The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - UVA Docs Write 3rd Letter, Disparage Prez Ryan; AlbCo Public Schools Closed Friday/Today (Rain)

Episode Date: September 30, 2024

The I Love CVille Show headlines: UVA Docs Write 3rd Letter, Disparage Prez Ryan AlbCo Public Schools Closed Friday/Today (Rain) First Night Virginia About To Be Canceled Again Lake Monticello Discontinues July 4 Fireworks Show Is Patriotism Waning In CVille & Across Central VA? Why Do Jurisdictions Not Host Patriotic Outings? Boston College at UVA (-3.5), 12 PM Sat., ACCN Jefferson Council President On I Love Cville Thurs Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air Jerry Miller was live on The I Love CVille Show! Follow The I Love CVille Show on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-i-love-cville-show-with-jerry-miller/id1473278344 Follow The I Love CVille Show on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7vPYSxtueet3r8GHNboJs3 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.

Welcome to the I Love Seville show. Good Monday afternoon to you. Thank you kindly for joining us. My name is Jerry Miller. A pleasure to connect with you guys after yet another soggy evening and morning in Charlottesville and Elmarle County and across central Virginia. For the second straight day, Friday, now today, Albemarle County public schools have been closed due to rain and the concern of flooded roads. We're going to talk about the impact of canceling school and the largest school system in central Virginia due to the fear of flooding. Was it the right move, canceling for the second straight school day schools and giving students and their parents essentially four days from their rugrats of being in a learning environment Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. I understand that the back roads in Albemarle County are vast and robust, and I understand some of those back roads, especially in the Whitehall and Greenwood and southern portions of Albemarle County may be dangerous with trees, with flooded roads,

and other precarious elements keeping kids and their parents and school buses from getting to and from schools. But I would bet 90% plus of students, their parents, and their bus routes would have had very little difficulty making it to schools today. Was canceling schools for the safety of 10% of the student body the right move when 90% of said body could have made it on time. I want to unpack that today. I want to talk on today's program about another letter, this one, a third one, from an anonymous group of UVA physicians. This one published in the Daily Progress

over the weekend on Saturday. This letter, even more direct, and this letter even more aggressive in tone, and this letter frankly disparages the president of the University of Virginia, Jim Ryan. We will highlight some elements of this letter, which you can find on the Daily Progress. If you are a member or a subscriber, the headline, Concerned Physicians of UVA, This is Why We Are Fighting, also pokes the bear that is Bill Crutchfield, the namesake of the Crutchfield Corporation. A lot to unpack on this commentary from yet again anonymous physicians at the University of Virginia. I want to talk about this topic. We are going to break some news on today's program about First Night Virginia.

In fact, Judah Wittkower is going to break the news with some inside intelligence in the First Night Virginia organization or outfit. Of course, this is the family-friendly version of New Year's Eve that transpires on the downtown mall. It's an event that's not booze or alcohol-centric. It's one you can bring your children to. It's been canceled for years now, first because of COVID, now, frankly, because of a lack of attention to execution, because there's no ringleader to make the event happen. We'll let Judah break that news. It also coincides with the news from Fluvanna County that the Lake Monticello Neighborhood Association, Homeowners Association, has now discontinued, is the word they're using. Perhaps

the word is banned. The fireworks show in the largest neighborhood in central Virginia, roughly 4,300 homes in Lake Monticello in Fluvanna. I'm going to ask you this question. With the firework show no longer part of Charlottesville and McIntyre Park, with the firework show no longer part of the largest neighborhood in Central Virginia, 4,300 homes in Fluvanna at Lake Monticello, with First Night Virginia now discontinued and banned, with jurisdictions really not taking a lead on celebrating holidays of merit across the calendar. I'm going to ask you this question, and it's a tough one to swallow. Is patriotism waning in our home, in our backyards, in the cities and counties that we call

our place to live and choose to raise our kids? We'll talk about that today. We'll talk Boston College visiting Charlottesville and Scott Stadium on Saturday. It's a 12 o'clock kickoff. ACC Network has the broadcast. The Wahoos open as a two and a half point favorite. They're now a three and a half point favorite. A battle of two of the best teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference. If I had said that at the start of the season, I would have followed that with a laugh. Now I say it straight-faced. Tony Elliott, Anthony Calandria, and Virginia have a chance, if they beat Boston College, to potentially climb into the receiving votes portion of both the coaches' poll and the writers' poll.

