The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - If Dewberry Sells, What Does City Do Next?; Who Is The Villain In The Dewberry Hotel Saga?

Episode Date: December 13, 2024

The I Love CVille Show headlines: If Dewberry Sells, What Does City Do Next? Who Is The Villain In The Dewberry Hotel Saga? Former US Attorney Investigating Pro-Palestine Protest Law Firm McGuire Woods Minting $$ With UVA What We Learned From The Murder Of Healthcare CEO Citizen Burger Bar: Free Meals For Needy Families Women’s BBall: Reddit Founder Donates 2nd Biggest Gift Wahoos Squeak By Bethune-Cookman At JPJ 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 Friday afternoon, guys. My name is Jerry Miller, and thank you kindly for joining us on the I Love Seville show. Happy to connect with you through the I Love Seville network, a network that is comprised of every social media and podcasting platform possible, airing our content. We had a fantastic episode of Real Talk with Keith Smith this morning. Neil Williamson, the president of the Free Enterprise Forum, was in studio, as was Supervisor Ned Galloway, two-term Almaral County Supervisor. We discussed the budget, we talked development, we talked growth, we talked the dynamic between the Board of Supervisors and the Amar County School Board, a school board

that's asking for $560 million for capital improvement projects from the Board of Supervisors. It was an excellent conversation. We had counselors watching us. We had other supervisors watching us. We had planning commissioners watching us. That show is going to be archived at iloveceville.com or wherever you get your podcasting content. Today's show is busy. We're going to talk this question. The Dewberry Hotel is for sale. Who has been the villain in the Dewberry saga? Who has been the villain in the Dewberry drama? Does all the blame fall on the emperor of empty lots, John Dewberry? Or should some of that blame be passed around to other stakeholders involved. I'm also going to ask the question, what should the city do if this building is sold?

There's a call for offers due to Wicower of the 9th of January. You have a team of heavy hitters that facilitated the sale of the Cork Hotel and Keswick Hall, now trying to sell a shell of a building on the most important eight blocks in the 300,000 person region. So who's the villain? And if it does sell, what should the city do next? I want to talk about that on today's program. On today's show, I want to highlight, ladies and gentlemen, the University

of Virginia, the Jefferson Council has done a very good job of highlighting this. This story was put on my radar by the talented Jitty Hu. The fees, the University of Virginia is paying third-party counsel, racking up fees the Jefferson Council has on their website. For example, McGuire Woods, a Richmond-based law firm, Richmond, Virginia, has billed the University of Virginia $521,000 for work done in Julyuly august and september alone that's bananas 521k one of the mcguire woods partners jonathan t blank is billing054 an hour, ladies and gentlemen. $521,000 in fees for work done in just July, August, and September alone. My, oh my, McGuire Woods is minting money off of Thomas Jefferson's university.

We're going to talk on today's program. Speaking of the University of Virginia, a former U.S. attorney has been picked, selected to investigate the pro-Palestine protest that went down on grounds in May of this year. The former U.S. attorney will investigate how the University of Virginia managed the protest. Soup to nuts investigation. However, that soup to nuts will only include actions from UVA and it will not include actions, for example, from Glenn Youngkin's vantage point. On today's program, we will talk the murder of the healthcare CEO that has captivated, unfortunately, much of the nation, if not beyond.

And I'm going to ask the question, what have we learned from the terribly unfortunate murder of Brian Thompson on today's program? There are folks in our community that I call friends that are posting on social media that his murder was justified. And I read their commentary on social. I ask myself first, do these people have any kind of sanity right now? Would they be writing this stuff on social media if they had to talk about it in front of their family or their friends at a social gathering. And third, I say, don't they realize this has a chance to live on the internet forever for all to read? Saying Brian Thompson's murder was justified, I find flooring and flabbergasting. I'll tell you why on today's program. Judah may have a very different opinion than me on this. We're going to talk on today's program, the founder of Reddit giving the

largest gift in women's basketball history at the University of Virginia, the second largest gift in women's athletics at the University of Virginia, his wife, Serena Williams, he has two daughters. He has now, according to the university, donated a transformative type of gift to UVA. We'll unpack that on today's show. A lot we're going to cover on the program, including Citizen Burger Bar offering free meals for needy families. The owner of Citizen Burger Bar is Annie McClure, a friend of the program. The work we did for Citizen Burger Bar some time ago, in a lot of ways, helped our firm splash on the map locally. Before I offer a commentary on all these stories and more,

I want to highlight a very generous gift received this morning, Judah and I, from Ginny Hu. She's a tremendous baker. She has offered Judah and I a pack of her most delicious Christmas cookies. The most delicious Christmas cookies. We suggested to Ginny a little bit ago that your cookies are slap your mama good. Slap anyone's mama good. Slap my daddy good, but don't slap my babies. That good.

