The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Election Day - What It Means For CVille Area; NBC29 Cancels Weekend Morning Newscasts

Episode Date: November 4, 2024

The I Love CVille Show headlines: Election Day – What It Means For CVille Area NBC29 Cancels Weekend Morning Newscasts Analyze Traditional Media In CVille & Central VA Public Restrooms On Downtown Mall Good Idea? CVille Firm Silverchair Acquires CVille Company Average Age Of US Homebuyers Jumps To 56 Wendy’s Pantops Closed; $8200+ NNN Per Month UVA at No. 23 Pittsburgh (-7), 8PM SAT, ACCN 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.

Good Monday afternoon, guys. I'm Jerry Miller. Thank you kindly for joining us on the I Love Seville show. Today's show is locked and loaded with content that's specific to Charlottesville, Alamaro County, and Central Virginia. Take the program as if it was the newscast of yesteryear. The I Live Seville show is looking to fill that gap, and we will highlight content from Charlottesville, Alamaro, and beyond that matters to you, the viewer and listener. A lot we're going to cover on today's show, including Election Day tomorrow. I'm going to discuss this from a Charlottesville, Alamo County, and Central Virginia lens. Are we concerned there will be violence this coming week in our region because of the results from Election Day? That will be the lead of today's show. NBC 29, pink-slipping newscasters, pink-slipping folks that work in production and behind the scenes,

and axing the morning newscasts that much and many in this community have grown to count on on Saturdays and Sundays. The sunrise and morning newscasts on institutional NBC 29 are no more. We'll talk about that today. I want to have this topic as it relates to the downtown mall. Should the city of Charlottesville invest hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions, to build public restrooms on the downtown mall? I'm not talking the public restrooms that are on the bus station or that little restroom that's in York Place that few people know about or the restrooms that are on the bus station or that little restroom that's in York Place that few people know about or the restrooms where people sneak into on the Omni Hotel to utilize. I'm talking public restrooms built, advertised, branded, marketed, promoted, maintained, clean,

kept safe, right smack dab in the middle of the downtown mall. That topic on today's program. Ladies and gentlemen, Silverchair, a software firm in downtown Charlottesville, has acquired another Charlottesville company. We have that news for you today. Silverchair, a provider of software and services for publishers of scientific, technical, and medical content. This content, this story, unpublished, unreported by any media outlet in this community. You'll hear it first on the I Love Siebel Show. I want to talk about this. The National Association of Realtors, a story released today,

says the average age of United States homebuyers has jumped to 56 years old. Another sign that younger buyers are being priced out of the very competitive and expensive housing market. Charlottesville, Albemarle, and Central Virginia are no different. The average age, Judah, for a home buyer right now, 56 years old. We'll talk about that on today's show. Wendy's is closing stores left and right, and it's not just Wendy's. Denny's is closing stores left and right, and it's not just Wendy's. Denny's is closing stores left and right. TGI Fridays just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Red Lobster in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection position as well. The Pantops Wendy's, I'll give you the nitty-gritty of what that lease looks like. It's quite expensive, more than $8,200 a month

for that fast food location at the base of Pantops, right next to a Tiger Fuel market, right next to a McDonald's, with tens of thousands of cars driving by every single day. It's a triple net lease. So that $8,200 and change, just the tip of the iceberg. And how about that Virginia football team? They travel to Pittsburgh, guys, on Saturday.

An 8 o'clock clash on the ACC network. The Pitt Panthers, a seven-point favorite. Virginia is in a do-or-die, must-win situation, not just for its players, not just for its fourth years and fifth years, but the coaching staff, who is in absolute near position of being pink-slipped from Scott Stadium in the Virginia football program. Judah Wickhauer, a two-shot.

Let's give some love to Charlottesville Sanitary Supply. 60 years in business, Charlottesville Sanitary Supply has proudly served this community. Judah Wickhauer, John and Andrew Vermillion moving mountains for their customers on High Street. Charlottesville Sanitary Supply, whether it's pools, whether it's cleaning equipment and cleaning supplies, it's a family-owned business that is three generations strong. Charlottesville Sanitary Supply, ladies and gentlemen, is the type of business we want to support here in Charlottesville, in Albemarle, in Central Virginia, because they are doing things, ladies and gentlemen, the absolutely right way. Logan Wells, Clayla, welcome to the broadcast.

Local television station watching the program. Local newspaper watching the program. A counselor and a couple of board of supervisors welcome the program. Judah Wickauer, studio camera, then a two-shot. I ask you, my friend, at the start of every program, which headline is most intriguing to you and why? I'm very curious to see where you're going to go with this answer today. My friend, the program is yours.

I think that the discussion we're about to have about the bathrooms on the downtown mall is one that we should be having about the downtown mall. The downtown mall is a great place. I think it's, you know, you want the downtown mall to be welcoming, and I'm not sure how welcoming you can call it when people have to, you know,

basically walk into some place and beg to use their bathroom. I just feel like that's a hump that we can easily get over. I respect that take. So Judah Wickhauer says, take hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer resources, if not millions, to build public restrooms on the downtown mall.

