The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - VA Public Schools Needing Support Have Doubled; Most Iconic Charlottesville Area Businesses

Episode Date: March 4, 2024

The I Love CVille Show headlines: VA Public Schools Needing Support Have Doubled Most Iconic Charlottesville Area Businesses Some Of Our Favorite Neighborhood Coffee Shops 10 Restaurants For Ribs Around Charlottesville Duke Humiliates UVA; What’s Wrong With Hoos? Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air The I Love CVille Show airs live Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The I Love CVille Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible and iLoveCVille.com.

Welcome to the I Love Seville Show, guys. I'm Jerry Miller. Thank you kindly for joining us on a Monday afternoon. It's great to be with you. We are, of course, in the shadows of Thomas Jefferson's University of Virginia, less than two miles from the Rotunda, John Paul Jones Arena, Scott Stadium, a block from the Charlottesville Police Department, a block off the downtown mall, a block from the Almaral County and Charlottesville courthouses, and smack dab in the middle of the epicenter that we call the heartbeat of Central Virginia, and it's downtown Charlottesville. It's a 300,000-person market that we're very proud to live within and offer perspective about. And today's show is very much follows that theme. We'll talk small business. We'll talk restaurants. We'll talk schools. We'll talk sports. We'll talk some politics. And we'll talk, continue the icon conversation from last week. On Friday, it was iconic restaurants. Today, maybe a look at some of the iconic businesses in the Central Virginia marketplace.

Judah wants to pontificate on public schools needing support. That support has doubled, and we'll unpack that on today's program. I want to talk the shoplifting story. It's unfortunate, but it's no secret that we are throttled and strained when it comes to our police departments and the resources they have to police Albemarle, Charlottesville, and across central Virginia. And it's no secret Charlottesville, for example, has indicated there are certain offenses or crimes that are not going to really amount to a police officer arriving on the scene,

and it's going to rely on citizens or those who had the offense committed against them reporting it to the police department, probably in an online capacity, and then the police department following up days, if not weeks later. And one of those circumstances is shoplifting. And as a result, we've seen shoplifting inch up, and by inch up, I mean considerably increase within this marketplace to the point where small business owners are speaking out. They're speaking out to whoever will listen, whether it's this show, whether it's some of the media outlets like CBS 19, who did a coverage story over the weekend. And I want to utilize our

platform to highlight not just the fact that this is happening, but what can be done about it. The unfortunate circumstances in 2024 in the Commonwealth of Virginia, if you're shoplifting and you do not surpass the $1,000 threshold, really you're in misdemeanor range. It's 1,000 or more is a felony. So criminals have gotten clever and they've gotten strategic and they've kept their shoplifting efforts under a certain threshold to make sure they fly under the radar of law enforcement. Still, if you're a small business owner and if you've been hit multiple times a month to the tune of $600, $700, $800, $900, $975, $999, if it's still under $1,000, it's not a felony. You are on the brink of collapse and you are on the cusp of closing your doors, and that's what's happening today. Not only are Internet sales and big box retailers cannibalizing and eroding and crushing the small retailer, but shoplifting is crushing the small retail owner as well.

Judah, we'll weave you in on a two-shot. I want to talk not just the trend that we all know that's going on, targeted shoplifting, group shoplifting, individual shoplifting, but I want to talk about how it can be potentially prevented moving forward. Is it a future that involves retail space with very little items on the floor? Is it a future that involves retail space with very little items on the floor?

Is it a future that involves retail space with just one item of each offering on the floor, a model or display? And that model or display is an opportunity for the shopper to get their hands on something, and then the remaining items that match that display or model are kept or stored or warehoused behind a wall or behind the scenes of said retail outlet. Perhaps that's the case. Cameras aren't doing it anymore. The noisemakers or the security sensors that are at the doors when someone rushes through the entrance or the exit with shoplifted items in hand are not doing it anymore. We've all seen the hand-picked associate that's guarding the door for the respective storefront. Those associates or those gatekeepers rarely prevent any shoplifting at all.

Many not in the best of shape, so if it required a foot race, no one's going to catch the quote-unquote sneaky shoplifter. So what do you do? How do you fix this? How many more death by a thousand cuts can our retailers endure at a time when the internet and big box retailers

are already having an effect on their bottom line? Well, I'm not sure how effective the cops would be in any case in these situations. It's not like, I mean, you know, it would be nice, I guess, to recover some of the items if possible. But barring, you know, barring the police hiring a lot more people than they have, and I think they've been doing a good job in filling in their numbers but uh really i don't know that any police department has the uh the manpower to go you know go searching after every single shoplifter that uh that steals something and i think some stores will have better luck using different uh different methods than others will obviously uh we've seen uh we've seen at least one place in the downtown mall that's now hiring

has regular people at the door. Which place is that? Skuma. Oh, yeah. Yeah, he said he's spending deep six figures for private security at the door. Very good call. David Tricorecci said that. Not everybody, obviously not every store is going to be able to afford that.

And as you said, they're not all going, when they do, if they can, they're not necessarily going to get top-notch security. They may be getting someone, like you said, that would have a hard time chasing down, you know, somebody that's nimble and on the run with who's not carrying a thousand dollars worth of clothing on a rack. I mean, is this the pivot that needs to happen in 2024? Like we saw so much pivoting happening post-pandemic? I mean, the word pivot became so cliche. It became the word of the year during COVID. I think it was like year 2022 or 2023. Pivot was the word of the year.

