The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Compare CVille $125,800 AMI To Other Metros; Local Government Want AMI To Uptick/Downtick?

Episode Date: April 2, 2025

The I Love CVille Show headlines: Compare CVille $125,800 AMI To Other Metros Local Government Want AMI To Uptick/Downtick? Dominion Electric Wants To Charge You More NBC29 Suffers More On Air, Off Air Layoffs Daily Progress Print/Digital Subscription Now $42/Mo What’s The Most Expensive Real Estate In AlbCo? Charlottesville Business Brokers Has Cash Buyers Joel Gardner, Chairman, Jefferson Council, (4/3) 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, Rumble and iLoveCVille.com.

Guys, welcome to the I Love Seville Show. My name is Jerry Miller and thank you kindly for joining us on the program, the Hump Day edition of the I Love Seville Show, the 2nd of April. A lot we're going to cover on the program. Programming note, Thursday, the chairperson, the chairman of the Jefferson Council, Joel Gardner, will join us via Skype on Thursday to talk all things UVA, all things Burt Ellis, and all things scandal and stain. It's Thomas Jefferson's university. That interview will

be done via Skype. Interestingly, Skype is being put on ice by Microsoft. The once sexy cheerleader of video conferencing, Skype, is now the redheaded stepchild of video conferencing. As Zoom and as Teams and as FaceTime have pretty much eaten Skype's lunch. When's the extermination date for Skype? When's the six feet under date for Skype? I believe it's May. May, Skype is going hasta luego, ladies and gentlemen.

I mean, there was a time where Skype was the genesee-quah video conferencing. Yeah. We're adapting here at the I Love Sivo Show. We use Skype because of the, what is it, the API of Skype? NDI. NDI, the NDI of Skype, right? With our software and really we have a Band-Aids and Popsicle sticks hodgepodge of software. I kid and I jest. It's really quite complicated

and elaborate. The software and the various social media platforms that we're using. But one of the reasons we like interviewing guests via Skype is because there's functionality with the platform where it allows guests to know that they could be potentially being recorded. And obviously they're being recorded. We're airing the show as if it was an actual program, but it's important that notification to allow guests the heads up. All right. A lot I want to cover on today's program.

Bob Schade, welcome to the broadcast. Vanessa Parkhill, thank you for joining the show. Local television and newspapers, welcome to the show. I see the local TV and the local newspapers watching the program every day. And we're going to be talking about the daily progress in NBC 29 today. More layoffs at the TV station down the road. Right here on Market Street, now owned by Gray Media, a publicly traded company.

I cut my chops in front of a camera on NBC 29, hosting two TV shows, the Jerry Miller show on Saturdays at 1130 a.m. and Varsity Lights with Jerry Miller on Sundays at 1130 a.m. and Varsity Lights with Jerry Miller on Sundays at 1130 a.m. on NBC 29. I cut my chops learning the nuances of broadcast television and being a talking head in front of a camera and behind a microphone

at that TV station along with syndicated ESPN radio. This was right out of the University of Virginia. Skills and strategies I'm still using to this day, but now as the owner of the company. I hate to see MBC 29 suffer losses and layoffs. I still know many of the people that work at MBC 29. Marty Hutloff, someone I'm proud to call a friend. But the layoffs are persistent and consistent and continue. This is what happens when gray media buys local platforms. We'll talk about that today. And I'm telling you, the chitter chatter and the circles that I run in is that

brick building on Market Street, home to NBC29 for generations, is on the cusp of being listed for sale. And how about this tidbit of local news? Sean Tubbs highlights this on his Charlottesville community sub stack. The daily progress print and digital subscription is now up to $42 a month. That is absolute insanity to me. No doubt.

You're paying 2X the cost of Netflix. 2X the cost of Netflix. You could pay for Netflix, Peacock, and Paramount Plus and still be less than the monthly print subscription for the daily progress. I want to talk about that on today's show. Sean Tubbs, thank you for highlighting that in your community sub stack. I sent you a text, Sean Tubbs, right before the show started. We're going to talk HUD, area median income, $125,800 for the area median income for the Charlottesville metro area, which is comprised of, ladies and gentlemen,

of Alamaro County, Fluvanna County, Green County, Nelson County, and Charlottesville City, $125,800. An uptick from 2024, the number was 124,200. We'll compare and contrast it officially to Durham and Chapel Hill, to College Station, Texas, to Boulder, Colorado, New Haven, Connecticut, Asheville, North Carolina, the Northern Virginia market of Washington, Arlington, and Alexandria, Roanoke, Virginia, and Richmond, Virginia. All those MSAs, all those metro areas,