Restrooms you not only have to build, restrooms that you have to maintain, you have to clean, prevent violence from happening, prevent the houseless population from taking the restrooms over restrooms that will become literally something the city will have to manage in perpetuity if they are built we're not just talking about underground plumbing we're talking about water we're talking about safety we're talking about cleaning and god forbid something violent happens at one

of these public restrooms on the downtown mall in a eight block epicenter that you on Friday said, after coming to and from Jack Brown's after work said, you can see how people would feel safe, unsafe on the downtown mall. You're saying take hundreds of thousands

of dollars of taxpayer resources, if not millions, to do this. You're saying take hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer resources, if not millions, to do this. You're putting words in my mouth. But, yeah, I think it's a... Which words did I put in your mouth? Because that's what it's going to cost. Okay. What did I say that was words in your mouth there?

You said you're saying that we should spend hundreds of thousands of dollars... Well, how else are you going to do it? Building a bathroom in your house. The point is valid, but you're still putting words in my mouth. Building a bathroom in a house, a single family detached home, is going to cost you $100,000. And that's a toilet and a sink and 50, 40 square feet in somebody's house. You're talking about building bathrooms for,

you're not just going to build one toilet and one sink for a woman and one toilet and one sink for a man. You're going to have to find the plumbing. You're going to have to find the lighting. You're going to do the installation. You're going to have to get the approval. You're going to have to bid it out for work. You're going to have to do a request for proposal. You're going to have to get it out for work. You're going to have to do a request for proposal. You're going to have to get three remodeling or construction

companies to bid for the work. Then you're going to have to police it. You're going to have to light it. You're going to have to have janitorial services. You're going to have to buy for soap. You're going to have to buy toilet paper. You're going to have to buy cleaning equipment. God forbid violence happens there.

Just seeing the forest through the trees here. Yeah. I mean, when there is something that you feel should be done, you have absolutely no problem stating that the city should do it without mentioning any of those costs. So this seems a little bit disingenuous when you say that I am suggesting that we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on bathrooms for the downtown mall.

I think it's a good idea. I don't think it's going to happen. It's being percolated right now. It's a topic that's being percolated right now by City Hall due to Wicower. It's in the news. All right. Literally being discussed right now by City Hall Judah Wittgower. It's in the news. All right. Literally being discussed right now, Judah Wittgower.

That doesn't mean it's going to happen. Okay. Time will tell. We'll unpack it as the show matures. The lead of the program, if you want to put the lower third on screen on YouTube, Dennis Kantanen. I'm sorry if I'm butchering your last name, Dennis. Is it Kantanen? He says, have you and Judah voted already?

I have not voted, Dennis. Neither has my wife. On election day, my wife and I take our two sons before school starts. We wake up even earlier than we normally do. And we get in the family Ford Explorer and we drive to our voting center and we make a big to-do about it with our boys. We are one of the first to arrive where our boys are very eager to eat the donuts. We hope that there's donuts on site that are offered to the boys. We bring coffee, my wife and I. We get our voting stickers and voting stickers

for our boys, and then we take a family photo. So it's a big event in the Miller house. I am the son of a Cuban immigrant. My mother immigrated from Cuba in the third grade with my mima and my papi. And mima and papi left in 1958-59, right before Castro forced his communist regime on Cubans. And my Cuban family went from a middle-upper class family that was very actively involved in democratic government to leaving Cuba and heading to Miami, my grandparents telling my mother, take every belonging that you have that means something to you

and put it in a backpack. Because under the cloak of darkness, just before midnight, when you're in the middle of third grade, we are going to take a boat to Miami, where we're going to go from having money to being absolutely destitute. And we're going to put you in a third grade class that's English speaking without you being able to speak any English at all. And we know your classmates will ridicule you, ridicule you, and have you coming home every single day for the third grade crying

because you don't understand what's happening. And because of that experience that was ingrained and taught to me by my Cupid grandparents and my mother, voting in the Miller House is something that is championed and cherished. So I cannot wait to take our boys to the voting center tomorrow at about 6.45, 7 a.m. sharp on the dot before school starts. Judah Wickhauer, we'll weave you back in here. I'm going to ask a very straightforward question. What does Election Day mean to the Charlottesville, Albemarle, and Central Virginia area first?

And then I'm going to ask you this question. Do you fear violence in the central Virginia region as a result of election day? Two-part question. What does the, ask the first part again, what does it mean? What does election day mean to this region? That's a good question. I'm not aware of what it means to other people in this region. To me, it means getting to decide how we feel our government is best run. It's a chance to at least, some would say, pretend that we have some control over how things are going to turn out.

Others would argue that both sides are pretty much mirrors of each other with slightly different ideas on policies. I think there's a greater divide than that, but at the end of the day, I think there are a lot of promises that get bandied about, and I don't know how often those promises are fulfilled. I don't have a lot of faith in the people that we vote for often, at least not on the national level. I don't know that they always have our best interests at heart, even if they make a good argument that they do. Ultimately, you know, there's going to be violence in the United States. There are some people that feel so strongly about these things. Will there be violence in Charlottesville, Albemarle, and Central Virginia? I think there will likely be a small... Oh, changing the tune here.