Is this just a byproduct of change in our world, change that's seen to office space becoming more of a hybrid setting, change with restaurants becoming less about dining and more about takeout and efficient takeout at that, change around how folks are going about entertainment and experiences and drinking and spending their dollars. I mean, that's a good question. I mean, it seems the shoplifting has become much more prolific post-COVID than it was pre-COVID. And we openly have departments, police departments saying, look, we can't police this. You can report it online to us and we'll try to do an investigation later when we have the time to do it.

But we're more focused on crimes of more impactful scale. And anything under $1,000 is almost going to be forgotten. So what are you going to do if you're the small retailer? Do you just completely revitalize your footprint and just have displays and one display alone and the rest of your inventory behind lock and key in a storage portion of the storefront, where folks can't get to it? Is your store now going to be display with the encouragement of getting people to order your goods or your SKUs or your widgets online

so you can mail it to them? And if you then go down that road, don't you just become yet another online retailer trying to compete with Amazon, Target, and Walmart? And are you probably going to end up losing that battle? The Chamber of Commerce issues its retail sales report. Neil Williamson, kind enough to pass that along to us. And the Chamber of Commerce says, look, our retailers, it's good, but it's not great.

Chamber CEO Rebecca Ivan said, while as a region, quote, while as a region, the retail sector continues to expand. The details of the 2023 retail report indicate immediate challenges for our retail core. Economic development efforts should continue to be focused on this critical job-producing business sector. End quote. Straight up saying vulnerability here, Judah. Yeah. I think punishment is one of the best ways to start prevention. I mean, if you do more to punish people that get caught...

Who's punishing? Who's doing the punishing? I mean, that would be the courts, right? That's not going to happen. We just indicated that the police don't have the manpower to do the investigation. That doesn't mean that they don't ever catch anyone. I can't imagine much police power is going to be allocated to petty shoplifting. I'm sure that's true, but...

I think if you really want to make an impact, you're going to have to do it yourself as a retailer. For example, Kevin Yancey, let's get his photo on screen. We'll go to the ilovecevil viewer listener power rankings, ilovecevil.com forward slash viewer rankings. Kevin Yancey, number 11 in the polls. He goes, here's an idea, buzz people in and buzz people out. Walmart is starting to do this. You buzz people into the store and you buzz people out. You see this at high-end jewelers. High-end jewelers have a buzz or a doorbell system to let people in and out and they manage the amount of people in a jewelry store. I don't think putting this on the police is a realistic scenario. I don't think the police have the power, have the

influence, have the manpower, have the time to do this. I also think that, and friends of the program, Jim Hingely and Joe Plantania, have explored criminal justice reform where it's less about punishment and jail time and more about rehabilitation. So I don't think punishment is actual reality here. Well, then the $1,000 amount is irrelevant. I do. I think the $1,000 amount is irrelevant. I think if a shoplifter surpasses $1,000, you'll see much more police influence and involvement. Are you sure?

Yeah. I think if you're surpassing $1,000 and you're getting to the category of felony, you're going to get police involvement at a greater scale than at a misdemeanor level. I think that $1,000 threshold is significant. But I think what's happening is criminals are keeping it below the felonious threshold. Right. And that's still crushing the small retailer. I love his buzz in and buzz out idea.

I love the idea of limiting the inventory that's on the floor. I love the idea of training staff to be more vocal and communicative and consider their positioning while standing on the floor, perhaps closer to exits and entryways to manage the perception or to give the look of enhanced safety or gatekeeping. I like the concept that you see at an Apple store or a Best Buy store where if you steal the displays, you're stealing something that cannot work within when it's out of a certain radius or away from the store from a certain amount of feet or yards. If you're stealing some of those iPhones or the computers that are in Best Buy, you can utilize them while in Best Buy, but if you take them off Best Buy grounds,

once they get out the door and away from the store by a certain amount of feet or yards, they completely turn off. It's like stealing money from a bank that has one of those ink explosion devices in it that shoots colored ink all over your hands and bodies to indicate that the money is stolen. If you're the retailer, you're going to have to get creative on your own because

I don't think it's really going to be the police or the courts that are going to make an impact in preventing this. Let's go to Maria Marshall Barnes. Maria Marshall Barnes is watching the program. She's a key member of the family. She is ranked 33 in the polls. You got her photo on screen? She says, I would imagine self-checkout has contributed to the increase in shoplifting. 100%. Great call, Maria Marshall Barnes. Here's the catch-22. The retailer does not have the profit margin or the the model built into their business model the margin built into their business model to hire people to keep the inventory in check so they're encouraging self-checkout which is further shrinking their margin because more people are stealing as they're entrusted with paying for things or not paying for things as they're leaving

in a store, especially at a time when the dollar doesn't stretch as far as it used to, and folks are desperate. Jason Howard watching the program, he works in retail. I won't say where, but I know he works in retail. He is a key member of this family as well. Jason Howard is number 26 in the family. He says, if the county won't punish, that just means the customers pay for the price for the theft. Higher prices, shorter hours, more things locked up, and the business owner who can only raise prices so much before the consumer goes elsewhere. Bingo. It's going to trickle down. It's going to 100% trickle down regardless. We will pay for it regardless. Bill McChesney watching the program. He says this, his photo on screen, Judah Wickauer. Bill McChesney is number 15 in the polls. He goes,