I will compare and contrast the Charlottesville 125,802. If you'd like to know what a metro market in the United States is checking in at from area immediate income, put it in the comments section and I will relay it live on air I want to make this show interactive and and and and free flowing today also on the program ladies and gentlemen we are going to talk about Dominion Electric wanting more of your money Judah they want more of their money they want more of your money they want more of my money they want more

everybody's money they want more of everyone's money. They want more of everyone's money. I mean is there a more, is there a more monopolistic business model in the Commonwealth of Virginia than Dominion Electric? I don't think so. Viewers and listeners. Maybe water. The ABC? Definitely not water. There's multiple water options. Now you can make the argument that if you're at a certain jurisdiction, there's only going to be one water option that you can pay. Alright, I'll give you water. I'll give you water. ABC is certainly there. What is a more monopolistic business in the Commonwealth of Virginia than Dominion Electric?

I don't think there's... They got us by the short and curlies. Yeah. Do they not? Most of us, yeah. I mean at least with ABC you can choose to drink beer or wine or cider. You don't have to go hard booze with ABC. Right.

I mean is there a more monopolistic business in the Commonwealth than Dominion and the headline is what Judah what what what kind of uptick does Dominion want? They're looking for a 13.9% increase to boost the benchmark I mean mother a caraho coño That is no joke. Yeah 13.9 percent dominion once you're just gonna give us that story today on the I love civil show We're gonna ask this question. What's the most expensive real estate currently on the market and al marl County? The most expensive real estate currently on the market in Almaro County. It may surprise you what the most expensive real estate currently on the market in Almaro County is.

Judah Wickauer, before we go anywhere else, I want to give some love to Charlottesville Sanitary Supply. John Vermillion, Andrew Vermillion, A plus people, 60 plus years in business for John Vermillion and Andrew Vermillion. Charlottesville Sanitary Supply, online at CharlottesvilleSanitarySupply.com where they're offering free delivery, local delivery. CharlottesvilleSanitarySupply.com, free local delivery. And of course, ladies and gentlemen, on East High Street, a three generation family owned

business. Wow. If I had to put the over-under at fifty million dollars, if I put the over-under at fifty million dollars Judah Wickhauer, and let's get Judah Wickhauer in on the show. He's getting props on Twitter for how he's interacting with fans in the comments section. And Judah has given his word to the viewers and listeners that he will respond to even more comments on the I Love Seaville Network post show. It's one of his most favorite things to do, is comment to viewers and listeners post show. If I put the over under Judah Wickhauer at $50 million, active listing, $50 million, Alamaro County, Virginia. Active listing.

Would you take the over or under on $50 million for active? If I had to put it at $40 million, is there an active listing in Alamaro County over $40 million right now. You're talking about houses? Active real estate listing. Okay. I mean, that seems pretty absurd to me for just a house. Well generally houses of that price point include significant acreage that accompany that. No doubt.

If I put it at $40 million, would you go the over or the under on 40 million for a proposition bet? Let's go over. If I put it at 50 million, would you go the over or under on a proposition bet? I mean, you're making it sound like it's over. If I put it at 60 million, would you go over or under on a proposition bet? Where do we stop? We'll offer some clarity on where we stop today

on the I Love Seville show. Ladies and gentlemen, giddy up and get ready. The topic du jour, however, is one that came up yesterday. HUD area median income. Very curious for what the viewers and listeners think. Bob Schada, very curious of what you have to say here. Vanessa Parkhill, very curious what I have to say. What you have to say here. The media that's watching the program. I would love to see the local reporters coming, commenting on the I Love

Seville show. I've got, somebody sent something to me. I'm going to keep their identity secret. I don't know if you got the same message, but it has to do with what we're talking about with the AMI. You wanna mention it? Sure. Go ahead. It says, and yet housing prices and taxes in our area align more closely with those of the Washington, DC,

Arlington, and Alexandria metro regions where the average salary is 163,900. All right. So I know who sent you this. This is a bear when it comes to housing. Charlottesville. He sent you a direct message about this? Yeah. All right.

We don't have to utilize his name if we don't want to. That's fine. Go ahead and read the comment. Meanwhile, government salaries in Charlottesville fall under the rest of the United States pay scale as illustrated in, and he's got a link to salary wages. Some ridiculous link. Look, if you want to use, and I mentioned this to the gentleman that's giving you this comment. Okay, I mentioned this to the gentleman who's giving you the comment. I would like for him to utilize HUD area median income with his arguments. This gentleman is very bearish when it comes to housing locally. We're not going to utilize his name because he's a government employee.

Okay, he's a huge data aficionado. I don't know, use the nice word. Data aficionado. Okay, what's the the antithesis or a synonym for aficionado in that sentence? An antithesis for aficionado? No. We'll say a synonym. I'm going with the nice word, aficionado. I could also use, you want to complete that sentence? No. OK, we'll be nice here. He is extremely bearish on housing locally.