You're saying there will be violence now. There will be violence in Charlottesville, Albemarle, and Central Virginia as a result of the election and perhaps the collateral damage that comes from it. Perhaps. I don't think there's going to be a lot. That people, with the amount of people that feel very, very strongly, and with the number of incidents we've seen in terms of campaign signs, I mean, we saw it in as small a case as the school board election, where we saw people spray painting signs of candidates that they didn't like. I think there are some people that may resort to violence,

but I don't see there being large outbreaks of it. I think this election means a significant amount to the central Virginia community, and here are the reasons why. This is a nuanced and sophisticated community, an educated community. The University of Virginia breeds nuance, sophistication, and education. This is a community that is going to turn out to vote at higher clips than other communities in similar size because of that nuanced sophistication and education. You also include Charlottesville's history, specifically August 11th and August 12th, where Donald Trump was a key component of August 11th and August 12th.

And you're going to have a number of people go out to the polls to vote. This is a community that understands history and understands stories that are undoubtedly tied to Charlottesville. And I think this community is going to see some violence, regardless if Harris wins or regardless if Trump wins. I think this could be a dogfight type of election. Depending on the polling predictor that you like to view or assess, some polling predictors have Harris winning, others have Trump winning. The market clearly is uncertain who's going to win.

And I think you will see some violence. You have a central Virginia region where the outer counties are, let's cut to the chase, red, where the urban ring, Albemarle, and the city are blue, and the urban ring, Albemarle and Charlottesville, are where the density is. I'm curious to see how the outer counties, the outer ring of the region, if the outer ring does lose this election, I'm curious to see their response to the inner circle, Albemarle and Charlottesville, where the density is arising. And Judah mentions a school board race, Alison Spillman and Dr. Meg Bryce from last year, that not only captivated Central Virginia, not only captivated the commonwealth, but captivated the country. You had campaign signs spray-painted in a school board race.

You have campaign signs being vandalized for this presidential race. You drive around the area and you see Trump signs vandalized left and right. I think there is a level of uncertainty as it applies to a presidential election that we've never seen before. And I'll stick by my statement that I said last week. The most divisive election in American history is this one. And it's this one because the consumer, the voter, is more connected, more nuanced, and more in the know than ever before. And that's because of social media and smartphones. I am nervous to see what's going to happen,

not just tomorrow, but Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, as the week matures. Before we get off this topic, you seem to want to offer some other perspective. No, I was just, you mentioned Trump in association with August 11th and 12th. I was curious about that. As applies to what? His comment where he said there

were people, good people on either side. Oh, gotcha. An iconic comment that is still being utilized by the Democratic Party against Donald Trump. Donald Trump stepped in a pile of dew with that comment. It's not about being Republican or Democrat, libertarian or a non-voter. have the Ku Klux Klan and Antifa destroying a city and murdering people and utilizing violence and force and then saying in the middle of that situation that there were good people on either side, that is stepping at a pile of dew. And it's still being used against it. And it's turned Charlottesville

into a what I mean even you're using it so I'm using it because everyone's using it you asked me the question you bring up Trump on August 11th, August 12th

that's why Harris' campaign is using it left and right. Joe Biden's still using it. We'll see what's going to happen. John Blair, I will tell you what is concerning to me at a local level. We are electing a congressman tomorrow. There has been such a lack of coverage of this election

which is an open seat compared to the past five district elections. Fifth district elections. I know the local media is trying, but they just don't have the resources to cover this election like in years past. John Blair, excellent comment, and a perfect segue into the next topic on the show if you want to put the NBC29 headline on screen.

Ladies and gentlemen, what do you make of this? What do you make of this? Kevin Higgins, Logan Wells-Claylow, John Blair, Deep Throat, Vanessa Parkhill. We've got the TV stations watching us and the newspapers watching us right now. Ron Romer, Bill McChesney, Kevin Yancey. What do you guys make of the fact that NBC29 has pink-slipped, axed, shuttered their morning newscasts on Saturday and Sunday. Newscasts that are institutional, that have been around for generations and decades. That people wake up to on the weekend. Randy O'Neill, what do you make of this?

With very little notice. And then the attempt to manage perception that we've partnered with our sister station in the Shenandoah Valley to create a more regional cast that you will still like. There's people all over central Virginia that are saying, why do we care about the JMU field hockey score? Or why do we care about the weather in Harrisonburg? Or why do we care about the comings and goings in Harrisonburg? We live in Charlottesville, an hour away. NBC 29, the decision to axe your Saturday and Sunday newscasts

is about as ass-backwards of a decision as you can possibly do. The entire value proposition of stations like NBC 29 and CBS 19, the local TV stations, just like the Daily Progress, is local news coverage. Yeah. And suggesting that people switch to 4 and 6 o'clock newscasts instead of their usual daybreak is just misguided. It is presumptuous at best. Presumptuous at best.