when a large group hits there, hits a store, there may be no one that steals over $1,000. He says you will notice in most retail there are more locked cases in areas like cosmetics that require a store associate assistance to get the product off the shelf. He says I believe it was in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that a Walmart burned after George Floyd's death. Walmart rebuilt it because the neighborhood asked them to since they have closed it because it is unsustainable due to theft. Multiple retail stores have closed in San Francisco. Also as an example where they literally have said retail stores in San Francisco, we don't want anything to do with this. We're closing down. Stephanie Wells Rhodes watching the program. Her

photo on screen, please, sir. Stephanie is number 18 in the family, she says. And the thief has to get out the door before it's considered shoplifting. 100%. That's another point. That's another point. You can put the stuff in your pockets, in your purses, in your backpack, down your pants, in your sweater, but until you're outside the storefront, you're just carrying it around the store getting ready for checkout.

Another thing, what happened to the Good Samaritan, the average Joe or average Sally customer that says, hey, you're not supposed to do that. Hey, you're stealing. Draws attention to what's happening. Now let's just pull out your phone and put it on TikTok or Instagram. Sometimes. I'm sure there are some people that do that. I think it also depends on the store. Are folks less willing to be

village, what's the word? I wouldn't call it vigilantes. You don't think folks are less willing? No, I wouldn't call... I wouldn't call ratting on someone, stealing, you know, shoplifting from a store... Keeping someone from getting out? Consisting that they empty their pockets?

That's not the definition of that? Maybe tackling someone, but... I think in most cases, people in a store would be more likely to let an employee know than go full tackle on someone who they don't even know who they don't necessarily know is i don't know um i think it depends too uh i think people are probably less likely to uh to get in the way of someone in a uh in a walmart than say a place here on the downtown mall where it's mostly uh mostly smaller businesses that, uh, you think people are less likely to prevent shop shoplifting in a Walmart than

they are at a Joan Fenton or a Lynn Goldman or a rock, paper, scissors. A hundred percent. Walk me through that. I mean, first of all, you've got the people you've got, first of all, it's the people that are in some of the bigger places like Walmart.

I think that's a part of it. You're going to find less people that feel a sense of community at a Walmart. And I think some people who normally would try to stop a shoplifter in a place somewhere on the downtown mall, they probably see Walmart as a big box place. The rationale might be that they see a big company like that as being able to afford a little shrinkage, whereas a smaller place on the downtown mall is most likely locally owned and can't afford the shoplifting, and you may actually know the person behind the counter, if not the owner, then you're more likely to be on a first-name basis with somebody in that store. Aren't you more likely to know someone at Walmart, Target,

or a big-box retailer than at a locally owned merchant on downtown Charlottesville that are usually just the owners working the floor and maybe one part-time employee. Walmart and Target have hundreds, if not more. And you're saying you're more likely to know? I think you're way more likely to know a staffer at a Walmart, at a Lowe's, at a Target, than you are at a merchant on the downtown mall that has just the owners and maybe one part-timer working there.

Yeah, but that means that every time you go into that store, you're likely to see the same people. How often are you going to... How often is someone going to a locally owned merchant on the downtown mall for shopping versus going into a Walmart, Lowe's, or Target where they're probably going on a weekly basis? You think? You don't think that people are shopping at a Walmart, Target, and Lowe's at a higher percentage than they are one of the artisan merchants on the mall that are more expensive? Some of them are. I think it depends. I think, but like I said, I, no doubt about it. There's also the type of person, I think the type of person that's shopping at Walmart,

the type of person that shops at Walmart is pretty much everybody. Okay. Target is pretty much everybody. I mean Target is poor, rich, middle class, upper class. I mean everyone is shopping at these stores. Downtown Mall, I don't think the demographic of shopper downtown is as deep on the socio-economic ladder as Walmart Lowe's Target, just because of price point. Jim Hingely watching the program, he sends us a DM. He says, he sends us some code, concealing or taking possession of merchandise,

altering price tags, transferring goods from one container to another, counseling, et cetera, another in performance of such acts, whoever without authority with the intention of converting goods or merchandise to his own or another's use without having paid the full purchase price thereof, or of defrauding the owner of the value of the goods or merchandise. The code says when the value of the goods or merchandise involved in the offense is less than $1,000, they shall be guilty of petty larceny. And when the value of the goods or merchandise involved in the offense is $1,000 or more,

they shall be guilty of grand larceny. That's from Virginia Code. We appreciate you sending that to us, Mr. Hingely. He also sends us a text. That's the text on the Virginia Code. We appreciate that. The $1,000 threshold is high. $1,000 in theft, $975 in theft a month for many of the retailers in Charlottesville or Albemarle County, if that happens every month, once a month, twice a month, those retailers are going to be out of business. They are not going to be able to afford that kind of theft. And a lot of folks may not realize this.