He believes that we are in for a housing correction and maybe even a significant one in the central Virginia market. He genuinely believes housing is propped up and values are inflated in Charlottesville, Almaro County specifically. He believes that. And that we have a correction on the horizon. He's tried to make this prediction for a while,

and he is holding off on buying a house, currently renting with his wife and children until that correction happens. I have pushed back on this thesis of his for at least 24 months, maybe longer. And in that 24 months of me pushing back on him, he has lost out on significant appreciation and potential equity earned. And every time this kind of data comes out where the Charlottesville area, and please

use the lower thirds on screen, where the Charlottesville metro area median income is $125,800 and it was $124,200, he finds a way to cherry pick data to support his thesis that we're in a housing bubble. Now, he sent the same message to you as he sent to me right before the show, far from coincidental after I posted the area median income data that I shared across the Isle of Seville network. Here's the data. And then I'll get to Jude and I having a conversation. And then you highlight what he has to say again. Okay. In 2025, the numbers just released for area

median income. Do you want me to put that up? 125,800. Is that chart going to be visible for the viewers and listeners if you put it on screen? Why would it not be? So they'll be able to see it and read it is what I'm saying? I think so. Okay. If you want to put it on screen? Why would it not be? So they'll be able to see it and read it, is what I'm saying? I think so. Okay, if you wanna put it on screen. HUD just released its 2025 numbers, 125,800 area median income for the Charlottesville

metro area, Alamaro, Fluvanna, Green, Nelson, city of Charlottesville. The previous year it was 124,200. So it was what? One percent and change increase? Okay. I see that increase is nominal and marginal, but I understand when you're talking numbers of 125,800 or 124,200, any kind of uptick is going to sting the bottom line in a dollar-stretched household.

Okay? I totally understand that. I totally understand that Dominion asking for double-digit rate increases is going to sting a dollar-stretched household. I totally understand Alamaro County assessments upticking on average, what, was it like eight or nine points, something in those vicinities? Mind junk, 23% year over year are Almore County assessment. Okay?

We have the luxury in what we do professionally of making more deals, you know, bringing more clients on for retainer, our portfolio of rents uptick 5% every year, and we're investing wisely in a diverse portfolio of asset classes, whether it's real estate, business investment, stocks and equities, cash, gold, okay? It's taken a long to get to this point. Okay. But I understand that 13% from Dominion is expensive and I understand a $1,600 AMI increase year over year is a

lot to swallow and I understand that assessments going up at the same time that real estate tax rate increases are jumping $0.04 per 1,000-own is a lot. Groceries, floating debt, everything is all happening at the same time. Read his comment again. I will give you my comment. You give me your comment. Then we'll go to the viewers and listeners.

Kevin Yancey, I get it. Kevin Yancey is another bear. He says the commenter is not wrong. Kevin Yancey, I'm going to get to your point. Bill McChesney, I'm going to get to your points. Deep Throat, everybody needs a Deep Throat that's watching the program. He's got some comments. We're going to get to Deep Throat here in a matter of moments as well. Get to the comment from the DM, government worker, if you could please, sir. All right. And yet, housing prices and taxes in our area align more closely with those of the Washington

No, start from the beginning. From the beginning. Is that the beginning? That's the beginning. Okay, I apologize. Start from the beginning. I apologize for interrupting you. And yet, housing prices and taxes in our area align more closely with those of the beginning, I apologize for interrupting you. And yet, housing prices and taxes in our area

align more closely with those of the Washington, DC, Arlington, and Alexandria metro regions, where the average salary is $163,900. Meanwhile, government salaries in Charlottesville fall under the rest of the United States pay scale, as illustrated in the link that he sent. He can actually share this publicly on the network. So since he shared this publicly on the network and tagged me, I can utilize his name, Eric

Thompson. He's shared it publicly and tagged me on it. I feel comfortable utilizing his name now since he's done that in Eric Thompson. Deep Throat has some comments. He got this conversation started yesterday so I'm going to go to him. He says this. Thank you, Deep Throat, for saying this. The D.C. metro area is much more expensive. The DC metro ZHVI number for average housing prices is over 600K. And that is a broad area.

If you just look at say Arlington, it is 825,000. The Charlottesville area is the high 400,000s. Charlottesville housing is not in any way extremely expensive relative to AMI. He is pushing back on exactly what he is saying. Pushing back on exactly what he is saying. The median price for Charlottesville, we learned this on Real Talk with Keith Smith, is in the fours.