And perhaps you should create a brand and sell them. And that is exactly what is happening. She has Ginny Who's Delights. They were delivered in this packaging right here with just the most fantastic, adorable, and memorable logo. Ginny, it's very nicely done. She gave Judah and I a very kind written note. And Ginny, I've already had four. I told you that some of these cookies may make it to my wife and my two sons. My wife and our two-year-old

are watching the show right now. I'm not so sure, Mrs. Miller and Zachary, that the cookies are going to make it. I will try to save you some. They are slap your daddy, slap your mama, but don't slap my baby's good. I cannot wait to see the Shopify website

that is launched, Jenny. I'm very impressed with you. And speaking of community pillars, not just Jenny Hu, but John and Andrew Vermillion at Charlottesville Sanitary Supply, Judah. Let's give them some love. 60 consecutive years in business. Take a look at the screen. John and Andrew Vermillion on East High Street online at charlottesvillesanitarysupply.com are the place, the spot, the 60-year-old business for any of your sanitary supply needs.

I encourage you to support Charlottesville Sanitary Supply, please. Judah Wickauer, studio camera. Then a two-shot as we weave the wizard on screen. That's you, Judah. Which headline is most intriguing to you and why today? You know, I'm excited about some of the wonderful efforts of local businesses to help the needy going on, not just Citizen Burger Bar's

Andy McClure, who's doing an amazing thing this holiday season. But BRAFB, they got... Acronyms, acronyms. Blue Ridge Area Food Bank. Blue Ridge Area Food Bank got funding to buy a lot of fresh produce

for people who are, you know, food, what's the term? Need food, hungry, starving, don't have the money to feed their kids. Close enough. And some of the other efforts going on. And so I'm really happy to see that Charlottesville has these people around. We've spoken to some of the people involved in the toy drop, the toy lift. And I love this community. Albert Graves, we'll get to your comments.

Ginny Hughes, we'll get to your comments. She says, thank you so much. I'm glad you are enjoying them. Guys, they are... They're the best cookies I've ever had. Maybe the best Christmas cookies I have ever had in my life. And I mean that without exaggeration or hyperbole. They are effing fantastic.

Albert Graves says, an eye for an eye when it comes to the murder of the healthcare CEO. And I am of that mindset. You take a life, you give your life. And I'll catch grief for that. All right, let's go to the topic of yesterday's show, a topic that I think still has legs. The Dewberry Hotel is for sale. The Daily Progress broke this story props to the newspaper.

The brokers of this deal, the guys that are trying to move the Dewberry, one of them who sold Keswick Hall and Cork Hotel locally, so you're talking some heavy hitters here, they reached out to the Daily Progress, handed them this story, and said, this is news your readers should find out. That's how they broke this story. The Dewberry has been an eyesore

for 16 years. 16 years a shell. We've seen stakeholders and owners and developers. We've seen stakeholders and owners and developers. We've seen plans and brands. We've seen politics and parking change over those 16 years as it applies to this piece of property, which was acquired for $6,250,000 by John Dewberry at public auction in 2012. A piece of property last assessed for eight million nine hundred thousand dollars. A piece of property that is in the middle of the mall, one of the most important spots on the mall. One of the issues I had with the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority, purchasing a building on the mall. A, I don't think a housing authority

should be on the most important eight blocks of the region. I don't think it's what the mall is about. Furthermore, it's right damn in the middle of the mall. It's not tucked away like Operation Hope, the group that helps inmates assimilate back into society, or tucked in a corner like the Parks and Rec Department is on the downtown mall. It is one of the most visible pieces of property you will see, the CRHA, and frankly, the Dewberry has even more visibility than that. There's a call for offers the 9th of January, where offers and a deadline has been put in place, and then offers will be considered at that point. Deep Throat made the point on yesterday's program that John Dewberry has a judgment against him to the tune of nearly $50 million for trademark infringement.

Maybe this is a fire sale of assets by the emperor of empty lots who grew up in Waynesboro who played quarterback for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. A fire sale to raise cash in case that judgment goes against him. And he has to pony up some loot, some moolah, some cash, some green. Maybe it's his strategy. He's known as a guy who holds property, lets it appreciate, and then sells. A guy who buys stuff and doesn't do anything with it. Basically playing Monopoly.

Holding pieces on a board until they appreciate in value and then he exits without doing anything besides paying the taxes. What we know he has done is he's paid the last tax base he was at. Stolzenberg, Planning Commissioner Rory Stolzenberg put it at around $65,000 a year. We did some back-of-the-napkin math, just an estimate. The guy's paid nearly three-quarters of a million dollars in taxes just on the Dewberry,

and as a result, the city can do nothing. No blight, no eminent domain, no punishment of any kind. He's got the Dewberry shell fenced off, and he's paying his taxes. The city has his hands cuffed. I am going to ask you, the viewer and listener, I'm going to ask you, Judah B. Wittkower,

the Dewberry drama, who is the villain in the Dewberry drama? Is there more than one villain? Who are the protagonists and the antagonists? I would ask, does there need to be a villain? There's always a villain. Some people like to play the villain. There's always a villain, my friend.

There's always a villain. Some people relish playing the role of the villain. When you watch a movie, do you root for the bad guys? Depends on the movie. Sometimes I don't usually root for the bad guys. Sometimes I pull for William H. Bonney. Sometimes I pull for the William H. Bonneys. There's always a bad guy.