Think about that, ladies and gentlemen. Remember, prior to the year starting, Las Vegas had the over-under on a win total for Virginia football, three and a half. If they win Saturday, they're at four and they're over. A lot we're going to cover on today's program. I want to relay something that was sent to me via LinkedIn. I was tagged in a comment section on a post that stood out to me. Number two in the family, John Blair, tagged me on this over the weekend, and I found it interesting. If you want to get Mr. Blair's photo on screen, a LinkedIn post, I will read it for you. Did not make the headlines, but I still wanted to pass it along to you, and I'm going to read verbatim starting now. There's a guy I know

who's making hundreds of thousands a year, but he stayed in his apartment he and his wife had outgrown. I asked this guy, why are you staying in your apartment? You make a lot of money, you've outgrown this. The man responds with two words, because of rent control. This man was paying a couple grand a month, and it made absolutely no sense to either hear his wife to move when the same unit would cost at least two times more than that $2,000 a month. This man had an insane deal, and he did not want to give it up. There are many, many like him that stay in their apartments for many, many years. This rent control keeps apartment inventory low. This rent control increases rents for everyone else

that are not lucky enough to be in a rent-controlled unit. This, ladies and gentlemen, is what the U.S. housing market has become. Millions and millions of people locked into 3% loans for the next 25 years. In fact, almost a quarter of U.S. homeowners have loans below 3%, and nearly 80% of U.S. homeowners are paying an interest rate of 5% or below. Just like my friend, people are not going to move and pay double for the same house or even 50% more. They're going to stick it out for a long time.

They are not going to sell. This will keep prices high for everyone else. This is the American housing market. Rent control it at a grand scale with no end in sight. That stuck with me, ladies and gentlemen. These are my words now. John, I appreciate you tagging me on that LinkedIn post. John responds to this message on LinkedIn by saying, this is top shelf insight, Jim Duncan, Jerry Miller, and Todd Ray. It's also why the YIMBY movement has failed since 2022 and really is just sinking resources into a failed proposition. Why? Because so much of the housing market is going to act like subsidized housing for the next decade. I ain't moving out of this sweet deal. A Harrisonburg might make some incremental moves, but IZ, inclusionary zoning jurisdictions like Charlottesville

and Alamaro are not going to move the needle at all. Mandating subsidized units into the teeth of a market with little fluidity just isn't something builders are going to do. That commentary, folks, did not make our headlines today, but I wanted to relay it to you nevertheless. The comparison of a rent control American housing ecosystem is apropos. Folks are just not jumping off that interest rate they secured during COVID, even if they've outgrown the house, even though they have significant stacks of equity in their home. We'll follow closely if rates drop. And I think you're truly going to see that rate fall in the first and second quarter of the next year. But until that happens, ladies and gentlemen, we have a housing ecosystem that's stuck in quicksand, and we're seeing that in central Virginia. You talk to some of the folks that are on the supply chain of real estate in central Virginia,

and they'll say it is moving very, very slowly, whether that's brokers, appraisers, inspectors, agents, realtors, bankers. The inventory just is not moving, and rates have fallen. The most expensive time a lot of people have, to buy a house in American history was October of September 2023. September, October of last year. That's when interest rates were at their peak. They've fallen since. In some cases, a point in change or more, and still the inventory is not moving. Still not moving.

Judah Wickhaber will weave you in on a two-shot. We have a bet with the Lewis Mountain neighborhood. The over-under is nine houses will hit the for-sale market. You have been credited for three have hit the market. You have between now and the next 90 days, 90 days and change, tomorrow's the start of the fourth quarter, to find six for a tie, seven for a win,

a bottle of Johnny Walker Black on the line. How are you feeling about this bet as we enter the fourth quarter tomorrow? It ain't looking good. What's that? It ain't looking good. But we'll see. We'll see.

You still have time. You still have time. The lead of the show, if you want to get the lower third on screen, is a letter penned by anonymous physicians to the Daily Progress. Concerned physicians of UVA, this is why we are fighting. This letter, more aggressive in tone, Judah. Yeah. This letter, I'd say disparages Jim. Unsurprisingly. I'd say disparages Jim Ryan.

And as you said, a certain local business owner. Makes reference to Bill Crutchfield who wrote a letter on behalf of Craig Kent and the dean of the medical school.

Crutchfield's reference in this letter. I'll read the portion they offer on Jim Ryan. And this is a quote from the letter. We are also highly disappointed that UVA President Jim Ryan sided with his administration and quickly dismissed faculty concerns while scolding the writers of the no confidence letter as if he were addressing misbehaving teenagers. We find this irresponsible and disturbing behavior from our university president. Amazingly, he tried to convey that since the letter was signed by 128 faculty, the remaining faculty must have chosen not to sign, so he either ignorantly or deceitfully concluded

that only 9% of the faculty are represented. You are very wrong, Mr. Ryan. The bullying and retaliation from this administration is so great that physicians are afraid to sign. Imagine that occurring in an academic university founded by Thomas Jefferson on the principles of free expression and values of mutual respect. Jim Ryan, unbelievable, in a crossfire again. Yeah. What stood out to you about this third iteration of an anonymous commentary from these doctors?

This is the third one they've written. They are not going away. No, they're clearly fed up and they're clearly not happy with the response that they've gotten from both Ryan and the friend of the university, who they call friend of the administration rather than friend of the university. Right. Bill Crutchfield. You, Mr. Friend of the University, are no friend of the physicians. And it's clear that they're ready to have this story told.