It's got a four handle with it. Okay? If the median price with a four handle that we learn on Real Talk with Keith Smith, with sales, recent sales, a four handle, the median number, an area of median income is $125,800. Ladies and gentlemen, that means the housing in the Charlottesville area, whether you want to swallow it or not, believe it or not, is not that expensive compared to other markets. And this is going to piss some people off. I totally get that. Compare and contrast it to what he's saying in the Arlington area, where it's an eight handle, an eight handle for housing in Charlottesville, in Arlington, excuse me. And the Arlington

AMI, to put that in perspective, ladies and gentlemen, is $163,900. So Arlington, Alexandria and D.C. area median income according to HUD, $163,900. Housing in Arlington, $800K, eight According to HUD, 163,900. Housing in Arlington, 800K, eight handle. Charlottesville area median income, 125,800. Housing in Charlottesville, four handle. The delta between Charlottesville's area median income and Alexandria, Arlington, D.C.'s area median income is roughly ‑‑ I'm doing some quick math here. 33 ‑‑ 38. 37,000, roughly. A 37,000 delta in AMI. That's just back of the napkin. 37,000 delta and AMI for Charlottesville area and Northern Virginia, but housing delta of 2X. I push back on Eric's thesis and I use numbers. Okay. Now, I said on yesterday's program, comparing

and contrasting the Charlottesville area median income to the Northern Virginia area median income is useless except for one comparison point. And that's which is the most expensive in the commonwealth. I use the Washington, Arlington, Alexandria data of 163,900 AMI to say that's more expensive to Charlottesville. After that, I forget it. I'd rather compare the Charlottesville metro area, 125,800, to other like-sized college

towns. Durham, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, double-checked it checked it today, 126,200. Durham, Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Charlottesville's metro area are almost identical. It's a separation point of $400. $125,800 for Charlottesville Metro, $126,200 for Durham Chapel Hill, the triangle. And a lot of people would make an argument that there's more economic vitality and job employment opportunity in the triangle of North Carolina than here in Charlottesville? Of course there is. You know why there is? There's more universities.

There's more upside. There's more tech. There's more data science. There's more biotechnology. There's more family offices. There's a lot of employment opportunity. What's the employment opportunity in the greater Charlottesville area? Let's be realistic with ourselves.

What is the employment opportunity in the greater Charlottesville area? You have the University of Virginia number one. You have the government sector, INGIC, the spies, the 1.3 billion in economic vitality as reported by a commission chamber of commerce report. Biotechnology you have in the third slot. Maybe we can say what Jafri is doing with data science you could put in the top five. But after that you get a dramatic drop in employment opportunity. Durham, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, much more significant opportunity. Deep throat highlights and yet

the average home price is $611K in Durham and Chapel Hill. It's in the mid-fours here in Charlottesville, in the greater Charlottesville area. It's all relative. And what we live and breathe makes it seem out of reach because we're so in it. But when you compare and contrast it to other markets, and the Durham, Chapel Hill, North Carolina market is the best comparison, ACC, one state over, close driving distance, very similar market, university market, AMI is $400 apart. Whether you want to hear this or believe this, and it's going to piss people off, compared to Durham and Chapel Hill and compared to DC, Arlington and Alexandria,

this is an extremely affordable market. Let's take a look at the Richmond metro market. 113,500 AMI for the Richmond metro market. 113,500. Would love to know from you, deep throat, what the average home price in the Richmond market is. $113,500.

Now there's population differences with Richmond compared to here. But we're an hour apart. You got VCU in Richmond, the University of Richmond, and the River City and RVA and Richmond. It's all relative. Viewers and listeners, let us know your thoughts. We'll relay them live on air. Travis Hackworth, I love when you watch the program from Danville, Virginia. Your opinion on this and your perspective on this

is valued, sir. Kevin Yancey says, Kevin Yancey's photo on screen, he's a bear when it comes to housing. He says and he lives in Waynesboro. Is it Waynesboro you live in Kevin Yancey? I believe it's Waynesboro. He says again comparing Charlestown to any other suburban area is just ridiculous. All those other areas have far more services than Seville has or Seville wishes they had. There are more options for everything in the other areas. There's some truth to that. Kevin Yancey of Respecta, he lives in Waynesboro, he says.

He also says, other than some investment firms, name one employer that has a quarter of the employees that the UVA or the federal government has. There are no private enterprises with huge employee numbers. I've said it for decades, Charlottesville and Alamara County have turned their backs on anything not white collar. That's also very true. From Kevin Yancy. Also very true. Deep Throat says Richmond's average home value is 360,000. So while the AMI for Richmond, 113,500, compared to Charlottesville's 125,800, the housing number drops about 100K.