Who is the villain in this saga? And how does the denouement play out? I think you've already made up your mind who the villain is. I'm asking you, my friend. I don't know that I agree that there is a villain in this case. Okay.

I think that this is one of those, you know, things just went the wrong ways. As far as I understand it, this guy sorry, I'm not going to keep going on with this. Judah references a parking arrangement for 75 spaces in the Water Street garage that Dewberry was going to lease from the city at below market rates. He was also going to get some tax breaks thrown his way. Former Mayor Mike Signer, an attorney, negotiated this deal with a council that he thought he had the support or backing him. Then in the bottom of the ninth inning, literally two outs with two strikes on, Michael Payne and his push to be on council influences the populace in the wake of August 11th and August 12th at a time when we were as fragile as a city as we've ever been.

Michael Payne utilizes that fragility in his platform and his politics and says, hey, we should not give a white, wealthy, out-of-market developer, tax breaks, and economic advantages. That does not represent the city we want to rebuild now that we are trying to recover from August 11th and August 12th. And then he utilized his platform and the socialists of Charlottesville, the organization, the democratic socialists of Charlottesville, to persuade Kristen Zakos. Her mind was already made up. She needed no persuasion. But Dr. Wes Bellamy and Bob Fenwick, one-time counselors, turned and changed their mind and basically stuck it to John Dewberry

because he was wealthy, he was white, he was out of market, and they read the room at the time, the populace, the community, and they thought this is what the community wanted. And as a result, we have that. Yeah. And I don't think John Dewberry is necessarily the villain here. He's a businessman who we may question some of his practices, but he made a decision here, and he's under no legal mandate to finish the building. Okay, that's a fair argument. Let's rotate the lower thirds on screen. There's two of them that we could put on. So Judah says John Dewberry is not the villain. John Dewberry is not the villain. He should not be villainized. Okay. You made a compelling argument. I added

a little color to that argument. Let me make this argument. Are you ready? Mm-hmm. You ready? Yeah. Is the villain Michael Payne? No. I don't think Michael Payne's the villain either. Two-term city councilor.

Currently on the dais. He certainly couldn't have predicted the results of all of this. I think at the time, we've had Michael Payne on our show before. It's been a while. But I've always taken him to be an honest person who comes from a place of integrity. I don't think there's malice in the decisions that he makes. And I don't think it was his intention for us to end up with the blooded eyesore that we've had for the last 15 or so years. So no, I wouldn't paint him as the villain either.

Are the villains Bob Fenwick and Dr. Wes Bellamy for changing their vote in the bottom of the ninth inning? They support Mike Signer with his negotiations, showing good faith support during active negotiations, and then at the last minute, changing their vote so it ends up 3-2, and Dewberry does not get the parking spaces or the tax breaks. Are Bellamy and Fenwick the villains in this story?

Would you make an argument that they are? I'm asking you, and then I'll make my argument. I think you're doing a great job handling this. I wouldn't paint them as villains either. I mean, do we take their change of minds as malicious, as in some way calculating? I think they were convinced, as you stated, by the combination of Michael Payne and perhaps the constituency. And ultimately, that's what councillors should be doing, is taking into account what the constituents want. Was it a bad decision? Possibly.

Was it fueled by, as you said, kind of, what, maybe white guilt? Not wanting to give a leg up to a rich white person, which I can kind of understand. But I don't know that that was the wisest decision. Of course, hindsight is 20-20. I don't think they were the villains. Judah Wittkower is doing a great job today. Was Halsley Minor the villain? Halsley Minor, the initial tech tycoon CNET founder

who had the Tony idea of building a 98 room boutique hotel on the downtown mall was Halsley Miner the villain why would he be the villain Halsley Miner envisions a hotel doesn't have good budget sense Kevin Yancey says Halsley Miner could be the villain appreciate your comments spending money as if it grows on trees. Halsley Minor has to sell artwork off his walls to pay creditors. Halsley Minor, you look at any court around the Commonwealth, you'll see judgments against him,

people he owes money to, sued by Colonial Williamsburg Halsley Minor, my stomping grounds. Halsley Minor. Was Halsley Minor the villain for inept financial malpractice? my stomping grounds. Halsley Minor. It was Halsley Minor, the villain, for inept financial malpractice. Is that how it ended up in Dewberry's hands?

He bought it at auction. John Dewberry bought it at auction because Halsley Minor filed for bankruptcy, could not finish the hotel. He and developer Lee Danielson, who had the initial idea of building the hotel, he could not finish it with Lee, Mr. Danielson. It goes to auction. Dewberry buys it for $6.2 million on the courthouse steps, the proverbial courthouse steps. Is that villainy or ineptitude? Is it a fine line? I can assure you there's a fine line

between financial malpractice and financial idiocy. And that fine line maybe gets a bit thicker between financial malpractice and financial idiocy and being the villain in this drama. All from my perspective. And then I'll ask in this drama. I'll offer my perspective, and then I'll ask you this question. What does the city need to do if the Dewberry sells?