I think they've been following official channels for what sounds like most of this year, if not longer. And after receiving little to no help in fixing what they see to be a lot wrong with the hospital, I think they're ready to go. I don't know if I'd say scorched earth. I think it's on the cusp of scorched earth here. I'd say it's getting close. The next step for the letter writers, and I've said this from the beginning, is signing their names. One of the reasons this story hasn't gotten even more magnitude with regional or national media is the anonymous nature of the letters. Yeah.

If you want the New York Times, the Washington Post to truly cover this story and for it to make national news, and I would imagine that's what they want, they're going to have to offer their official John Hancocks on this letter. And they're saying we cannot offer our John Hancocks. They continue to say why, because if we do, there will be aggressive retaliation against us. Repercussions. Do you understand an environment professionally where men and women have gone years, if not a decade plus through school, and in many cases gone hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt to pursue a profession that is not the profession financially that it once was, a profession mired in red tape and paperwork and bureaucracy and policy and oversight. I think that's been a problem for quite a while, but I think we're seeing it more and more in places where you would expect the highest standards, especially considering UVA's honor code.

Well said. Very well said. And think about it this way. These folks are saying if we sign this letter the retaliation will be swift and punishable and aggressive against us. And they've said that many of their number have already been dealing with

retaliation. Is there a for bringing up concerns in the past. Is there a link or a comparison to what some of these physicians and medical professionals are going through with what teachers and aides and educators have gone through.

The teacher profession is a profession, is a profession of noteworthiness of respect of of of you are giving of yourself to educate the next generation the medical doctors nurses surgeons very much uh in a uh a giving type of profession going into hospitals putting your health on the line working long hours working nights working weekends working holidays sacrificing family, items outlined in this letter for the betterment of other people. The folks in this medical professional community, thank you, very much like the teachers in our educational community that are saying, we are sacrificing the betterment of us and time with our

family to help other people and we're being disregarded and treated as if we were something on the bottom of people's shoes and that's what they highlight in this letter in the daily progress yeah i i've we're getting we're seeing the email sent to us and the thank you sent to us from those in the university physicians group. They're listening and watching, and I would encourage the next step has got to be acknowledging with your signature who is behind this movement and effort. And they highlight in this letter on Saturday to the Daily Progress, it's significantly more than 128, 9% of staff. It's significantly more. But others are afraid to join our movement.

We'll talk about this on Thursday when Thomas Neal, the president of the Jefferson Council, will be live on the show from Baltimore, Maryland. That should be an interview that is going to include the honor code and whether it needs to truly return to a single sanction status, an interview that talks freedom of speech at the University of Virginia, And is it truly a free speech hub? An interview that will talk protesting standards and protesting rules and regulations. Jim Ryan's future at the university.

Remember, the co-founder of the Jefferson Council, Bert Ellis, is on the board of visitors right now. I got chastised a bit for the nickname we gave Mr. Ellis. is going to, is on the board of visitors right now. I got chastised a bit for the nickname we gave Mr. Ellis prior to setting up this interview. I've said many times, how do you know that he drove with it in his car? Maybe rightfully so I was chastised. We do know he did use a razor blade or some kind of cutting mechanism, as it was highlighted in the email to us, to attempt to remove a sign from a long door. But those in a position of influence and power have given me the digital slap on the wrist for the moniker razor blade that was originated on this very platform.

Still, the president of the Jefferson Council on Thursday's program in an interview that I think is not only going to go viral on our I Love Seville network, but an interview that's going to be watched by, I've been told, members of the Board of Visitors and Jim Ryan's administration. So giddy up and get ready, viewers and listeners. Dotting the I's and

crossing the T's on the first topic. Anything else stand out to you from that letter? Any other commentary you want to offer? Jack of all trades, Jack of all wits, Judah B. Wickauer. I mean, just more rounding out of this insane story, talking about excessive spending on consultants, C-suite executives, retaliation against individuals for raising concerns about patient safety. I mean, with all that's come out in the last

week or two, I would seriously have some problems if I was getting ready to go get a procedure done at UVA. Did you hear me? Not with the physicians or the nurses or the staff, but it sounds like a lot of these individuals have their hands tied

when it comes to what's going on in the hospital. And if there are issues with safety and they're not allowed to make changes, that would make me very scared to go there or send someone I loved to the UVA hospital. Did you hear me pass along our firsthand perspective with our 22 month old to the herpes last week? Yeah, I think so. Vaguely. I've touched on this story briefly on the show. Late August, maybe early September, so within the last month, my wife and I took our 22-month-old to the UVA Children's Hospital for a planned surgery. He had a clogged tear duct. And this surgery had been planned and on the schedule for weeks after some visits to the UVA Hospital and the doctor, Dr. Carter, confirming that the tear duct was,

