizing babysitters that are graduate students at the University of Virginia or undergrads at UVA, and they've been instructed by the parents

to, if their language or their... First, they target students that are in the Curry School of Education. Also, they target, some of my friends are targeting students that are majoring in Spanish or a foreign language. And they say you can only speak in foreign language to our kids. So they're literally learning Spanish from their babysitters. Nice. Sometimes I leave this show feeling so demoralized because I'm not proud of the product we offer you guys. And part of that is a perfectionist mindset or wanting every day to be the best version of ourselves

performance-wise. And I understand that can't always happen but some days I leave at this time feeling so demoralized because we did not deliver a great product and it's me specifically not being on point. I just feel

terrible. The last few days have been feeling great and I think a lot of that goes to Judah Wicower. This is the I Love Seville show. You can find it wherever you get your podcasting and social media content. It's a Thursday. Thank you kindly for joining us.

So long, everybody. Thank you.