It is insulting in reality what should have been done is our ad revenue is struggling our viewership is in the toilet we can't afford to employ these people we have to make budget cuts and we're going to cut saturday and sunday because they are the least watched of all the morning newscasts of the week. And if things don't turn around, other newscasts will be cut as well. And I'm going to tell you right now, do you know what CBS 19 and NBC 29 are without local news? Forgotten. Forgotten. Forgotten. Because we're watching the content not on broadcast television,

but through streaming. Through streaming. To cut your newscast, what's the phrase? Cutting your nose to spite your face? Yeah. If anything, what NBC 29 and CBS19 should be doing right now is doubling down on local content.

Doubling down. They should be doing what the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce said. Good Lord, how do we cut overhead? Regional Chamber of Commerce, sell our building. Yeah. NBC29, building on Market Street. Do we need this iconic building on Market Street and the overhead associated with it? The landscaping? The signage? Why don't we

figure out a way to rent our parking lot next to the station and get $150 per parking lot that we can use to save human capital. You cut your Saturday and Sunday newscasts, you have to see the writing on the wall, viewer and listener. That the viewership and the listenership is that in the toilet. That other newscasts are on the cusp of being cut. When you start losing Matt Tolheim and Henry Graff, Sharon Gregory and Casey Hott, you realize the precarious position

of institutional news outlet NBC29 is currently in. It comes across as bailing water. You are replacing them with 22-year-olds fresh out of college. If they're replacing them at all. If replaced at all. Well said, Judah.

Jennifer Hux, Fresh out of college. If they're replacing them at all. If replaced at all. Well said, Judah. Jennifer Nunley-Hucks. I was shocked when I went to cut on the local news Saturday night at 11. Multiple folks are also highlighting the production quality of what the newscasts have become. This is a, I want to highlight what's happening here I went to the University of Virginia yours truly, worked for the Daily Progress first as a part-time reporter, we called it a stringer where I was working for $30 a story

then was hired by Jerry Hootie Ratcliffe as a staff writer and then was promoted by Jerry Hootie Ratcliffe as an editor, one of the youngest editors in the history of the newspaper. Utilized that job to work for Monticello Media in a talk radio format, when Monticello Media was previously owned by Clear Channel Communications. Then went from Clear Channel and Monticello Media to ESPN Radio, where our talk show was syndicated on nearly a dozen affiliates across Tennessee, D.C., Virginia, and North Carolina, the Jerry Miller Show. Utilize that platform to get two TV shows that bared our name with NBC 29, when Harold Wright was the general

manager and Jim Fernald was the general sales manager. Know these businesses inside and out. Utilize that insight as the foundation to launch this company 16 years ago. 17 in May 2024. What we, the viewer and listener, are looking for is local news. Whether that's the newspaper, the TV stations, the radio, or this platform.

And when the Daily Progress said we're going to go to circulating the newspaper three days per week and utilizing more of the wire service from parent company Lee Enterprise to fill the newspaper with content coverage from the other papers that we own, Richmond, Roanoke, Hampton Roads, and other pockets of the Commonwealth, and give it to you, the Charlottesvillian, that is insulting and presumptuous. Because what the Charlottesvillian and the Central Virginian wants is news that's specific to their home. Just like television and radio. And to say we're not going to have any more newscasts

is cutting your nose to spite your face. You find other ways to trim the overhead. If your parent company, Gray, is bleeding from a market cap standpoint, from a stock price standpoint. And the very unfortunate thing is this. These are the folks that suffer. The people that got pink slippedslipped, and us, the community.

We are in a community that has these types of stories that are happening, a health system that may or may not be fraudulently billing their parents and changing medical charts to maintain national rankings by third-party publications. We are in a market where the the local government is considering spending hundreds if not millions of dollars to put public restrooms on the downtown mall. We're fighting houselessness and homelessness. We have students overdosing on drugs in schools. We have a superintendent in Alamo County Public Schools that seems to be running unchecked without accountability and a school board that's just rubber stamping every decision he is making

despite performance standards that are slipping for Alamo County Public Schools. We have a new zoning ordinance that's backfiring before our very eyes, a lawsuit that's in front of a judge, a judge who may or may not have ties to lobbying and politicking for that new zoning ordinance. We have a community that has so much news that needs to be covered. And we're running out of people to cover it.

And you know who really suffers with the morning newscast being cut on NBC29? The older population that is relying on a 30-minute newscast, 22 and a half minutes of content for education. It's a sad state of affairs and you need to support the Sean Tubbs of the world, the Molly Cogners of the world, the Neil Williamson's of the world. Shows like ours, if you want to see them survive. Yeah. Anything you want to add before the next topic? No, I covered it. Is the next one the public restrooms? Are we going to have a little verbal sparring here?

Sure. Ginny Hu is watching the program on Twitter. She says, I've always taken my kids with me to vote. Very excited that two of mine get to vote in their first presidential election this year. Did you know in Virginia, once they turn 16, they are not allowed in the voting booth with you? I did not know that, Ginny Hu. I love having our sons in the voting booth with you. I did not know that, Ginny Hu. I love having our sons in the voting booth.