in fact, clogged. So we go to the UVA Children's Hospital right there across from Farm Bell Kitchen in the UVA corner, literally smack dab on grounds. We show up 90 minutes early. We found it odd. Why do we have to show up 90 minutes early when we have a 22 month old? We go to the waiting room. We're called 90 minutes, you know, right when we check in about five minutes after by, uh, into a room, a room, the size of a tiny bedroom, maybe a hundred square feet. My wife is extremely emotional. I'm emotional. Our 22 month old is crying. He's like, what the heck am I doing here? Because it's the unknown. We go into this room that is maybe 85 square feet that has no windows, a glass door slid behind us. We're basically in a room, shoulder to shoulder, sitting across from someone in billing at the UVA Children's Hospital from their desk. She has paperwork in front of us and says,

the bill for this surgery is like $11,800. With the insurance you have, which is basically catastrophic insurance we have, I'm self-employed here, as we try to keep monthly premiums and deductibles, whatever the word is, in check. And they're like, out of pocket, your cost is $4,800. You need to pay for this now. I have my arm around my wife. Our 22-month-old is crying.

My wife next to me is crying. I'm trying to console her. We're 90 minutes away from our child wearing a hospital gown and taking into a surgical room, having an IV in his hand, and we're being presented with paperwork prior to the surgery and saying, you need to pay for this now. How are you going to do that? And, you know, I would like to say that I'm very good with managing the household budget and money, which I, you know, track record is there, would indicate that. And I said, here's the card here. Are you okay, sweetheart? Let me see what I can do with Zachary.

Putting my arm around my wife. It's going to be okay. He's in good hands. Did even look at the paperwork. And in retrospect, I feel, you know, almost less of a dad or a man than I should, you know, I felt I handled it poorly. Because in any other situation, buying a car, buying a house, buying a rental property, negotiating a deal on behalf of a client, setting up a professional arrangement for someone that's buying a business, helping a client find funding to scale his business. In any other situation, I am the voice of reason that outlines every item on the paperwork, reads every contract. We've talked about this. I read every effing contract that comes across my desk. Everything. I figure out the holes, the issues.

I provide value for clients. I provide value for the deals I'm in. In that scenario, I was across from someone in an 80-square-foot office with no windows, my wife bawling, my kid crying hysterically. I just gave the visa over, and we paid for it. And at one time, ladies and gentlemen,

the bill was sent to your house, and you had 30 days to pay the bill. You would pay the bill after you, what's your address? We'll send you the bill. Now you're paying for it now. And you're asking to be paid for it in your most vulnerable

state when your partner is crying and your child is bawling. Yeah. I found the whole thing despicable. I'm going to be straightforward. The entire process reeked of used car aggressive tactics, salesman tactics.

I'm not trying to throw shade on used car salesmen. Not all of them are aggressive and do tactics like this, but you know what I'm talking about. That's what it reeked of. Pushing you to make a decision when you're in a fragile mental state and worried about family. There it is. John Blair on LinkedIn. I would like to know what you and Judah think of this. Where are Charlottesville's activists when it comes to this situation at UVA Health?

They treat the most disadvantaged people in the community. This isn't a race or class issue. Honestly, the most surprising angle of this story is the lack of community activism around allegations of substandard medical care and bad billing practices. Not a peep. Do you two or any of your listeners have any idea why there is zero activism around this?

You want to touch on that? I have an idea. I mean, I have an idea too. Spit it out there. I would guess that it's not a hot button issue that's going to... They don't want to drag themselves into something like this.

It's not... It's not socially acceptable. I don't think there's enough what do you mean i explain this socially acceptable to stand up for what's right and wrong changing medical charts to maintain performance standards for the university of virginia and fraudulently billing people not refusing to change bills that are clearly fraudulent? Yeah. Okay, can I make a legitimate argument? Who are two of the biggest activists that you know in Charlottesville?

And I'll be very straightforward. Two of the biggest activists in this community that are organized and strategized, that use organization and strategy to pursue their activism. It's the group at Livable Charlottesville. And the co-chairs of the group of Livable Charlottesville, Stephen Johnson and Matthew Gilligan, have one thing in common. You know what that is? What's that?

They're employed by the University of Virginia. Ah. The most vocal activist in this community right now, I would say, is Matthew Gilligan. And he's employed by UVA Health. And isn't Zianna Bryant still somehow connected with the university? I know she's a... Is there an active lawsuit with Zianna Bryant and the university?

I know she's in good standing with the university, despite the fact that she led the charge on a false charge against Bettinger. Mr. Johnson, a professor, co-founder of Liberal Seville, professor at UVA. His other co-founder, Matthew Gilligan, works in speech at UVA Health. Which one? Think about that. Yeah. They use Charlottesville Twitter and their platform to put activism in the narrative.

Think about that, folks. So you're saying them commenting on the situation would be akin to biting the hand that feeds them? They work for the university. And if they know anything about the retaliation that's been seen in this part of the university, I wonder if they're naturally afraid of a similar type of retaliation where they work. You make the decision. Deep Throat's got some commentary that he's going to offer us.

Then we'll go on to the next topic. He says the people who are in trouble from the billing are people who are neither poor enough to be on Medicaid nor rich enough to have Cadillac insurance. It is the middle class. Same people who have small, single-family homes. The activists hate those people. Yeah. He says, the clients of activists are on Medicaid.