That shows you that there's more affordability in the Richmond market. And if you've noticed, in the Charlottesville area, a lot of the Old Guard, a lot of the OG, a lot of the blue collar, a lot of the artsy, a lot of the retail food and beverage demographic from the Charlottesville area has moved to Richmond. And I'll tell you what, my wife loves visiting Richmond. We often take long weekends at Richmond, where we will stay at the Linden Row Inn or we'll stay at the Berkeley Hotel if it's a special occasion at the Jefferson and we'll traverse or enjoy various neighborhoods of Richmond. Scott's Edition, Jackson Ward, Chaco Bottom, Chaco Slip, Cary Town, and we just immerse ourselves for 48 hours bar hopping, restaurant hopping, window shopping

at these various neighborhoods. Richmond's got big time upside, ladies and gentlemen. Big time upside. Georgia Gilmer has this. Are the home sale numbers statistics for single detached homes or does it include condos and town homes? Yes, the numbers I was giving was sales altogether. I will highlight this that condos and

townhomes do not sell at aggressive clip in this market. Georgia. I will highlight that. Vanessa Parkhill says this, for most people the key to home ownership in Charlottesville ends up being two working professionals. To be a stay-at-home parent in this town, the other person needs to be crushing it. Lot of truth to that. There's a lot of truth to that. And I'll take it a step further.

The key to home ownership in the Charlottesville area, and this is a conversation that I'm having with family members. Don't wanna get too specific here because family watches the program. Family members who are trying to get in the game. They are trying to get in the game of home ownership and this American dream romantic vision. And this American dream romantic vision is the Cape Cod or the brick Georgian or the white picket fence with the front yard and the backyard on the

cul-de-sac and a place where they could live for 25 to 30 years not only their children reared there but their grand-grand-children are reared and raised there. And I've explained to them this notion of the American white picket fence dream is a notion of fairy tale. And it's difficult to get across, especially to family. I've suggested another approach would be to buying something that they can afford now, whether it's a fix or upper a condo or a townhome Not what you want, right live there for two to five years Position it as a rental after the two to five year period or if you're risk adverse

Taking what the equity that you've built and the overhead that you've frozen in a 30-year fixed mortgage and utilizing that as a springboard or as a platform to the next purchase. I have not, one of the gifts I've, God has blessed me with is the art of persuasion. And I have been unable to persuade loved ones in our family tree of this approach. And every year that's gone by, housing in their respective market, Connecticut, has appreciated 8 to 12%. And they're just getting priced out. Vanessa Parkhill wants me to emphasize this.

The number that you're giving is household income. She's exactly right. So when I say median family household income for Charlottesville is 125,800. That is generally two working adults. And I'll take it a step further. It's not just two working adults that are working 40 hour a week jobs. That 125,800 median family household income, I would bet you is not just two adults, but one of those adults clocking overtime or having a side hustle or a part-time job on top of it. And the point that she's making, having a stay-at at home parent in 2025 in the greater Charlottesville area is a challenge, is absolutely right. 100% right. Yeah.

Kevin Yancey, Alvaro County used to have numerous employers, had thousands employed, now there's nothing. Kev, remind me of some of the big-time employers that Alamore County used to have. Immediately one that comes to mind is State Farm. It's Pantops office. Yeah. That had, it was the second largest State Farm headquarters in the United States of America and it was right here on Pantops. Right behind, was it Bloomington, Indiana? Behind what? Wasn't that the State Farm headquarters? Bloomington, Indiana?

Memory serves. Yep, Bloomington, Illinois. And they also have a significant presence in Indiana. I had a friend who worked here in town at the State Farm building, and she's out in Arizona now. Okay, there were thousands of State Farmians that worked on Pantops. Thousands of them. Oh yeah, that place is massive. It's a college, it's like a community college. I would stack it up in footprint size to what Piedmont is. Yeah.

CFA had a headquarters on High Street. It's now been purchased by Corn Capsule and repositioned as executive office over there. CFA had a boatload of people over there. No more. Cavianci, what were the other big-time employers? He says the Ick's Silk Mill had a significant amount of people working in Ick's Park. Alan Kajin and Ludwig Kutner own that. That's where Three Notch Brewery is, that's

where Animal Connection is, the bike shop. Oh yeah, I know. He says there were thousands working there. How long ago was that? A lot of people don't realize this. Belmont and Hogwaller, these shotgun style cottages, you know what a shotgun house is? No. When you walk in the front door of a shotgun style house, you could shoot a shotgun from the front door to the back of the house without impediment. A lot of the homes in Belmont are of that layout. A shotgun house is a narrow rectangular single story home with rooms arranged one behind the other typically without hallways. Very popular architectural style in the southern

United States and the mid-atlantic. They are designed to fit on narrow lots, often only one room wide around 12 feet. A linear layout, no hallways, front porch. This is what Belmont was. Belmont and Hogwaller were designed and developed around the many, many, many, many, many, many, many employees that worked at Ix. See Kevin's confirming this. Ix built Belmont for his employees. Shotgun style houses.