If on the 9th of January, this call to offers, there's a compelling offer, and the Emperor of Empty Lots, who Kevin Yancey has now dubbed, which I think is a great description, Mayor of Waynesboro, Kevin Yancey, he has dubbed John Dewberry, the Phil Delaney of Atlanta.

The only reason I'm hesitant to moniker John Dewberry the Phil Delaney of Atlanta is Mr. Delaney has passed away. And I don't want to step on any graves. But Mr. Delaney has an infamous reputation of buying properties and doing nothing with it. I will say there's a stark contrast between John Dewberry and Phil Delaney. Phil Delaney, with the properties he's purchased in Charlottesville and Alamaro County, one of the reasons, if not the main reason, Mooses by the Creek closed is because Phil Delaney owns all

that property. And everyone that runs in the circles that I'm in, and there's not a lot of people in the real estate circles, you're talking probably 500 or less in central Virginia that are making the moves that are determining the real estate market in central Virginia. Certainly even less from a commercial standpoint. The word is out. We all know. We've gotten the message. We've gotten the emails, the phone calls,

even in-person visitors to our office saying we're ready to make moves and deals with the Delaney portfolio. The difference between Dewberry and Delaney, Dewberry pays his taxes. Delaney in a lot of ways has not. I mentioned that property on 29 North, the Wawa, Delaney-owned, at closing, FedEx packages come to the closing, and it's just liens and people that must be paid from the proceeds of the closing. Here's my take. I think there's a lot of villains in this drama. The Dewberry drama has a lot of villains. Wow. A lot of villains.

And villain number one is Halsley Minor. When you undertake a project, you have to have the footing and the foundation to see it through. That's common sense. However, when you undertake a project on the most important eight blocks in a region, to say you have the footing and foundation to follow through is an understatement. You have to have the footing and foundation to see it through no matter what happens. Because these eight blocks determine the brand identity of a 300,000 person region.

And Halsley Minor, when he undertook this project, I can assure you, he realized that his finances were shaky. You don't get to that position of success, that level of entrepreneurial journey, success in an entrepreneurial journey, that level of wealth, without knowing that the house of cards is close to crumbling. It's not a light switch. You listen to this program, viewer and listener, no matter what you do for

work, we all know what our bank accounts are. We all know how much money is coming in and how much money is coming out and who we owe. Some of us are better at that than others, but we all have a pretty good feel of what our personal household financial statements look like. You do. I do. Everyone that's watching and listening to this show does. And Halsley Minor decides to start a project when he knows his personal financial statements and profile are shaky at best. That's reckless. That is reckless. That is reckless. And the reason I brought this topic up, and Judah made the point, I think, extremely well, Dewberry's the one that's getting monikered as the villain, stigmatized as the bad guy.

Sometimes by you. Often by me. I think I've dubbed him the extorting emperor of empty lots. Taking the Bloomberg story, emperor of empty lots, and adding the word extorting emperor of empty lots. Because he said he wouldn't do anything unless he got stuff from the city that's a business strategy yeah that's a business strategy especially after you get screwed by the city yeah in the bottom of the ninth inning because a bunch of socialists gathered together and they leveraged the temperature of a city fresh off its two worst

days of its history august 11th and August 12th, use that temperature to help somebody get elected to office. Two people get elected to office, Nakia Walker and Michael Payne. And as part of the way to get elected to office, Nakia Walker and Michael Payne, they use the temperature of the city fresh from A11 and A12 to say, hey, rich white guys from Atlanta don't get tax breaks and parking spaces from us. Yeah. Tell Mike Signer and those cronies on council to stop the back room dealing. Dr.

Bellamy has to change his vote immediately. Cause if he doesn't change his vote immediately, he looks bad. It looks bad with whom? With his, with the black popular, with the colored population. Bob Fenwick shocks the world by changing his vote.

He saw the temperature changing. Bob Fenwick, I bet you regrets that change of vote. Kristen Zekos, she was voting against it all along. Maybe the finger starts getting pointed to the people who changed their vote at the last minute and the people that caused the vote to be changed at the last minute. Now the next question is what should the city do? If this piece of property gets sold and a developer that's building hotels

buys it because that's who they're going after. The city needs to roll out the proverbial red carpet. Now here's the catch. If the city rolls out the proverbial red carpet for the Dewberry drama, for the Dewberry show, for the Dewberry skeleton. And offers tax breaks and potentially parking of some capacity. Because guys, this is a 98-unit hotel that has no parking on site.

I want you to think about that. The city is going to have to figure out parking if this hotel is going to get completed. Where are people going to stay in a $600 to $800 a night hotel if they can't park at the hotel? I can't believe they didn't. They're not going to wheel their Louis Vuitton

from Friendship Court, their Louis Vuitton bags, their Versace bags from Friendship Court and South Street and under the Belmont Bridge over to the $600 to $800 a night hotel room on Water Street.