They don't pay anything. He said, I would say that at universities generally, faculty of all fields have started to realize that it was a mistake to abdicate control to central administration. At some institutions, faculty is trying to claw back control from administrators. It feels a bit like that is what is needed at UVA Health and Medical School. He says these doctors would have been justified in both calling him out by name and criticizing him even more. And he says that about Bill Crutchfield.

He says Crutchfield might be a great electronic salesman, but in his terms of knowledge of health systems generally, and this one in particular, he should understand that his involvement is that he was put on a board as a gesture to a donor. Yeah. The next step for the 128 is to put their names on something. That's the next step. And to John's point,

where are the Nakia Walkers and Tanisha Hudsons and Diana Bryants and Dr. Wes Bellamy's and Matthew Gilligan's and Stephen Johnson's on this storyline? It's just not a sexy enough proposition. Higgins of Greenwood gives props to Deep Throat. He says, good call from that guy, exactly. Georgia Gilmer, it's not affecting the social justice activists because if it did, they would be on it. Sondra McDaniel, if you ever worked at UVA or currently work there, you're not going to say anything.

This is the same tactics utilized by the mob. These are the same type of tactics utilized by the mafia. Think about it. Fear, power, retaliation. I would say anyone in power, retaliation. I would say anyone in power, largely. There's a lot of people in power, Judah, but they don't have this kind of power.

I know. I'm talking about corporations. Whistleblower protections are disappearing. Are disappearing, are disappearing, but still are out there. Yeah, but I don't know that they're always effective. If you're following us on YouTube,

subscribe to the channel. We love when you watch there on YouTube viewers and listeners, let us know your thoughts. It's the one to wait marker. And we have other topics we got to get to on a Monday. Anything else you want to offer on this before I change topics? Ginny Hu, thank you for the retweet. Got the paper and TV station watching us right now.

Sondra McDaniel, do not bite the hand that feeds you. Yeah. That's what Judah said. If you don't bite the hand that feeds you, and you're an activist on so many other fronts, does that make you question the authenticity of said activism that exists? I think a lot of us always have questions because of the selective nature of what they choose to go after. Choose to pursue. Kevin Higgins, the UVA Medical Center will put liens against

sick patients' homes. Mafia, it's way worse than the mafia. They take homes from people. I was well covered by the Washington Post. You find me an organization that does this. The only place you can go for this kind of care and health in the entire region is us. We're going to charge you what we want, even if it's not accurate billing.

If you have a problem with the bill that we gave you, so what? We're still going to charge you. And we're going to change the charts that are next to your bed to maintain our sterling reputation so we can keep billing at this standard and keep getting people to come see us.

You got a problem with that, so what? You can't go anywhere else. And if you don't pay us, we're going to take your effing house. We're going to put a lien on your paycheck. You're going to pay us. We're going to break your proverbial knees. The proverbial knees is we're going to steal your house from you. No, seriously. I know. Think about that. You got a problem? Pay us right now. Your 22-month-old is bawling. Your wife is crying.

We got you trapped in an 80-square-foot office 90 minutes before your kid puts on a hospital gown, has an IV in his arm, and is taken from your arms to a surgical room to do a procedure next to his eyeball. Where else are you going to go? Where else are you going to go? Where else are you going to go? Where else are you going to go? Where else are you going to go, guys? The bill is $11,800. Where else are you going to go? And people are surprised that Americans will go overseas for medical procedures. Where else are you going to go? Oh, and if you don't want to do this, that's fine.

Your 22-month-old will just cry from that eye for the rest of his life. Next headline, what do you got? Alcove Public Schools closed Friday and today. All right, you put the lower third on screen here. Viewers and listeners, parents of Alamaro County Public Schools, I got this question for you. Schools were closed on Friday, Alamaro County Public Schools, largest school system in Central Virginia. Schools were closed today, Monday. I would say, and I'm going to use a conservative number, okay, Judah? 90% of the students in Albemarle County Public Schools would have had no difficulty getting to school today. 90%. I understand that there's a percentage

of Albemarle County Public Schools, whether it's Whitehall, Free Union, Greenwood, Southern Albemarle County around the James River in the Scottsville area, okay? Schuyler, Batesville areas. And I'm just throwing rural communities out there, portions of Earliesville, portions of Barbersville, where their ability to get to school, especially early in the morning, was challenging due to roads being out, roads being potentially flooded, trees blocking the roads. I get that. I'm going to use a conservative number of 90% of the student body could have gotten to school on Friday. 90% of the student body could have gotten to school today. Yet schools were closed for the entire system on Friday and Monday,

creating a four-day weekend for parents. Four-day weekend for parents. It's a potential nightmare for any mom and dad, any mom and mom, any dad and dad. I'll put it also into perspective. The private schools had school on Friday, and the private schools had school on Monday, and none of the private schools started late or ended early.