The retailers often have a payment method called dating where they're being fronted the merchandise. Here's a little history lesson. A lot of people may not know this. I used to own, I was an investor in a sunglass store on Old Ivy Road in the university shops, the university shopping center, where the Papa John's is located, where the tennis shop is located, where Tokyo Rose is located. This sunglass shop was in operation for less than two years. My partner and I, David Varel,

who was the owner of the Dippin' Dots franchise, he and I invested in this. We each put up like $15,000 or $16,000 each. And we opened a sunglass business in the University Shopping Center about 18 months to 24 months before the 2008-2009 economic crisis. And we sold high-end sunglasses like Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Oakley, Ray-Ban, Maui Gym, just to name a few. And we had some experience running this business and some success out of the gate. And then the economy crashed. And when the economy crashed, disposable income went with it. And when disposable income went with it, people didn't want to spend $300 or $400 for sunglasses. The reason I bring this up, the model for that particular, the payment structure for that particular model from vendors is you got your inventory fronted to you, and you had anywhere from 60 to 90 days to pay the bill on the inventory you got.

So if you got $5,000 worth of inventory on March 1, you were paying the bill on that $5,000 in inventory on March, April, like sometime in at the end of May or June. And the idea was the sunglass vendor that sold you, the wholesaler that sold you the sunglasses would give you 60 to 90 days to sell through this inventory to pay them back. And you were often keystoning, which was cost times two, your price point. So if you got something for $100, you sold it for $2. At high-end sunglasses, the margin's even greater. If you got something for $100, you sold it for $200. At high-end sunglasses, the margin is even greater. If you got something for $100, you would sell it for $250, sometimes $300. So if you were able to turn through your inventory,

$5,000 could easily become $10,000 or $15,000 fairly quickly. You could pay then in 30, 60, 90 days the cost of the sunglasses. You can pay your employees. You can pay your rent. And you have a nice little chunk left over. And we did that for a while before the economy crashed. But here's the point I'm making. If you're a small business owner and you're getting this inventory fronted to you, and that inventory is then stolen from you, you're still paying your wholesaler 60 to 90 days, and you don't have something that you can sell to cover the bill.

And if that happens to you, that's how you go out of business really, really, really, really, really quickly. In our particular model with the high-end sunglasses, with luxury sunglasses, we had them all behind a display case with lock and key. Not all retailers are doing that. Sarah Hill Buchenski watching the program. Judah, if you can get her photo on screen. SHB is 23 in the family. She says, I think a big box store is

less personal so people don't equate it with stealing from a person like a small mom and pop shop. That's the point Judah was making there. Carly Wagner watching the program. She is three in the family. She said, as a mom, when I'm shopping and I'm with my kids, I would never, ever, ever say something to a criminal if I saw them stealing. Merchandise is not worth my kids or my life and my safety. A lot of moms, I talk about this with my wife all the time. There are certain shops, many of them big box retailers, not just grocery, but retailers, where it's notorious or it's known in the community or it's known amongst mom groups that kidnapping attempts happen around these particular shops and these particular big box retailers. That moms always have to be very vigilant when it comes to their children

and people trying to snatch them from shopping carts or from car seats or as they're walking down aisles. You'll see that on the moms' groups on social media. Be careful. This is what happened. Terrifying. Carol Thorpe watching the program. Let's get Carol's photo on screen. She is number nine in the poll of Judah. Carol says this, like when you watch a show, Carol. She says, I think the day has passed when I would attempt to intervene against a shoplifter.

Too many damn criminals carry guns and will not hesitate to shoot you in any confrontation. While I may be willing to risk my life to prevent a crime in progress against a child or other person, I'm not willing to do so for a thousand dollars or less of store goods. I respect that. Totally respect that. Carly Wagner says, Target, it's pickup only for me, really. Pickup, curbside pickup only for her. A lot of my wife's friends in that mindset as well. Because of fear of what could happen to their children. So, you know, go back to you on a two-shot.

And then we'll go to the next topic. You've got Amazon, Walmart, and Target, just to name a few, that have the economies of scale, the efficiencies, vertically integrated advantages

that are giving the death of a thousand cuts to the brick-and-mortar small retailer. You've got wages that have skyrocketed that are hurting the small retailer. You've got inflation that skyrocketed. Inflation and wages, all in the same category or umbrella there. Wage inflation, almost the same as cost of goods inflation, skyrocketing. You got taxes increasing on the small retailer, small business, the storefront retailer. You got coordinated shoplifting efforts,

the death of a thousand cuts with a small retailer you have credit card debt and student loan debt hurting the small retailer and you have basically customer wages they're earning potential not keeping up with cost of living hurting the small retailer all these these are colliding at exactly the same time and are changing the landscape of how we go about shopping in 2024 and beyond. And remember, as boomers pass and as Gen Zers and Gen Alphers

become the new shopping norm, they're much more accustomed to utilizing phones and the internet to shop as opposed to in-person experiences. As a result, if you're the small retailer and you're not doing an about face with your business model, you're in a tough position. A very tough position.