Ginny Hu says that comment on Trump was taken completely out of context and has been debunked over and over again. She's referencing the good people on either side. And that may or may not have been the case, but to make

even an allusion to what he did was a public relations fiasco that continues to haunt him. It's akin to McAuliffe saying parents should not be involved in their children's education in Virginia public schools. It follows you and haunts you. Let's go public restrooms with the lower third on screen. Viewers and listeners, let us know your thoughts on anything we're talking about. Where do you want to go on this one? You want to go first? I mean, you've got a lot more to say on this. yeah, I think the downtown mall is

supposed to be an inclusive place where people can come, they can walk up and down and forcing forcing is a strong word but not having a not having a visible bathroom option is, I think, one of the downfalls of our downtown mall. I actually agree with that, too.

Thank you. I agree with that. In a perfect world, Judah, do I want public restrooms on the downtown mall? Absolutely. Absolutely, I do. Is the downtown mall a perfect world today? Definitely not.

Far from it. Yeah, and I agree with you there. Timing in life is everything yeah yeah that's another good that's another good point whether or not right now is the right time to air it is to be adding bathrooms to downtown mall I don't know I don't know if I I don't know if I think that now is the right time there it is I think it now is the right time. There it is. I think it, again, is... Judith's making... Go ahead. Charlottesville seems to fail often in planning.

We're giving back money right now because we've failed to plan for construction that we have money from the state to spend on. You're talking about contributions from the Commonwealth as it applies to improvements with transportation. He's talking about the West Main Streetscape Project. Free money for a project on West Main, a critical gateway to the community.

It's been discussed or been in planning for what? Eight years? I believe since 2016. Sam Sanders says with the transportation money from the Commonwealth we don't have the personnel to see this through. We can't take the money from the Commonwealth even though it's free money. Even though it's about transportation and improving

it in our community. Which is a key tenant of counselor platforms like Natalie Olshan ran on a platform about improving transportation. And here, under her watch, Charlottesville City Hall is

turning away free money from the Commonwealth because they don't have the personnel in place. I don't know if putting the blame on her is... I'm not putting the blame on her. I'm just highlighting the fact that she ran on a platform about transportation, bicycle riding, walking, and making a less car-centric city.

She was the one that floated the concept of the road diet, shrinking the roads to make them safer and prioritizing public transportation. And here we are, 11 months, not even 11 months into her campaign, 10 months and change into her first year on the dais, and they're saying no to free money from the Commonwealth. Yeah. Irony?

I wouldn't go that far. What do you call it? Sad? Bad luck. Sadness? I wouldn't go that far. What do you call it? Sad? Bad luck? Bitter sadness? You say sadness? How is it bad luck when they've known that they've had empty spots in City Hall?

And they need people to take the free money and actualize it into reality. How is that bad luck? Isn't that management of people? No, in terms of Natalie Ogren, I think think it was bad. I'm not blaming Natalie. I know you're not blaming her, but I thought you were asking in terms of Natalie Oshren and what's currently happening. And I would say it's bad luck. She ran on something that she feels strongly about, and it's a shame that the city can't follow through on that. And since she's run on something, and this is extremely sad, someone dies on Elliott Avenue being hit by a car,

an infant dies on 20 Darden Towel by River Birch, where River Birch Restaurant used to be. Yeah. Downtown mall restrooms is the topic. I'll make my argument. The timing to bring public restrooms to the downtown mall

now is not it. You are fighting a houselessness crisis that is arguably the most important priority for downtown mall real estate owners and downtown mall merchants, and frankly speaking, most of the people that come and go from the downtown mall, consumers, music lovers, food lovers, drink lovers, shoppers, tourists, and students. Why would you throw more gas into the fire by saying, here are public restrooms that could potentially be a catalyst for concern?

It makes no effing sense. And the folks that are pushing the public restroom of the downtown mall are the same folks that push the new zoning ordinance. The same folks that push the new zoning ordinance. The same activists that are pushing change on a community that is not ready for the change,

forcing it down our throat. And it's going to backfire. Just like the NZO has backfired. Show me how the NZO has created affordability. And I'm very curious, Judge Worrell, butchering his last name, is it Worrell? It's probably Worrell. Where are we going to get his take on whether or not it's legit or not, the NZO? And does he or does he not have someone close, very close to him, that was lobbying and politicking for the new zoning ordinance. And if that's the case, wouldn't that be a conflict of interest?

Aside from the other conflict of interest? That he lives in the city? That one? Where the judges in Northern Virginia said, multiple ones, said we have to recuse ourselves because this directly applies to us? What in the H-E double hockey sticks is going on here, Batman? And if he says it's a green light, wouldn't you, if you're suing the city about the NZO, say, hey, this judge lives in the city. And a significant other was politicking for the new zoning ordinance before it started. His judgment was clouded. Wouldn't you say that?

Oh, yeah. 100%. A lawyer's going to jump all over that. Bathrooms on the downtown mall. In a perfect world, yes. In 2019 or 2018, yes. In 2024, post-COVID, where it's become a shantytown, hell no. I would start the planning. The planning has been started. What? It's already been started, the planning. Okay. John Blair.

Am I wrong here? But isn't Charlottesville market larger than the Harrisonburg market? How did Harrisonburg end up on the Seville News? Also, locals may not know, but WHSV does do a little West Virginia coverage. It will be odd to see West Virginia in the news in Charlottesville. No doubt. Over the weekend, I was watching the James Madison University field hockey scores.