Eventually, and some people may not like this, but I would bet you the large majority do, eventually common sense needs to prevail and we need to say, oh, 10% can't make it. Let's give them a pass on a tardy or an excused absence. The remaining 90% get in school and learn and help your parents navigate their day, especially if it's a household of two working parents that need school to give their kids a leg up

but also need school that's cut to the chase as a form of childcare so mom and dad, mom and mom, dad and dad can pay the bills with their 9-5 on Friday, their 12-hour shift on Monday, or their overnight shift on Friday or Monday. Okay? Eventually common sense should prevail. And the common sense tells me 90% plus can make it to the classroom, why wouldn't you open? Seriously. We have canceled school for two straight days because of rain.

Because of rain. And I need to say this. My parents live in Flat Rock, North Carolina, right outside Asheville, in the eye of this storm. Have you seen the photos online or the imagery on some of these cable news networks on what's happened to Asheville? No, I haven't seen anything about Asheville. Asheville, North Carolina, has been destroyed. Oh, wow. My parents live 25 minutes from Asheville, 30 minutes from Asheville, North Carolina has been destroyed. Oh, wow. My parents live 25 minutes from Asheville, 30 minutes from Asheville.

I spoke with my mom this morning. My mom and dad are technology illiterate. My mom legitimately has a burner cell phone. Net 10 is her cell phone provider. She pays for cell phone service by the minute as opposed to a monthly plan. Minutes used is how she pays for her cell phone because she doesn't use it that much. Somehow her cell phone is working despite AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon, all her neighbors' phones being out. They also have a generator that was serviced 10 days ago fortunately for them, so they have

power and limited portions of their house. Their neighbors are coming to her home, to my dad's home, to use their net 10, pay by the minute, purchase that 7-Eleven cell phone. Okay. She said the

Publix grocery store and the Publix competitor in Flat Rock, right outside Hendersonville, North Carolina, half an hour or so from Asheville, had a three-hour line just to get into the grocery store. They were only allowing 15 people in the store at a time. You had to pay cash. None of the credit card systems were working. If you had to get cash from a bank, none of the banks could give you cash because they didn't have power. So think about this. You have grocery stores that say we have only cash and the banks saying we can't give cash to you because we don't have power. This is a disaster.

And I'll say this, and I'll catch some hell for this comment, but it must be said. Are you ready for this? Ready for this one, Judah? Okay. Until the damage from this hurricane has been alleviated or resolved in Florida, in Georgia, in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee.

We're talking one of the most damaging hurricanes in American history, ladies and gentlemen. Yeah. One of the most damaging hurricanes in American history. Until the damage from these hurricanes has been repaired, alleviated, and brought back to its original form pre-hurricane, I don't want anything from an America standpoint saying, oh, we're going to go to this country outside the United States of America and give them millions, hundreds of millions, or billions of dollars to help their relief and their quality of life. You want to start with quality of life, help, and relief. You start in the country that you're governing before you look outside the borders.

And that will piss some people off. But Frank, that's a common sense approach. You talk your Americans and your citizens first before you go somewhere else across the world and drop off water and food and shelter and other kind of quality of life improvement infrastructure. Can't buy food unless you have cash in Flat Rock, North Carolina. Can't get cash from the bank because they don't have electricity. Right. Think about that. I know.

I want you to think about that. That's our digital age. This is the argument for having cash on hand. Fortunately, my parents have cash on hand all the time because they're OGs. They are OGs. My dad, the OG of OGs. Pray to God for the people in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee.

I pray to God. This is weeks, if not longer, of recovery. Not only that, I was hearing on the news that in a lot of these places, generally speaking, it's usually about 1%. 1% of the people living there actually have some type of flood insurance. And, of course, most of us who own homes and probably a lot of us who don't know that your regular home insurance

does not include flooding. So there are likely... And there's various kinds of flood insurance too. A lot of people, if you look at the insurance you have for your house, have flood damage. This is going to be the next shit storm that hits. Excuse my language, parents that are watching, with your kids in your car.

I apologize for using profanity. My wife is going to chastise me for that. You've got to stop doing that, Jerry. I'll hear about that tonight. Here's the next shit storm that's going to happen. It's going to be this. It's going to be the insurance providers are not going to pay out for these

flood destroyed homes. That's the next thing that's going to happen. You heard it right here. And the insurance providers have said, you had damage insurance, you didn't have catastrophic flood insurance. And then you're going to have hundreds of thousands,

millions of people, who even knows what the number is at this point, unable to repair their homes while still having debt owed to the bank and the houses that collateral on the loan they have. You see what I'm saying? Oh, yeah. I read a comment from someone recently talking about the fact that they lost most of what they had. And they had taken out a fortunately small loan to pay for moving their stuff. They had recently moved into this house that became flooded not long after they moved in. And they had taken out a small loan to pay the moving company to get all their stuff to the house, and now all that stuff is ruined and destroyed,

and they're still paying off the loan that they took out to get all that stuff to the house. This comes from Facebook message. With the UVA billing, I hear you, Jerry, so many times, but worse recently, I've seen some crazy bills from the health system for adult care and through the children's pediatricians care, the way it is presented and in pressure situations at time is puzzling. I've commented to my wife many, many times. I am an educated English first language competent person with lots of business, financial and legal experience.