Let's go to our next topic. This is one that meant something to you, and you want to highlight it, so I will play the role of number two. You're playing the role of number one on Virginia public schools needing support at CLPS that are nearly double what they may have been. Well, I think what's telling

is not the fact that it's doubled, but the fact that it's doubled because of a change in federal accountability and state accreditation frameworks. they're basically changing the way they're calculating which schools need help. And by these new calculations, more than double the schools that fell into this category just a year or two ago are now showing up in the category because of the way they're judging things. And so it's not so much that more schools need help. It's that we are seeing now that there have been more schools that needed help. It's just with these new measurements, we're actually getting a better picture of the problems inherent in Virginia schools. So why do they need help? For a variety of reasons, but I think most people can agree that a lot of it has to do with the pandemic,

have to do with lowered standards that came either before or after the pandemic. I think some schools had lowered standards to help kids pass through their hallowed halls. And I think there were also some lowered standards following the pandemic to help kids get through, knowing that they'd missed something in the insanity that was the pandemic and students not being in school and probably not getting the support that they hopefully would have been getting going to an actual school. And then I think one of the added measures was chronic absenteeism, which looks like it increased to 17% of all students in 22-23 from a 9% pre-pandemic level in 2018. So almost 2x.

Yeah, but I don't think that was even, I don't think chronic, I don't think absenteeism or chronic absenteeism was even a part of the measure before they made these changes. So again, while the numbers have increased, it's also something that they're actually looking at in terms of what schools need help. And so I think it's a good thing that they're changing the metric by which these schools are figured into. I believe it's the ESSA, Every Student Succeeds Act.

What happens if enrollment drops? What happens if enrollment drops? I don't know if enrollment would figure into whether or not a school needs help. Isn't funding tied to enrollment? That may... So if enrollment drops, won't funding fall? It may fall under that particular... I don't think that's a part of the ESSA.

Public school enrollment seems to be falling while private school and homeschooling enrollment seems to be upticking. Does that mean less money in the pot for the public school? Probably. If where they're getting their money is based on

how many students, then yeah, I would imagine that would affect how much money they get. But that wouldn't necessarily take them off of the list of schools that need support based on ESSA. I think those would be two different things. So what's your conclusion from this story? story. My conclusion is it's a good thing that we are, I think, widening the net to get a better look at what schools actually need help. Because obviously, I care

less about the schools and more about the students. And so if Virginia is finding a way to better help those students, I think that's a good thing. Yeah. I think it's a good thing, too. How would you characterize your level of concern for public schooling right now versus what it was pre-COVID?

Let's see. I think I would need more information, but I think it's clear by this that there are probably a lot of, there are a lot of schools that have not been getting the help that they needed. If the number of schools identified has risen from 112 to 247, I mean, that's a massive jump. That's a massive jump, and I don't think it's all due to things that have happened in the last year or two. I think, as I've said, they're widening the spotlight, and they're actually finding more schools that need help. And hopefully they'll find a way to get it to them so that the students in those schools are getting the schooling that they need. Hopefully finding a way to curb chronic absenteeism. Yeah, that's a nightmare. Carol Thorpe says, Judah, isn't

ESSA just No Child Left Behind 2.0? It could be. Amanda Byrne says, yes it is. Every Student Succeeds Act ESSA was signed by President Obama on December 10, 2015. Okay.

Anything else you want to add? No. Like I said, I think it's a good thing that they're finding they're finding the means to help these kids and that's the important thing

I like it I appreciate your topic right there Carly Wagner says teach fewer kids need fewer dollars I believe just 10 years ago Albemarle was spending just under 10k per student not

now they are just under 20k per student, next year's school budget and this is instructional budget excluding capital budget for building new schools so funding has virtually doubled in the past decade and performance has tanked performance has tanked.

Performance has left a lot to be desired. That's for certain. That's a good point. I don't know how many schools that applies to, but it's definitely something that needs to be looked at. I don't think it changes the fact that there are schools out there that have students that really need help. And you're right. Throwing more money be, might not always be the solution.

That's a great point. Viewers and listeners, dropping knowledge for us here on the Monday edition of the show, we appreciate when they offer perspective. I want to get to this topic on the show. And before I do, I want to highlight a couple more comments from the previous one that is resonating with me. This one from Jason Howard that I want to get to. He says, Jason, I'm going to find your comment one second I thought it was a good one there's a lot of comments on our lead topic Kroger at Rio

shopping center closes one door at 10pm and now has a security guard all day we did not have these measures in place pre-COVID and they were a 24-hour store then. Grayson from right around the corner says, Your first topic was very interesting, Jerry.

I've also noticed what you notice on the food line on 5th Street where armed security guards are starting to be more prevalent at small businesses around this community and it's not just grocery stores. Yeah. I noticed one on Market Street here at the place next to the soul food joint from time to time.

Amanda Burns says, all in funds, 418 million in funding, address tutoring, literacy, and chronic absenteeism. Carly Wagner says, she's got a serious question here. How are we going to address chronic absenteeism? And yes, I did hear about the jail renovation Zoom call. Unfortunately, the jail renovation Zoom call. Unfortunately, the jail renovation Zoom call was interrupted by someone on Zoom.

How do I characterize this? I don't think there's any easy way to characterize it. Self-pleasuring themselves. Literally someone on a jail renovation Zoom call, a Q&A on the jail renovation hosted by the jail's superintendent, Martin Coomer. While he hosted the in-person portion of the Q&A, he also included a hybrid or Zoom portion of the Q&A. And while he opened up the Zoom portion of the Q&A

to those in the community, someone got on the Q&A and was caught self-pleasuring themselves in full Monty, in the full Monty. We've now in the last, what, handful of months seen city council turn off Zoom commenting during city council meetings. And now this. It is a king of the sickos world we live in. 2024.