No one's going to do that, dog. So the city's going to have to do something. And there's a catch. If the city rolls out the red carpet with parking spaces and tax breaks or whatever the hell they're going to do to entice the developer to finish the project, guess what the catch is?

Creates a comp for Levine to get those things. It creates a precedent for Jeff Levine's crew and the Marriott Hotel they're building in the shadows of the Omni on the downtown mall where the Arful Lodger and the Livery Stable are. Yeah. It creates a precedent. Should Jeff Levine get Violent Crown

officially under contract, I want to build apartments in place of a movie theater. Yeah. And it's a song and dance that the city is going to have to navigate. And interestingly, the guy who I said should be a villain in this drama, Michael Payne,

is still in the drama on the dais as a counselor. Michael Payne is still going to be one of the decision makers. Very interesting to me. Roll out the red carpet. And if you roll out the red carpet with tax breaks and parking spaces, you're probably going to have to do a similar red carpet rollout for the other two projects that are percolating in the pipeline. And no one is talking, no one is talking, no one is talking what three potential projects, certainly two projects, could do to the downtown mall and the existing businesses that are already vulnerable.

Is it great for the downtown mall long term? Hell yes it is. Is it going to create economic activity and vibrancy? Hell yes it is. Is it going to strain the businesses that are on the mall right now that are vulnerable and fragile? Hell yes it will. It's going to create a perception problem of construction, a perception problem of travel and quality of life and headaches that come with construction projects. Georgia Gilmer asked me about Ginny Who's Cookies. How would you describe the taste, she says, due to Wakaura? Oh, man. Buttery, chocolatey. Minty.

Minty? I think there's minty. I love the. I didn't get mint. I love the little balls. What are these little balls that she puts in there? I like the mix of. You got the white chocolate and the chocolate chips.

What are these little balls that she puts in here called? Sprinkles The little red, white, and green They're not sprinkles What are these things called, Jenny? Let me Are they non-perils? Yeah, that's a good cookie Are they non-perils?

Is that what that is? Is that non-perils? I don't even know what a non-perils is Can you say non-perils three times fast? No Non-perils, non-perils, non-perils That's an easy one Okay, can you spell nonpareils?

I can now because I looked it up, but yeah, I could have spelled it. Yeah, it's nonpareils. Those are nonpareils? I just learned something today. Let's see. Small decorative balls of sugar and starch that are often used as a topping. Ginny Hu, you have great nonpareils. I'm fairly certain she didn't make the nonpareils. They're damn good. I'm not sure anybody knows how to make nonpareils. They're one of nature's mysteries. Do you know I use the word denouement?

You know what the word denouement means? Yeah, it means the build-up to the end. The final resolution of a plot. In a lot of ways, the falling action. Yeah. It comes after the climax. Right. The climax is what?

The climax is like the big action scene. What's the climax in the Dewberry drama? You mean ongoing? The drama that's going on. I'd say the climax is the sale to the new party. And the falling action is what happens after the sale. Possibly. Unless that leads us to another 15 years of misery.

It can't. If someone buys it at this number, it's assessed at 8-9. If someone buys it, what do we say? It's going to trade between 10 and 11? Call it 9 and 11. 9 and. If someone buys it, what do we say it's going to trade between $10 and $11? Call it $9 and $11. $9 and $11 million, say it trades for. Right? Give it a range of $9 to $12 million.

If someone pays $9 to $12 million for a shell, they're going to do something with it. Yeah. They're going to do something with it. Stacey Baker-Patty, her photo on screen. I agree, Jerry. People I know well are lauding this accused murderer a hero and a savior it deeply disturbing and highlights the brokenness and humanity empathy deficiency and moral bankruptcy put that lower third on screen why don't we go the united

health care conversation the only reason on the i love seville show i'm talking about the united health care murder this is a national this is a global story yeah the show I'm talking about the United Healthcare murder. This is a global story. The reason I'm talking about it on the I Love Seville show, which is a local show, is because of the following reasons. The healthcare system is broken. We've seen that highlighted by the anonymous

UPG, University Physicians Group 128, who says the UVA health system is fraudulently billing its patients, is changing medical charts to maintain performance standards and national rankings, and pretty much is a system of bullying and C-suite power maneuvering. We've also seen in Charlottesville and Albemarle and Central Virginia, friends of mine, people I have beers with, coffee with, play squash with, call friends, and friends are the family you choose. Friends are the family you choose.

Friends of mine are saying he got what was coming to him. And a murder of this magnitude is needed to radicalize or revolutionize the healthcare system, which is broken. And I just don't buy that. I don't buy that BS. I don't buy it. You don't murder people. You don't murder people. You don't shoot a man in the back that's a father. You don't shoot a man in the back because you don't believe in his business practices. Is the healthcare system broken and flawed? Yes, it's broken and flawed. It's one of the, you talk about systemic, systemic, you talk about systemic ways where folks of poverty or folks of minority racial profile

are kept in poverty situations, you can point to health care. You can point to the ability to get credit and money from banks for purchases of homes. You can point to. Admission standards at universities. You can point to interviewing at jobs. You can point to policing.