Think about that. Deep Throat. Let's go to Deep Throat. He says this. I won't blame Natalie Oshren unless I see that she doesn't bring any pressure to remove the people truly responsible for the transportation failures. Brennan Duncan, who is the traffic engineer. What is he doing, Deep Throat says.

But Sam Sanders, it sounds like, is promoting Brennan Duncan. Deep Throat says they're very hostile to bike and pedestrian. Let's see what Orshan does about him. And then Deep Throat, tongue-in-cheek, says, maybe it should be a pay-per-pee credit card required system so we know who caused the damage or the mess. Interesting. I like it. I think he was joking on that.

But you're saying you turned the restrooms into almost like you're buying a Snickers bar? You have to swipe a credit card to use the public restroom? Is that what you're saying? He doesn't actually have to charge anything. He also says, what happened to the throne? Remember their modular bathroom? It was sitting at Water Street parking lot for a while.

Then it disappeared. And Deep Throat says, if the election is closed, there will be some unrest. If Harris wins, expect problems in D.C. If Trump wins, expect trouble at Best Buy and liquor stores in blue cities. Then he says he's going to be in London and Paris in hopes he can come to a country, his home, and return to the home of his that is not destroyed. Yeah. Where would you even put the public restrooms before we get off this topic?

I honestly don't know. Where would you put them? I don't know where they're planning on building them. I'm not sure where I would put them. I mean, I don't know that there is, what are you going to buy, a thin little sliver of a building? Or would you put them at either end? I mean, you've already got bathrooms at the pavilion. You could put bathrooms between the code building and whiskey jar.

Kevin Higgins, I support public restrooms with this caveat. Install a point of sale system that requires a debit and credit card and charge a dollar and have strict limits what time it's available to the public. There's another person that's monetizing public restrooms.

I'm not sure how I feel about actually charging a dollar to go to the bathroom. Pay to poo? What's your issue on that? They're basically suggesting this because this is how you maintain security and safety for the public restrooms. You know the

Livable Seville and the Gilligan gang will push back on the pay to poo and the pay restrooms. You know the Livable Seville and the Gilligan gang will push back on on the pay to poo and the pay to pee. Would you do that? Monetize the public restrooms? Ideally no. Bon Romer on the I Love Seville Facebook group. It's an abdication of NBC29's duty to the community, coming at a time when local news is sorely needed now more than ever. The timing is also all the more ironic, as the station, despite the loss of seasoned anchors and reporters, is presently blessed with an up-and-coming crop of talented and energetic reporters

who will now seemingly have less time to learn and practice their craft. I used to work there. You know the folks at the station that have the corner offices with the windows, the doors that they can close of their offices, the big desk, and the personal lines, and the swank and circumstance? Do you know who it is that has it? The admins? No. The sales staff. It's the sales staff that has the corner offices,

the third floor offices, the private offices. Okay. The on-air talent has the cubicles in Cubicle City without the privacy. And the very little, very small workstation. Sales staff has the corner offices. Next topic on the show, at the 120 marker, what's becoming the news of Charlottesville, Elmhurst County and Central Virginia? What is it, Judah? Silver chair. Little item out of the business acquisition notebook. We'll highlight Charlottesville Business Brokers online at charlottesvillebusinessbrokers.com.

If you're looking to buy or sell a business, Charlottesville Business Brokers is the source for making that happen. CharlottesvilleBusinessBrokers.com. Silverchair, a provider of software management services for publishers, scientific, technical, and medical content, has acquired fellow Charlottesville company ScholarOne. for publishers, scientific, technical, and medical content, has acquired fellow Charlottesville company ScholarOne. We are not going to release the terms of the deal. We will say the transaction will close in Q4 of this year.

Some may know, some may not. Silverchair, headquartered on the downtown mall, although in today's hybrid remote work environment, are you truly headquartered somewhere? Silverchair is backed by St. Louis Venture Capital for Thompson Street Capital Partners. ScholarOne founded in 2000. Is that lower third on screen? Yeah? Thank you. ScholarOne is a provider of software and services for scholarly publishers and societies that specializes in manuscript submission, peer review, and editorial management.

ScholarOne, again, a Charlottesville company, ScholarOne, serves more than 600 publishers. And ScholarOne claims it's responsible for more than 3 million manuscripts and conference abstracts a year. ScholarOne will essentially become part of the Silverchair umbrella, a subsidiary of Silverchair. Other subsidiaries of Silverchair include Census Impact, which offers visualized reporting on the reach of funded research, and the Silverchair platform, which is focused

on scientific and medical content publishing software. This is a big deal in a very niche aspect of business locally. Silverchair employs a lot of people. And they've withstood the test of time.

At one time, you didn't go anywhere in downtown Charlottesville without seeing Silverchairians. It was Silverchair and Willowtree, when they were downtown, that was doing a lot of the support for restaurants and happy hour and dinner. No doubt. Because they wore branded hoodies and branded clothes. And you would see these folks walking up and down the mall at lunchtime, coffee time, breakfast time, happy hour.