A king of the sickos world we live in. Here's a serious question. How will more funds address chronic absenteeism? It's a great question. Yeah, I don't know that more funds necessarily will. And are those funds a waste of money if absenteeism has doubled? If we 2X the amount of kids

who are choosing to play hooky, yet we're going to allocate more money to schooling. Is that not a catch-22? There's less kids in the school as they're playing hooky, but more money going to the school. I don't know that more money for individual schools is the right answer I know that uh hopefully they're figuring out the best ways to spend this money and it's not just giving more to the schools I think uh obviously they need they need to figure some things out. And one of those is getting kids to stay in school. Is the answer school choice? I've always thought that that was a good thing to have in place.

Is school choice the answer? Viewers and listeners. I think it's definitely a benefit for some families. And if school choice is offered, will that expedite the decline of public schools? It might. And if school choice vouchers are offered, will that cause privates to raise tuition to further the exclusive nature of private schools? Basically raising tuition a percentage of what the voucher total is.

You're saying trying to cut people out that are using vouchers. Yeah. Good questions. To maintain exclusivity. All questions that should be asked. All questions that should be asked. I want to talk this question. Bill Crutchfield's

Crutchfield Electronics turned 50 years old. There was a story in the newspaper about this last week. Great story. We talked last week about the most iconic restaurants. What are the most iconic businesses in the area? I mean, Crutchfield's probably on that list, but I doubt it's atop the list. Most iconic businesses in the area. Ragged Mountain Running Shop's on that list. Is it atop the list? Probably not, unless you're a runner.

Lynn Goldman Elements is on that list. Is it atop the list? Would you put it on there? Just because it's on the downtown mall? Lynn used to be in Barracks Road Shopping Center. Lynn Goldman Elements. Moved from Barracks Road to the downtown mall. Not the first place on the downtown mall.

I think it's a fairly subjective question. I think most people would agree that if you put the most visible ones... I don't think it's a fairly subjective question. I mean, I think most people would agree that if you put the most visible ones. I don't think it's subjective. I think it's tied to longevity and years in operation. Minters. Minters on that list, right? Look how long Minters has been around. Minters has been around in a turning. Keller and George on that list, right?

Keller and George Jewelry. I guess. been around in a turning keller and george on that list right keller and george jewelry i guess who would be some of your iconic business suggestions uh i'd definitely say the paramount paramount okay i'll give you the paramount how about uh any of the tiger fuels iconic tiger fuel been around forever or would you not quantify them as iconic? I mean, that's a tough one. I mean, you could literally put every business in Charlottesville in there, right? I don't think so. No?

You're saying you can put a business that opened last year on the iconic list? I mean, yeah. At some point, you're going to... So we're saying I Love Seville is iconic. It's been around 16 years. That's on the iconic list. I think it's got to have much more longevity than that. I mean, it's got to be a generational business, does it not? Well, then I think you need to set the parameters

rather than just saying what's the most iconic. Logan Wells-Clello says New Dominion Bookstore should be on there. Yeah, as should Daedalus. As should what? Daedalus Bookstore. Yeah. Sandy McAdams. Right around the corner from us.

That should be on there. Now owned by Jackson Landers. Judah has, Catherine Lockner wants us to define iconic. I define iconic by withstanding the test of time and being able to withstand multiple shifts in consumer and customer behavior. Like, Downtown Athletic Store was an iconic business. Is Downtown Athletic Store an iconic business now? Probably not.

Because it didn't withstand the penetration of big box athletic and big box retail online. How do you say it? Daedalus? It's withstood it. New Dominion's withstood it. Ragged Mountain Running Shop. Ragged Mountain Running Shop during the pandemic was delivering shoes to people's homes. Yeah.

Literally delivering people's shoes to their homes. Ragged Mountain Running Shop has withstood big box competition by training its staff to see which shoe best suit best fits your foot by having customers walk or run in the store to see how their the their bridge or their archway or if they go toe first or heel first they test the shoes out for you based on you walking that's called training dicks doesn't do mincers mincers has withstood the test of time by changing its inventory in a very quick real-time fashion and also speaking of of of shoplifting and keeping things safe mincers prevents theft on its uva corner location by having so much staff in the store that you literally are being watched constantly by someone from minster staff it overstaffs which prevents theft and shoplifting katherine lochner says cno or richmond railroad greyhound bus line

iconic yeah carly says iconic is different than sustainable or longevity. It has more to do with uniqueness, recognition, timelessness, innovation. Yeah. So who would you characterize? I mean, like I said, it's... What were your exact examples, specific examples? My big one was the Paramount.

But by iconic, iconic to me means easily recognizable. And so, like I said, I would, you know, it's the places that have big signs, the places that have, you know, big... But isn't that branding? And less iconic? Yeah, but branding is an extremely large part of being iconic. So you would say then by that, Ragged Mountain Running Shop is not iconic?

I would say Ragged Mountain Running is not iconic to me because A, it's tucked back on what? Is it on Ellywood? Ellywood, yeah. And how many people go there? A boatload of people go there. People that want running shoes, runners.