And I read every word of every paper I sign. I always say if I feel pressured and not right with the medical center billing, imagine those who do not have all the benefits I have listed above. Then throw in the current accusations by whistleblowers and you better believe I will be more prudent moving forward. That's exactly how I feel. And I swear to God, I sincerely feel less of a man. You call that chauvinist, you call that misogynist, whatever the word you want to call it here. I feel less of a provider or father or a husband when I was in an 80 square foot room and they said, you need to sign this as my 22 month old is bawling as my wife is crying an hour and change

before his surgery and i just gave him the family credit card to pay for it without picking it apart like thanksgiving turkey like i do in every other circumstance of every other deal i negotiate yeah literally what i do primarily for a living is structured deals. That's what we do here. Holly Foster and Henrico, so glad to hear your parents are safe. My mother always told me to have cash hidden in the house in case power was out and the banks were closed, and I still do that.

Georgia, amen, Jerry. Take care of our citizens first. She says, here's an update from outside Asheville. Publix in Weaverville is open. They are accepting credit cards and will give $40 cash back with debit cards, limiting purchase to four gallons of water and one bag of ice per household. Very little food on the shelves, but a good amount of produce. The Shell station on Monticello and 2570 has gas and they are directing traffic entrance only from 25 to 70. Credit cards accepted. My mom and dad filled up their two family Subarus prior to this storm because they're the people that prepare for the worst in every regard. In every regard, they prepare for the worst. So they had the Subarus filled up.

Dre drove by the gas stations in Flat Rock and Hendersonville and said the line was not hours long, but it was half a day long. Oh, man. Half a day long with signs where the gas prices were, you know, the charge per gallon, that said cash only. Janice Boyce Trevelyan. My brother did a stem cell transplant at MCV, no better there.

It's too bad. Samaritan's Purse Franklin Graham's organization was first on site with good water and oxygen for those who need it, not our government. Have we heard from the president? Which one? Have we heard from the president? Sincerely, I'm asking this question. Have we heard from the president? Sincerely, I'm asking this question.

Have we heard from the president on this? Has Biden said anything? I wouldn't be surprised, but I haven't heard it. Vanessa Parkhill, the weather-related closures are not going away. It was similar 20 years ago when my kids were there. Now public schools are even more likely to close than back then. It's bananas. And what's bananas is the private schools are in school and not missing a beat. So it's the further of the separation of the who, the haves and have-nots. You realize that? Vanessa Parkhill, the situation you're describing makes preppers not look so extreme. I'm with you, Jerry.

I heard someone put it this way the other day. When there's an emergency on a plane, you're told to put your mask on first, meaning take care of your own business first before reaching out to others. Last night, 60 Minutes did a piece on Florida homeowners who got shortchanged by insurance companies after a hurricane two years ago. Some got checks for less than 90% of what the adjuster submitted in the beginning. Scary. People are going to get screwed here. That's another racket to follow closely. The insurance racket?

Yeah. Did you find any? Has Biden said anything? Let's see. There's a lot of what Harris and Trump are saying. 125. I got to go to the next topic. There's a YouTube video.

President Biden delivers remarks on his administration's continued response efforts to Hurricane Helene. George Gilmer said he finally spoke today at 1030. May have to call Congress back into session to pass a supplemental to aid recovery and rebuilding. What's the next topic? Next, we have bad news about First Night Virginia. All right. Judah's going to break some news right now. I love when Judah Wickauer breaks some news.

Show is yours. Judah B. Wickauer, jack of all trades, jack of all wits, talented broadcaster. So here's the information that i have from my friend who is the uh he's the person that works on the website keeps the website up to date when he's actually getting paid um no first night uh you're reading directly from the phone so this is okay break these these are notes that i've that i've taken while talking go ahead i love it uh drake drake vandercastle is the uh the lead on he's in control of of the executive first night virginia yeah uh he he was going to pass the baton. That fell through. So he is back in charge.

He could not get the Omni for a headquarters. He couldn't get the Haven, possibly because he was doing this later than he should have. Not only that, he pays for everything out of his own pocket, and he doesn't seek funding. So obviously that makes things difficult when trying to organize something like this is dependent on your bank account being capable of covering costs. This is probably not going to help anyone, but the website has data going back to 2014.

If somebody wanted to take over, the website is able to draft musicians' contracts. In other words, they can go right onto the website, fill out a form, and have a contract that they can print out. And then, of course, it's just a matter of somebody organizing where and when they would be playing. And the website can do everything in terms of selling tickets and wristbands. So it would mostly be a matter of if – and you and I know it's probably not possible, but on the off chance that somebody wanted to take this on, really you would just need to get the word out, get people on. There's not a chance in hell someone's going to execute a first night in Virginia right now, the 30th of September, 90 days and change from the new year's eve party in the downtown mall

not a chance in hell you're going to be able to do it how many years in a row has this been canceled i would guess uh three this would be the fourth i doubt we had one on uh so we had one probably i doubt we had one turn of uh the year 2020 prior. 2019 to 2020, we probably had one. So it was canceled 21, 22, 23, and this is 24. 20. We had one in 20, 2019, 20. We did not have one in 2020, 21. This is the fourth straight year of First Night Virginia being canceled.