In some cases. But you certainly can point to health care. Denying claims. Denying claims. In someone's most vulnerable state. In the case of the University of Virginia. Fraudulently billing people. And when they don't pay their bill,

you take their houses from them. You put liens against their whips, their cribs. You hound them. That Washington Post story from a couple years ago. The house they took, the University of Virginia Health Care, the house they took was from a nurse at UVA who got behind on her. They took it from their own team member because she

couldn't pay her bills. Think about that. If they're going to do it to their own team member, they're doing it to their mother. They're going to do it to their own mom. Is the healthcare system broken? Yes. But the people that are saying the dude deserved it and we need something like that to radicalize and revolutionize and reimagine the healthcare system, I don't buy that. I don't buy that. And Stacey Baker-Patty, you said it extremely well. And I'm going to relay what she said. She said the deeply disturbing nature and highlights the brokenness in our humanity today. Empathy, deficiency, and moral bankruptcy. I think it shows just how quickly our civilized nation does devolve into periods of burning businesses.

And, I mean, we've seen protests go the wrong direction. This is cancel culture. This is way more than cancel culture, Judah. I never said it was cancel culture. Logan Wells-Clello, Janice Boyce-Trevillian, Georgia Gilmer. Kevin Yancey, insurance and health care and hospitals have bankrupted millions. And killed probably just as many. There's someone that's come on this show and come on other shows on our network, and I'll leave it at that, that was offering commentary about what happened in just startling way.

John Blair on LinkedIn, Let's go meta here. The real villain in the hotel saga is collateralized debt obligations. CDOs caused the great financial crisis which caused all the capital collateral calls. This scramble for liquidity leads to the original hotel not being developed. Just a thought.

Interesting. He calls the lending environment the villain. Possibly. Possibly. That doesn't leave us with a person to point at, though. Can we say that this federal court that's got a judgment against, this federal court that's where Dewberry's in the crosshairs of, to the tune of nearly 50 million for trademark infringement is the villain. Because without that trademark

infringement judgment, maybe he doesn't have to do a fire sale of property. Or is this trademark infringement saga that's happening with John Dewberry, the angel gets its wings when the bell rings on the Christmas tree because it's forcing Dewberry to do something. Where before, he might have just said, screw you, Charlottesville, you stuck it to me, I'm going to stick it to you. I'm just going to hold this property and let it appreciate. How do you feel about 15 more years?

How do you feel about me giving this to my kids and my will? Build a torch on top. Maybe that trademark judgment against Dewberry is the best thing that happened for the Dewberry Hotel. Yeah. Next headline. What do you got? Put it on screen, please.

Let us know what it is. We're already done with that? Okay. Let's see. I don't know where we are. Is it the law firm? Former U.S. Attorney investigating pro-Palestine protest.

Okay, we can put that one on screen. Say pro-Palestine protest three times fast. Pro-Palestine protest. How about say pro-Palestine pepper spraying protest three times fast. Pro-Palestine pepper spraying protest. Pro-Palestine pepper spraying protest. Pro-Palestine pepper spraying protest.

Okay, you got a little dicey for you there, Judah Winkauer. Just protest. You got a little dicey for you there, Judah Winkauer. Just about. It got a little dicey for you. The University of Virginia releases a statement today on Friday. First off, if someone with the clout and savvy of the University of Virginia

and its media arm is releasing statements on Friday, it's done strategically by a reason. If you want to hide a story, you release it on a Friday. And today, in a very short release, I'm talking one, two, three, four, five, six, seven paragraphs, the University of Virginia has announced that former Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary McCord

will investigate the events and the decisions surrounding, and they took it from us, the Palestine protest, an encampment. We came up with that moniker, UVA, not you. Mary McCord, former assistant U.S. attorney, will investigate the events and the decisions surrounding the protest. She's going to develop a timeline of events and review the university's policy framework related to expressive activity

and campus safety and security. She's now the executive director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection. That's a constitutional litigation group within Georgetown University Law Center. As part of the review, McCord will examine how

the gathering evolved, including the events leading up to the confrontation between university leaders and protesters. Here's a key catch here. The review will be limited to the actions and decisions of those at UVA and will not cover the actions or decisions made by local or state police. That also includes Governor Glenn Youngkin. So it's only actions by UVA. It doesn't say anything in this release that that investigation report will be released to the public. Another investigative report. What the hell is going on

why start now this investigative report will not be released to the public the investigative report that's being done with the university physicians group and the bogus billing and the medical chart changing that report is not going to be released to the public.

The murder of the three football players, maybe that report gets released in February, they're saying. Time will tell. The pro-Palestine pepper-spraying protest report. What's a report that starts with P? The pro-Palestine pepper-spraying paper. No, damn it. The pro-Palestine pepper spraying paper No, damn it. The pro-Palestine

pepper spraying protest paper will not be released to the public. Oh, I could have thrown public in there too. Will not be pushed to the public? Sure. Next headline, Judah Wittkower.