Running and walking shoes. I've never been there. I've also never been inside Minsters. But you don't run or walk. And you're not a UVA sports fan. Do you run? Occasionally. And you've admitted you haven't.

When's the last time you've been to a UVA sporting event? I couldn't tell you. All right. Been probably, what, over 15 years? My point being, if those places are hidden away from sight, then it's kind of hard for them to be iconic. I wouldn't say Mincer's is hidden away from sight. I don't necessarily mean Mincer's. Mincer's is one of the most recognizable businesses on the UVA corner.

Yeah. I would say probably the most recognizable business on the UVA corner is Mincer's. Because if it's, to your point, sign. So it's very iconic. Ragged Mountain Running Shop, I would say, is the definition of iconic with how it's able to, to Carly's point, be unique and innovative and withstand the test of time. She says unique, recognition, timelessness, and innovation. Ragged Mountain Running Shop, its contribution to society, philanthropic. Ragged Mountain Running Shop, birthing iconic races through the shop itself.

The Women's Four-Miler, the Ten-Miler. These are almost national holidays in Charlottesville, the Women's Four-Miler in particular. Charlottesville's Ragged Mountain Running Shop birthing these races. I would say that makes the running shop iconic. Carol Thorpe says the men's and boys shop. How about Trent Thurston's Eljo's and Mile Thurston's Eljo's? Is that iconic? Oh, Bill McChesney says Eljo's. Kevin Yancey says API Service Center, CNR Auto, and Wright's are iconic. Sounds like a story waiting to happen for Judah B b wickauer over here what iconic iconic businesses that's a horrible story why is that a horrible story because we've

already named like 20 places you're saying go on forever the 10 best spots for ribs is more significant than iconic businesses i'm saying it's easier to do because I eventually run out of rib places to find on Google. Just because you won't run out doesn't make it a bad story. You could do iconic tied to age. I mean, you did the oldest restaurants in Charlottesville. Why wouldn't you do the most iconic businesses? It's basically the same thing. Okay. Oldest restaurants and iconic businesses are virtually the same topic.

Okay. Thomas watching the program right now, he says, I like the discussion on iconic businesses and I think withstanding the test of time is your most crucial component for an iconic business how can one be iconic if it is short lived that's fair that also doesn't mean that some players can't become iconic quickly

just because they haven't been around long. I think that's fair, too. I think Marie Bett has become iconic, even though Marie Bett has not been around that long. I'd say it's been around a fair amount of time. How long do you think Marie Bett's been around? I'd say more than... I'd say at least close to 10 years, if not more.

Oh, I think it's been definitely around more than 10 years. Let's see here. If I put the over-under at 15 years, would you take the over or under? I'd take the under. On 15? Oh, where is it at? I'm not going to find this on the fly.

Can you find it on the fly? I don't know. But I would say they've become iconic. Oh, definitely. See if you can find when they first opened. Marie Bet Cafe Grand Opening. I'm googling that.

You find it, let me know. We've been around 16 years. I love Seville. Catherine Lockner says less than 10 years. I say no way, Jose, Catherine Lockner. No way, Jose.

Carly Wagner guessed 12 years. Could be 12. I'm going to say closer to 15. We've been around 16. We'll see if we can find it. Bill McChesney says the boar's head is iconic. Botos, foods of all nations. We wanted to go non-restaurant, non-food and beverage with this discussion.

I'll offer some commentary on Virginia. You see if you can get me the Brie bet number, and then we'll close with the ribs, okay? Virginia basketball got humiliated on national TV by the Duke Blue Devils on Saturday. The game started ugly and it ended ugly. There was no point in the Virginia loss to Duke in Cameron Indoor that Virginia was not outclassed. This basketball team looks like a shadow of its former self during that eight-game winning streak.

And with Georgia Tech on the docket this coming Saturday, if UVA doesn't win this game, it's going to be on the outside of the tournament looking in, going into the ACC tourney. Virginia must beat the Yellow Jackets on Saturday in the John Paul Jones Arena. And Virginia, to be really secure with its spot in the NCAA tournament, probably has to win one basketball game in the ACC tournament. You've got a jump shooting team that looks like it's completely lost its confidence in its jump shot. I want to reiterate what I just said. Virginia basketball is a jump shooting team that has lost confidence in its jump shot.

Andrew Rohde, I saw him air ball a free throw. For the large portion of the first half against Duke, Virginia couldn't throw the ball into the ocean. Many in the fan base are asking what the hell is going on with the pack line defense what is going on with the offense and what's going on with the coaching staff many in the fan base are asking that and it's interesting because we have this dichotomy going on now between the men's basketball team and the women's basketball team. Coach Mox and the UVA women's basketball team, they just beat Virginia Tech at the John Paul Jones Arena,

a hockey basketball team that was top five in the country. Coach Mox is coaching UVA women's basketball while visibly pregnant on the sidelines. She's a badass. UVA women's basketball has a handful of players on their roster from the Charlottesville area. A handful of players, including a star point guard and a star front court player. UVA has, the men's team has completely forgotten around, forgotten about its 30 mile, 40 mile radius around Charlottesville for recruiting players. Is the NIL and the transfer portal the antithesis of what the PACLINE defense

and Coach Bennett's program stands for? A PACLINE defense that takes years to learn and a program that takes years to understand. Today's college basketball is what have you done for me lately, transfer in and transfer out on a yearly basis, almost as if it was free agency. A lot of people asking these questions. Despite the struggles and despite the limitations, Virginia finds itself still, as of this point, in the NCAA tournament

and still, as of this point, one of the best basketball teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference. You want to look at the standings in the ACC, and you want to go by stats and numbers and records, and you've got a men stats and numbers and records, and you've got a men's basketball team that is still pretty darn good. Beth Dunlop Marcus sending me a link. Oh, you're amazing, Beth Marcus, of when Marie Bett was started. They opened at the end of 2014.