Interestingly, Mike Signer, then the in-house counsel for Willowtree the former mayor of Charlottesville, city councilor of Charlottesville negotiated a deal to take Willowtree out of city limits into Alamaro County at the

Wool Factory Campus a lot of eyebrows raised in that deal the in-house counsel of Willow Tree, Mike Signer, negotiated. Then you have Silverchair, post-COVID, that is hybrid and remote. And they're building the hardware store, which is currently for sale.

Hawk Hockenstein, Hawk Hockensmith has the listing. I think it's got an asking price of six and a half million dollars. It's empty. And just like that, downtown mall merchants lost hundreds of Monday through Friday customers for breakfast, coffee, lunch, happy hour, and dinner. Hundreds of them. And their most challenging periods of the week. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Throughout the work day.

When the mall was empty. In particular, in the winter months. Unbelievable. Congratulations to Silverchair on the acquisition of ScholarOne. Silverchair, an impressive company. Charlottesville Business Brokers, online at charlottesvillebusinessbrokers.com. A couple of other topics out of the notebook. Do you want to go to the Wendy's one next,

or do you want to talk about the average age of U.S. homebuyers? Either one is fine. How about the Wendy's one? You say you drive by it all the time. Set the stage. Another fast food restaurant is closing its doors

at the bottom of Pantops. What was the other one at the bottom of Pantops? It wasn't exactly recent, but where Duncan Donuts slash 31 Flavors. Was that a Hardee's? That was a Burger King. Oh, Burger King. That's right. That's right.

So Wendy's next to the Tiger Fuel Market, right next to McDonald's. I mean, you could spit on McDonald's from Wendy's, basically. It's closed. I mean, you look into the Wendy's at the base of Pantops, and it's absolutely empty. We know that Wendy's is closing more than 140 restaurant locations before the end of this year. This was reported within the last 48 hours. Wendy's is struggling mightily. Peter Ray has the listing.

Believe Peter may be part of the ownership group of this. Peter Ray of Triangle Real Estate does fantastic work with the development of sites all over Central Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley. I hope that gets back to Peter Ray. The asking price, and this is a triple net lease, I'm just talking the rent alone, is over $8,200 a month. $8,200 a month. Then the tenant is responsible for the upkeep of the building, the insurance on the building, and the taxes on the building. A triple net lease. Nuts. We're talking about well over $10,000. If I really wanted to dig into this, I would not be surprised if this was flirting with $15,000 a month. Man, good luck.

You have a location that has a boatload of effing traffic. You're right next to a McDonald's. You're attached to a gas station that gets a boatload of customers. But this is indicative of the headwinds that F&B is facing. TGI Friday's parent company just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Red Lobster in the same boat. Denny's is closing stores. The sit-down category of restaurants is being

eviscerated by elevated fast food. Elevated fast food, a Chipotle type. The consumer today is more concerned with ordering through third-party apps and having the food delivered to their house so they can watch Netflix, Prime, or their streaming service and their tighty-whities or their bathrobes or their BVDs while eating their

burrito bowls and less interested in getting in their cars and driving to a location, a brick and mortar, to sit down and enjoy their Moons Over Miami or their Grand Slam breakfasts. Is Moons Over Miami Waffle House or Denny's? That's Denny's, I believe. Are you sure?

Moons Over Miami. Are you sure that Moons Over Miami is not Waffle House? I'm pretty sure that's Denny's. Are you sure Moons over Miami is not, is it Denny's? I think it's Denny's. The Grand Slam breakfast is definitely Denny's, right? How many people have not had one too many

things to drink or smoke one too many things and not gone to Denny's for a little Moons over Miami or some Grand Slam breakfast? Raise your hand in the air if you've done that and if you just don't care. I mean, I think the viewers and listeners already know that, do they not? There's nothing better than going to a concert, watching Tom Petty at the Jiffy Lube, and then going to Denny's for some moons over my hammy, and then maybe following it up because you're a bit hungry

for a Grand Slam breakfast after the moons over Miami. Wow, you're going to do both? High metabolism over here. Would you pay $15,000 roughly to rent the Wendy's at the base of Pantops? $15,000 a month? That's a chunk of effing change right there. No doubt. A chunk of change at a time where labor

has the operator by the short and curls. And a time when the cost of goods fluctuate violently from a pricing standpoint. At a time when those cost of goods may be sketchy. E. coli, onions, golden arches. Two other items out of the notebook. National Association of Realtors headline, please, sir. According to the National Association of Realtors, the average homebuyer is now 56 years old. NAR says the average U.S. homebuyer has risen by six years since July of 2023. Good God.

The average homebuyer is now 56, up from 49 in 2023. That's a historic high. Up from an average age of the low to mid 40s in the early 2010s, Judah. The median age of first-time homebuyers has also risen to 35 to 38 years old. And when you hear the numbers, it's not surprising. Which ones? Median U.S. home price is $435,000 according to NARA, that one? No, an 18% down payment.