Now they're being repositioned and converted into Tony white collar 6, 700, 800,000 in up houses because of the proximity to downtown and this live work play environment we're in. Woolen Mills was the same. There was a time in Charlottesville where an employer was so influential in the local economy an employer not named UVA That this employer turned an entire neighborhood in a portion of a ten point two square mile city into a company town Developed neighborhood to accommodate his worker base and Belmont and Ix is a perfect microcosm of that Bill McChesney the the Woolen Mills closed in 1962.

Sperry Marine. I think somebody just posted that on the Charlottesville Koi Barefoot did. Georgia Gilmer said Sperry Marine is another example of what Jerry's talking about. of what Jerry is talking about. Deep Throat highlights some stuff about Ix. Ix, God, this is great. Everyone needs a Deep Throat. Deep Throat says, I think I'm going to use that from here on out. Judah loves this. Ix, at its peak, had 1,500 employees. Wow. 150 at its end.

Ix descendants wrote to Deep Throat to ask to see his house. They came over, and I got to learn a lot about Ix. They were the real deal. Was one of those descendants friend of the program, Charles Ix, whose son Alex Ix matriculated from Western Amarillo High School to Virginia Tech where he plays tennis on the Hokie Tennis Team varsity team right now, Deep Throat. Charles Ix, friend of the program. Alex Ickes, a tennis instructor at the Boar's Head. Ginny Hu, Offering Illinois. Thank you, Ginny Hu. Oh, she also highlights,

Zoom started giving you notifications that you're being recorded sometime again. I would love to get the interviews on Zoom if possible. Teams, I'd love to avoid teams if possible. Why? Because Zoom is the Coca-Cola of video conferencing. You asking folks to use Teams or Skype for the video conferencing is asking them if they want a Fresca instead of a Coca-Cola. I mean, I think you're wrong considering the fact that we could certainly use Zoom, we just wouldn't be able to integrate sound. Well, we can't do interviews without sound.

Exactly, which means that Zoom is not the Coca-Cola of anything. The response we get from the guests that we interview is like, can't you do this on zoom? That is a very common response. Yeah. And that's the market telling us they'd prefer it to be on zoom than Skype. Okay. Just my two cents, but you're directing the show. People act like taking a

minute and a half to like re-sign up for Skype since you haven't used it in a while is like putting them out terribly. I get I see both sides. I see both sides. Vanessa Parkhill highlights GE as a major employer. She highlights the Connagra plant in Crozet as a major employer. Commdial as a major employer. She highlights the Conagra plant in Crozet as a major employer. Comm Dial as a major employer. The Conagra plant now home to Star Hill corn capsule. That's the second corn capsule. That's the second corn capsule reference right there on the show. Star Hills corn capsule. Corn capsule owns Star Hill. What was that, Judah? I think it's pronounced Con-ag-ra.

What did I say? Con-Agra. Okay, Con-Agra or Con-Agra. Okay. Okay, sorry. The plant where Star Hill is located in music today. Chor and Capshaw right there. Anything you want to add before we go to the next topic? The point I'm trying to make is, and my fuel got a bit fired with the Eric Thompson comments, who's routinely talking about the expensive nature of Charlottesville, and expensive is relative 100%. Exp expensive is relative a hundred percent. Yeah. Okay, expensive is relative. But when your median family household income is a hundred and twenty five thousand eight hundred and your your your median

home price is in the mid-four's that means it's not significantly that expensive. Now the response to that, if I was you, I would have pushed back by saying this. I would have pushed back by saying, how many second homeowners do we have here? I would have pushed back by saying, how many workers do we have in the Charlottesville metro area that are working for an employer that's not in the Charlottesville metro area? I'd push back that way.

Yeah. I'd push back by saying, there's not diversity of employment here. Right. I'm extremely curious to see what a hiring freeze at the University of Virginia is going to do. What a cost of living freeze, cost of living bump freeze is going to do at UVA. What a performance bonus freeze is going to do at UVA. And what a discretionary spending freeze is going to do at UVA.

No doubt. Ways that you could push back there. Holly Foster on YouTube, she says, my bill just arrived for the Richmond Times dispatch. Is that the next one, the daily progress subscription and layoffs at NBC29, or is it Dominion Electric? Why don't we go Dominion Electric after we talk local media? Sean Tubbs highlights in his community sub stack and Sean Tubbs does a great job that a print and digital daily progress subscription has now been bumped to $42 a month. What is the first response that you have that the daily progress print and digital subscription is now $42 per month due to Wichauer. My first response would be, am I getting $42 worth

every month out of that subscription? That would be my question. Do I feel like I'm getting my money's worth out of that? What's the return? My first response to that would be, and Kevin Yancy wants me to read his comment on, did you see my comment about my house Jerry? What was your comment about your house Kev? I see there's a lot of comments.