And speaking of the University of Virginia, the Jefferson Council uncovered this. There's so much legal activity swirling around UVA right now that the Richmond-based law firm McGuire Woods billed the University of Virginia $521,000 in July, August, and September. One partner at McGuire Woods is charging UVA $1,054 per hour.

You know what I find odd about the $1,054 an hour? It's not the amount. Where does he come up with the $54? Why is it $1,054 per hour for the partner, Jonathan T.? I mean, why isn't it $1,195? $95. $95.95. Why is it $1,000?

Why is it $1,054? Seriously. Out of curiosity, I would ask Mr. Jonathan T. Blank that question. The Jefferson Council also highlights that there are a number of other cases and settlements that, get this, are not being revealed to the public. Lawsuits, settlements, legal proceedings that require third-party counsel? How much is the university paying per year in third-party legal fees? And interestingly, the Board of Visitors just highlighted that it's going to raise tuition.

Of course they're going to raise tuition. They're paying all these lawyers' fees. It's going to raise tuition. It's going to raise the student meal plan costs. It's going to raise the cost of on-grounds housing. Undergraduate on-grounds housing will experience increases ranging from 5.45% to 5.55%. The student meal plans are upticking nearly 6%. This is the thing, Judah. It sounds like nominal upticks when you realize, though, that if you get a tuition increase and you're an undergraduate, and you get a meal plan increase

and you're an undergraduate, and you get an on-grounds housing increase and you're an undergraduate, it doesn't become marginal at that point. When all the profit centers are increasing 5%, it does not become marginal at that point. And you're also dealing with inflation in every other area. Exactly. We're becoming a university even more significantly of just one percenters. A one percenter educational ecosystem. And the one percenter educational ecosystem and the one percenter educational

ecosystem is significant it's significant because these students are the ones that eventually some of them choose to return to grounds to charlesville to almore county to call this their home because the undergraduate experience in a lot of ways is the best four years of your life and why not come back and raise the ami what do you it's 124 200 right now for 2023 what do you think the area median income when it comes out in q1 of next year what do you think it's going to be for 2024 oh i don't know i mean uh it hasn't been going up that much. It went about $900. Year to year.

It was $123,300 in 2022. Then it went $124,200 in 2023. This is area, median, family, household, income. Family. Remember, this could be two earners. I mean, at that point, increases hardly make any difference to the people on the low end. Walk me through that thinking.

Who's close to the area median income? Who's even close to it? Ask that question again. This is the median. Yeah. So there's a lot of people close to it. Yeah, but none of the people that are struggling. The people that are struggling are way far from this number.

Exactly. So you're saying if it upticks another $900, they're not going to feel it? They will feel it, but it's not like anyone will care or do anything about it. And it's not like that $900 uptick is going to really, how is that going to affect their ability to rent a place or buy a house? Well, when you say that housing affordability is tied to AMI to the tune of 60%, for example, and you go 124,200, right? And you times that by 0.6, you're looking at 75K family household income. Yeah. So as that number goes up, affordability requirements with housing

are tied to that number. So the higher that number goes up, the affordability requirements for some of these development projects will also go up. Yeah. So it's really, and Deep Throat's made this point in past,

not the best metric to use for housing affordability. Because if you say housing affordability is tied to, say, 80% AMI. Ned Galloway was making this point on Real Talk this morning. 124,200 times 0.8 is 100 grand. It's $100,000. So when Chief Kochess, when he says on Wednesday that only three of the Charlottesville police officers, including him, can live in the city of Charlottesville, and I bring that up to Ned Galloway today, he says, well, what's the starting pay for a police officer? Was it $50,000? $60,000? So a starting pay for a police officer times two,

they're still at 80% AMI. So this is basically what the city is saying. I want you boys and gals to wear a bulletproof vest because you might get shot. I want you boys and gals to have a gun on your hip because you're facing violence and unsafety. I want you boys and gals to work nights and weekends, risk your life protecting the others in the community, and we're not going to pay you enough where you can't afford to live in the city you live in, the city you serve. And if you're

married to another police officer, the two-year salaries combined are going to still be at 80% area median income. I mean, it takes a brave servant to join a police department at this pay scale. I'm tired of the defund the police commentary. If you want, pay the police some more, the fire and rescue some more. They need to live here. We're so enamored. We're so obsessed, Judah. We're so obsessed with this affordability, housing affordability. We're so obsessed with changing history and renaming stuff and rebranding stuff and moving statues and stuff. Curious of what we spend on stuff like this

over the course of a year and how that money can be used to actually pay fire, rescue, police more so they can live in the community they serve. Oh, no mint. Sorry, Ginny Hoo. And those are called nonpareils. What do they call them? Nonpareils. Nonpareils. Sorry, Ginny Hoo. Those non-preals are so good. You got great non-preals, Jenny Hu. Great non-preals. Albert Graves. Albert Graves on Twitter says, I think the city has to take some blame for the Dewberry.

I don't think any developers buy and construct a partial building just to stop mid-construction and pay all the money that they have if it hadn't been for some back-alley negotiations that turned sour very abruptly. Albert Graves, you routinely make the program better. He also tells the story of a 16-year-old named Stephen Roach who murdered his aunt in Greene County. The 16-year-old Stephen Roach received the death penalty as he should have. He says he knows all about the situation and the impact this will have on the family.