On average coming in at $78,000. How about this one? How about this one? The median U.S. home price is now $ $78,000. How about this one? The median U.S. home price is now $435,000. Up 39% since 2020. The average 30-year fixed mortgage

rate has more than doubled. And we all know it's more in some places. Unbelievable. It's not surprising that the ages are going up and people are discussing the unaffordability of trying to own a home. You were going to make a comment about the $78,300 median down payment

according to NAR. I mean, it's almost as they point out, it's almost the same amount as the median household income. And you know a lot of people aren't making the median household income. According to HUD, $124,400 per household in the Charlottesville metro area.

Yeah. And that's the 2023 number. I guarantee you 2024 is higher. Guarantee you 2024 is higher. Yeah. And the people that are bringing that stat up are also the ones that are talked about in this article, the ones that are bringing about in this article. The ones that are bringing cash to

buy houses. The ones that are selling older homes. Selling previous homes. Yeah, previous. I would say you don't have to... The homes that they previously owned, cashing out and bringing bags of money to buy their next ones.

Making it even tougher for someone That's what they previously owned, cashing out and bringing bags of money to buy their next ones. Yeah. Making it even tougher for someone who's put away everything to try to come up with $78,000, $80,000. That's a lot of money to come up with for a first-time homebuyer. And then when you get beat, when you get outbid by someone with, you know, a nice big former home and probably not literal bags of cash.

But it's got to be disheartening for a lot of people out there. Throw in a little hybrid remote work, the landscape changing. I'm Charlottesville and Central Virginia. Throw in a little bit of unaffordability created by the University of Virginia. Throw in a little bit of gentrification associated with increased taxes in the city. Throw in a little bit of, yeah, let's spend a million dollars on some bathrooms in a shantytown. Let's tax the people. We need to build bathrooms in the shantytown.

As much as we've talked about UVA, I think somebody pointed out last week that UVA has actually done a lot for housing affordability. Neil Williamson highlighted that under Jim Ryan's watch, housing affordability has been more of a priority than ever before. And he highlights some of the projects that have done at North Point and Fontaine and elsewhere. Is Mr. Williamson watching the program? I appreciated the email you sent me this morning, Neil. Go ahead, Judah. Could it be said that UVA has actually done more for housing affordability than Charlottesville and the new zoning ordinance? Wow, that's a hell of a topic.

Those are the kind of ideas I ask you when we're planning the show to come up with ideas like that. That is a fantastic idea. But I don't just have those sitting on the top of my head. That's a fantastic idea. That's an idea not tied to the new site. That's damn good. You should write that down before you forget it.

What was it again? That was fantastic. Has the University of Virginia done more for housing affordability than the new zoning ordinance? Write that down. Write that down. That is a fantastic idea. That's a great subject, a great talking point. We should talk about that sometime on the show. All right. We're efforting Chief Mike Cotches and Commonwealth Attorney Joe Plantania on the program in the next couple weeks as well. Nice. All right.

I'll get you out of here on this note. The Virginia football team has got Pittsburgh. They travel to Pittsburgh. Virginia football struggles to has got Pittsburgh. They travel to Pittsburgh. Virginia football struggles to win in Pittsburgh. The last time they've won at Pittsburgh was when Al Groh was the head coach and Dave Weinstein was the head coach of the Pitt Panthers. The Panthers are ranked number 23 in the nation. They just lost to SMU, a very good football team. The ACC has five teams ranked in the top 25. Five, Judah. Can you ACC has five teams ranked in the top 25.

Five, Judah. Can you name the five teams ranked in the top 25, Judah? No. Yes, you can. What are the five teams in the top 25? I'm not even paying attention to what you're talking about. Where are the five teams ranked in the top 25? The five teams ranked in the top 25?

What is that? I don't even know what that means. The five teams from the ACC ranked in the top 25? What is that? I don't even know what that means. The five teams from the ACC ranked in the top 25. I have no idea. I don't even know. Miami. Five teams in the top 25? Miami.

Clemson. Pittsburgh. SMU. Did I say Pittsburgh? I think you did Louisville Five teams ranked in the top 25 I'll stick to Virginia

Right now they're 7.5 point underdogs The last time they've won in Pittsburgh Al Groh was the head coach And Dave Weinstein was the head coach of Pittsburgh Groh the coach of UVA. Folks are calling for a quarterback change. Folks are calling for the offensive coordinator to lose his job, the special teams coordinator to lose his job, and a lot of speculation about Tony Elliott and what happens if this team finishes with seven straight losses. To say that these are must-win games to close the year is an understatement.

They have four wins right now. They've got Pittsburgh, they've got SMU, they've got Notre Dame. Three teams ranked in the top 25, and they close with Virginia Tech and Blacksburg. The last time Virginia's beaten Virginia Tech and Blacksburg, I think I was causing trouble as a single man on the downtown mall. Long time. Talk about it tomorrow at 10.15 a.m. with Jerry Hoodie Rackoff,

the Virginia Sports Hall of Famer, on the Jerry and Jerry Show. Tomorrow's slate is loaded on the I Love Seville network. You got the Jerry and Jerry Show at 10.15 a.m., followed by the local news, the I Love Seville Show at 12.30 p.m., followed by the White Mountain Ministry show at 2.30. Get ready and giddy up. From Judah Wickhauer, I'm Jerry Miller. So long, everybody. Takk for watching! Thank you.