Let me know that comment Kevin, I'll read it on air. My first response is this. If it's $42 a month, I can get a Netflix subscription. Okay, but that's like, aren't you? Okay, go ahead. Pick it apart. I'm just trying to set a comp, but you're saying this isn't a comp? Go ahead. Yeah, I'm saying as a comp, is it a little bit rough?

Like, sure. How many apples can you buy with $42? Does it matter? I get what you're saying. Great response. I'm not trying to shut you down. No, no, great response. Great response. Like yeah, I get what you're saying, though. What I would say is, you know, NBC 29, some of these other things, they might not have, do they not have, do they not also have local reporters? I mean, I get that Daily Progress is the only one with an actual newspaper. NBC 29 just laid off Josh Fitzpatrick.

Bill McChesney highlights they're down to one weatherman. Is that David Rogers, Bill McChesney? they're down to one weatherman. Is that David Rogers, Bill McChesney? He was working there when I was working there. NBC29 has laid off on-air and off-air staff, lower thirds on screen. They all have. Gray Media is now the owner of NBC29 publicly traded. Gray media is to television broadcasting as Lee Enterprises is to print media. When publicly traded outfits purchase local platforms, they eviscerate overhead and that basically is human capital. Yeah.

Gutted. basically is human capital. Yeah gutted. Gutted human capital. We went from a weather meteorologist team of Eric Pritchard and David Rogers and Norm Sprouse award-winning generational type of weathermen that were the face of broadcast television in the market. To one weatherman left at NBC 29. To Josh Fitzpatrick being laid off in such unceremonious leaf, unceremonious fashion, that the layoff from a public's eye consisted of removing him from the website. The reason I know about this is because I'm in this game. This is the game I'm in. Years the man had been there, waking up before sunrise,

or awake, or going to bed, or leaving work after we were already asleep and our head is on the pillow. Working for potatoes instead of real money. You think I'm joking? I know what the pay scale was over there. I'm just imagining getting a sack of potatoes. I worked that pay scale. I had a salary from MBC29 while having a salary from The Daily Progress, while having a salary from ESPN Radio,

while freelance writing. I was legitimately in my 20s working like 85 hours a week. Now I was making like 80, 90K. And this was when 80, 90K had some oomph to it. This is when the area median income was not 125,800. That's for damn sure. I see it's still not too shabby for a single. Dude, I work two jobs.

If you're working 90 hours a week, you're working two jobs. I worked every single day. That's what a lot of people don't realize. You can say your take, let's just say your take home pay is 80,000, but you're working 80 hours a week. You're working two $40,000 jobs. I wasn't commenting about the hours you're working. If you choose to work that many hours, that's your choice.

That's what I'm saying. There were no vacations. I'm stating the fact that 90 days is not a joke. There were no vacations. There there were no vacations there were no holiday pay there were no weekends there were no vacations There were no sick days. There were no PTO There was no holiday pay there was on Saturday mornings showing up to the station at 330 a.m On Sunday mornings showing up to the station at 330 a.m Legitimately30 a.m., legitimately 3.30 a.m.

There was no life. Okay. McChesney says, Eric and Rogers, still there. Dave Rogers is the best dressed on-air personality in central Virginia, and it's not even close. The man knows how to dress. He's got the skills to pay the bills. David Rogers. I want to put a bow on local media here.

In 2025 and April, April of 2025, a print and digital subscription at The Daily Progress is $42. And in 2025, April, MBC 29 has now done numerous layoffs. And I'll highlight with an SAT type analogy. Lee Enterprises is to daily progress as gray media as to NBC 29. They are crushing local platforms, crushing the spirit of local news. And it's sad. No doubt. And I continue to hear

the scuttlebutt of this building down the road being for sale. And I want to highlight two landmarks on Market Street, if that building is listed, common house is listed for sale. The real estate. MBC 29 potentially listed for sale. Two bookends on Market Street, potentially on the market. All right, Dominion Electric, Judah Wickauer. Set the stage for us, please, sir. Holly Foster said, my bill just arrived for the Richmond Times Dispatch. For 52 weeks of print and digital, it's $910. Can you say cancel? I might get digital only depending on the cost.

The paper is not worth it. 52 weeks of print and digital is $910 for the Richmond Times Dispatch. That's at least $17.50 a week. But I gotta times that by four, $17.50 to get the monthly. Damn! That is... Good Lord! 910 divided by 12, that's $75, that's $76 a month for the Richmond Times Dispatch print and digital. $76 a month for the Richmond Times Dispatch print and digital? They better have some really good coupons in there.

What in the heck are they thinking about? $76 a month for the Richmond Times Dispatch print and digital? Are you still getting seven days a week of papers? That's a great question. It's three days a week here in Charlottesville, right? The Daily Progress? I think so. That's a great question.