I'm sorry for that, Albert Graves. Appreciate you sharing that. I'm sending him a reply to his tweet. 128 marker. What else do we have on the headline list? We've got Citizen Burger Bar. We've got women's basketball. Wahoos squeaking by.

Citizen Burger Bar, you give that story. Let's see. Citizen Burger Bar, run by andy mcclure of uh of virginian fame the virginian restaurant group he owns the virginian restaurant he's a uva undergraduate he's got a he was a uva undergraduate. He graduated from UVA. He's a talented restaurateur. He's an all-around good guy. Fantastic wife, Julie.

His company has been providing free dining experiences to those in need for more than 20 years, and they are continuing this year with Citizen Burger Bar. If our viewers know a family or families that are maybe going through some hard times or maybe just need a pick-me-up, as it says in this article, right up until the restaurant closes for Christmas Eve and Christmas. Anyone can submit a family by emailing citizenburgerseville at gmail.com. Andy McClure and his staff are trying to find as many families as they can to help. And in his own words, he says,

People who just know some family next door or down the street or where they work who haven't had a great year or just moved here or haven't been able to go out with their family. And they're offering free meals for families that get, I guess, nominated, submitted by friends or whomever. I think this is an awesome holiday treat for some families that are hungry. Yeah, that are in need. We have to be hungry. That are in need.

Annie McClure, you're a good man. Agreed. You're a good need. Annie McClure, you're a good man. Agreed. You're a good man, Annie McClure. One time the most prolific restaurant owner in the area. Now the most prolific restaurant owner is whom? Now it is Ash. Kid Ash is there, but I think Dino Hochhach. Dino's up there?

Dino, a lot of people don't know this. Dino owns Dino's Pizza. Dino's up there? Dino, a lot of people don't know this. Dino owns Dino's Pizza. Dino's Pizza. Dino's Pizza. He's got the Dino's Pizza at Pro Renata. He's got the Moo Through at Pro Renata. That's four. He's got Basta Pasta. Basta Pasta, that's five. He's got the chicken, the rotisserie chicken is six at Dairy Market. Is that the same thing? That's two different things. I'll give him two different things on that. Rotisserie chicken and wood-fired pizza are two different things. So Dino's Pizza,

this is fresh news for viewers and listeners. We'll start from two move-throughs. Dairy Market, Pro Renata. No, no. Yeah, Dairy Market, Pro Renata. Dino's Pizza, Dairy Market. Dino's Pizza, Pro Renata. That's four. Dino's Pizza, Dairy Market. Dino's Pizza Pro Renata, that's four.

He's got Basta Pasta, that's five. Chicken, that's six. He's opened a Sizzle Shack Burger in Dairy Market, that's seven. Used to be the Burger Spot, Citizen. And now he's got a coffee and bakery that he's opening over there. That's eight. Dino's got eight points of sale. You're looking at the most prolific restaurant owner followed by a close

second, Kit Ashey's team. Yeah, no doubt. And Dino definitely knows how to treat his employees. Dude, Dino does it right. Dino's figured out the labor piece. One of the few that have. Kit's another one that's figured out the labor piece. Travis Hackworth and Danville, let's face it, Charlottesville, especially the University of Virginia, quit being for anyone below the 1% a long time ago. Ask anyone outside of Seville around the Commonwealth of Virginia, and they will all say Seville and UVA is nothing but one percenters. Appreciate that comment. The mayor of Danville, Travis Hackworth. Appreciate this comment. All right, I'll close with the basketball, two basketball stories. The founder of Reddit donates the second largest gift in UVA women's athletics history and the largest gift in women's basketball history.

Yeah. This happened on the heels of last week, a week ago, an anonymous donor donating a transformative gift to the UVA Athletic Department's NIL Cav Collective. NIL efforts. Name, image, and likeness. The money is coming in aggressively to the University of Virginia now. If the major revenue sports, football and basketball, do not start performing, we have a serious problem on our hands. The basketball team barely beat Bethune-Cookman last night. They were losing at halftime in what was one of the most uninspired first-half

performances that I've seen from a Virginia basketball team in the last 15 or 16 years. Certainly have not seen that kind of uninspired play in the Tony Bennett era. Wow. They were losing to a 2-6 team yesterday, guys, at halftime. They have Memphis on the docket Wednesday in a big matchup with Penny Hardaway's Tigers. Tom Powell says, Bravo, Andy McClure and Citizen Burger Bar. When you start getting this kind of money coming in for NIL, for the CAF collective, you need to start seeing performance on the football field and on the basketball court.

And if you don't see performance on the football field and the basketball courts, heads should turn, because they're paid the kind of money where performance expectations are fair and reasonable. This is the Friday edition of the I Love Seville show.

Judah Wickhauer was absolutely on point today. Well done, Judah Wickhauer. Thank you kindly for joining us. For Judah Wickhauer, my name is Jerry Miller. Thank you.