Yeah. I'm going to link this First Night Virginia, the family-friendly New Year's Eve party on the downtown mall that was not boozed focus, alcohol focus. I have two kids. Finding something to do with your two kids that is not booze focus is difficult in this town. Remember, they're not doing a firework show at McIntyre Park anymore. Right. Lake Monticello, you put that headline on screen. The Neighborhood Association, rotate that lower third. These two lower thirds should be rotated. The Lake Monticello Homeowners Association has discontinued their word. I'll say banned.

Why banned? The firework show for the 4th of July in 2025. What do you mean, why ban? They're not allowing it. They're not hosting it. It's not that they're not allowing it. They're saying, we're not going to do this anymore. Yeah.

I wouldn't call that a banning. I would just say we're... Jettison the firework show. Okay? Discontinued. Can I ask the question for the viewer and listener of this Fine and Fair talk show? What the hell happened to community patriotism? The Dogwood Parade is a meager shell of its former self.

It's an afterthought, the Dogwood Parade. There's no McIntyre fireworks anymore. Lake Monticello, the largest neighborhood in central Virginia, 4,300 homes, says peace out to the fireworks on the 4th of July. First night Virginia is crickets. Are we 2024 going into 2025? Is that a state of American patriotism? Central Virginia, a microcosm of it? Okay. You want some patriotism? And Virginia, a microcosm of it? Okay, you want some patriotism? And they do a fantastic job.

You're going to pay per car to get into the Borset, and it ain't cheap. Or pull up a spot at a beloved King Family Vineyards, or make the trip to Scottsville with 15,000 other people. You want a family-friendly New Year's Eve celebration? Drive to Richmond. Go to D.C. Why is patriotism waning? I think some people would... I can tell you why patriotism is waning.

Go ahead and make your point. I don't know if this is necessarily why it's waning. I think a lot of people associate patriotism with nationalism and certain groups. But I think it's taken some big hits with the pandemic. And I mean, we talk a lot about rent and housing and businesses that can and can't survive. And I think a lot of this is intimately connected. Patriotism undoubtedly now being linked to nationalism. Patriotism now is seen as something of uncool. Something of the privileged. Patriotism now linked with privileged.

Think about that. We're in a state of our country where patriotism is being linked with status. Okay. Patriotism being linked with radical perspective. Yeah. It's nauseating. At a time where we need patriotism more than ever, a devastating hurricane that's crushed much of the southeast. We would rather, for many of us, shift our attention and our resources outside of the country because of how disenchanted we are with politics and what's transpiring in the

land of the free and the home of the brave. And that is demoralizing. Last topic on the show. What is it? Is it the Boston College one? Not the last. Do we got... Yeah, I guess those three are kind of connected. All right, Thursday on this talk show, the Jefferson Council president will be on the show.

This Thursday, Thomas Neal, president of the Jefferson Council via Skype from Baltimore, Maryland, on the show. Mark your calendars. Wednesday's show, we also have one of the best guys in Charlottesville, Alex Witten, on the program. He's going to also welcome, we're also welcoming Nick Bell. They'll talk about athletics in central Virginia. Two fantastic men, Nick Bell and Alex Witten, on Wednesday's show. You already have the invite set up on our calendar for that, J-Dubs. Yeah. have the invite set up on our calendar for that, J-Dubs. Thursday, Thomas Neal, Jefferson Council.

Tomorrow at 10.15 a.m., the Jerry and Jerry Show, where we'll talk about this Boston College game. The Wahoos are three and a half point favorite, ladies and gentlemen. Three and a half point favorite for Tony Elliott's team. A team that was picked to win three and a half games.

The over-under was set at three and a half. They're at three right now. They start at three and one. To put this game into perspective, I'm going to call up the ACC standings. Cannot believe Virginia's favorite in this game. You look at the ACC standings and you see Virginia A 3-1 overall

1-0 in conference play They're coming out of the bye week And they play an Eagles team that's one of the best in the conference But a team that they can beat Boston College, 4-1 overall Eagles team that's one of the best in the conference, but a team that they can beat. Boston College, 4-1 overall, 1-0 in conference play. Whoever wins this contest will sit atop the ACC standings. They may share it with somebody else, but they'll be atop the ACC standings. And if UVA wins this game, they may be a top 25 ranked team, certainly in the receiving votes portion of both polls. Follow it closely.

10.15 a.m. tomorrow, Jerry and Jerry's show. Yours truly and Jerry Hootie Ratcliffe, Virginia Sports Hall of Famer. For Judah Wittkower, I'm Jerry Miller. So long, everybody. Thank you.