Holly Foster, are you still getting seven days a week of print delivered to your house? Or do they cut the print run back, Holly? That's a great question. All right, let's get to Dominion. What's the number they want to raise? Dominion Energy is seeking rate increases that would boost a benchmark monthly bill by 13.9% next year. Unbelievable. I've asked this question on previous shows. Is there a more ruthless monopoly than Dominion? Not locally. than Dominion? Not locally. She gets print seven days a week, so at least that's seven days delivered to her house. Yeah. Thank you, Holly, for that insight. Queen of Henrico, Virginia. The base rate, the proposed increase in its base rate for 2026 would add $8.51 to a benchmark $140 monthly bill for 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity.

How much money does that generate for Dominion raising the bill to that clip? Does it say? It does not say. How many Dominion customers are there? It doesn't say that either. It does say that it needs to raise the base rate because of a significant rise in expenses, including cost of labor, cost of cables, cost of wires, cost of transformers, power generation equipment. 2.7 million Dominion Electric customers in the Commonwealth of Virginia, 2,700,000.

2,700,000. What is the average Dominion electric bill in Virginia? So 2.7 million, remember that number. The average Dominion electric bill in Virginia, the average monthly electric bill for residential customers is $140. So, 272,700,000 customers in Virginia, just did a basic Google search, times 140 average monthly bill,

378 million in top line revenue, you got 378 million? Per month? Per month. I'm gonna times that by 12. My calculator doesn't go that high. My calculator doesn't go that high. I just want to highlight that my calculator doesn't go that high. Unbelievable. That is what? $4.5 billion? We're talking $4.5 billion, and then they want to raise it

by 13%? 13.9%, 14%. 14%? $4.5 billion in top line revenue for Dominion. That's a story that should be on the news cycle, not just of this show, but the news cycle of old media, legacy media, and should be in front of legislators in Richmond? On the plus side. I love the segue.

What's the plus side segue there? It's also proposing a new rate for big users such as data centers, and the really good part, the terms for these rates include protections for consumers to ensure they are not stuck for the cost of substations, power lines, generating plants needed to supply these large customers. Under the proposal, high-energy users would be required to make a 14-year commitment to pay for the amount of power they request, even if they end up using less. So I appreciate the fact that at least ostensibly you and I are protected from these high energy usage data centers that are infiltrating every aspect of our lives.

aspect of our lives. Topic worth talking about. Every dollar is being stretched right now. Everywhere. Everywhere. Makes you wonder. What conspiracy theorists, what's your wonder? I'm not trying to conspiracy theory here. I'm just saying everything, everything is like top down, top to bottom. Everything is like food and beverage, retail, they're all getting charged more, they're all having a harder time getting employees because the employees need enough money to live and so if you're not paying a living wage and I'm not coming down on retail or food and beverage. They're doing the best they can.

Everybody needs more money. Where is all the money going? I guess here's where I might hop into conspiracy theory territory, but I'm not going to go there. I'm just going to ask the question, where is all the money going? We've got, we're one of the richest countries in the world. Where is all the money? Nobody can afford anything. And businesses can't afford the people that they need to run the business. And it's, the money's got to be similar. Or else we're just doing something

terribly wrong and eventually it's not going to work anymore, right? Because if you can't pay people to work for you, and if you can't run your business, and if you can't move things around, I mean, if there's not enough money for everything, then what happens? And how do we get to this point? There it is. But essentially, where did the money go?

Good job. Final headline. Judah Wickhauer. Final headline. That's the last one? We've only touched like two or three of them. We got a bunch of them. We got there's the question of whether local government wants AMI to uptick or down tick. Let's save that for tomorrow.

That's an interesting question because I don't know the answer to it. Let's save that one for tomorrow. There's, what's the most expensive real estate in Albemarle County? Yeah, let's save that one for tomorrow, too, at the 135 minute marker. And we could perhaps remind people that we have a special guest tomorrow.

Oh, you're right. It's tomorrow. Yeah, you set that up. You set the stage for that. Joel Gardner, the chairman of the Jefferson Council will be joining us via Skype tomorrow. He is in New York, and we'll be very interested to hear what he has to say. We very much appreciate the Jefferson Council and their, what would you call it, their insistence on keeping, being a watchdog for UVA. 1230?

Yeah. Chairperson of the Jefferson Council. Looking forward to that interview. Thought you did a hell of a job today. Thank you. Another show in the bag. Much to do, but humpty. You did great.

You do a buttload of great stuff here. Judah Wickow, yours truly, Jerry Miller on the Wednesday edition of the I Love Seville Show. We hope you enjoyed it. We'll see you tomorrow at 1230 with Joel Gardner, the chairperson, the chairman of the Jefferson Council. So long everybody..