You have that for confirmation? Yeah. So 10 years, not even 10 years. Catherine Lochner, you were right. So I would say they'd be iconic. Yeah. Despite not being alive a decade. Yeah, definitely.

Virginia is third in the ACC right now. They're 21-9 and 12-7 in the ACC play. Catherine Lochner, you were right. James Watson says, Virginia women's basketball is my favorite, and he's been to nearly every home Sunday game. The future is beyond. The UVA women's basketball team just set a record for the largest attendance in the history of the Commonwealth for a Virginia women's basketball game on Sunday. Did you hear what I just said, ladies and gentlemen?

The game that was played on Sunday at the John Paul Jones Arena, where UVA beat Virginia Tech, a top five team in the nation, had the largest attendance in Commonwealth of Virginia history for a women's game. I can't describe or put in perspective the dichotomy between the two programs better than I just did over the last five or seven minutes. It's a tale of two different programs. And for the people that want to hate on the athletic director, the athletic director, Carla Williams, hired Coach Mox.

And Coach Mox is a baller. Coaching on the sidelines. Visibly pregnant. Badass. Anything you want to close with? Oh, you did a story on ribs. Yeah. Go to ilovecevil.com right now.

ilovecevil.com. Judah, was it 10 places for finger licking good ribs? Oh, yeah. Which one stood out to you? Or which one do you want to highlight the most? And I'll pick one that stood out to me. Do you have any photos you can put on screen? Yeah. Let them know what photos you're putting on screen if you could too, please, sir.

Let's see. We can close with finger licking good ribs. We love Sean. Just a few doors down. Sean Jenkins. Yeah, owner of Soul Food Joint. He's got some amazing food there. Is his photo on screen?

No. His photo? Soul Food Joint, the photo for his ribs. Let me see. All right, let's just go down the list would that be easiest for you if you want let's get the maya restaurant photo on screen all right while the ribs is maya on screen and you got to add maya restaurant to that header there what's that you got to add the word restaurant to that header. Under by Maya.

Okay. While these ribs were prepared by Christian Kelly, who's a friend of the program, Christian Kelly's son, Will Kelly, fantastic squash player. Christian is now the executive chef and owner at Dooner's Restaurant, but these ribs were prepared while he was the co-owner of Maya Restaurant in Midtown. Maya is amazing. The ribs at Maya are amazing. And Maya continues to be one of my favorite restaurants in town. iloveseville.com forward slash Seville Ribs

for a list of 10 places to consider. Ace Biscuit and Barbecue has amazing ribs. Put those on screen if you could. Let us know when those are on screen. They are on screen. Ace Biscuit and Barbecue Ribs on screen right there. Man, those look good. Derek Bond owns Moe's on Ivy Road. He's on here as well. Derek Bond and his ribs at Moe's. Put Moe's on screen. Cornbread and the baked beans are banging at most those are on screen just about there we go moses on screen take a look sean jenkins in the soul food joint let's get soul food joint ribs on screen on market street

sean knows what's up when it comes to ribs and soul food. His ribs are on screen. He also has some of the best cornbread in the area. Chef has dropped off his food from time to time to us at the Market Street Studio. How about Smoke Kitchen and Tap Room? Let's get those ribs on screen. There it is. Smoke Kitchen and Tap on screen. The Crozet Icon.

They've got two places, right? They do. Very well done. Let's get the Whiskey Jar Ribs on screen. The late Wilson Ritchie. The ribs at the Whiskey Jar are finger-licking good. What tagline is finger-licking good, Judah? Finger licking good. Isn't that KFC? There it is. That's a great tagline. Yeah. Finger licking good.

Let's get on screen the Ralph Sampson taproom ribs. I haven't had these ribs. I've had the other ones. I've had Maya's ribs. I've had Ace's ribs. I've had Moe's ribs, soul food joint ribs, smoke ribs. I have whiskey jar ribs. I have not had Ralph Sampson ribs.

Have you? No, I'm not. The top, most expensive rent in town, Ralph Sampson Taproom, the island restaurant on Barracks Road. I've had Mission BBQ ribs. Those are amazing. Put Mission on screen. If you want one of the best kept secrets, get the Mission BBQ jalapeno cheddar sausage appetizer. Oh my God, it's so good. Jalapeno cheddar. Make sure you get the jalapeno cheddar sausage coined. Make sure you ask for it coined.

It is amazing. Vision barbecue ribs. Vision barbecue is the darling of the barbecue world here in Charlottesville right now. Evidently, they have some of the best beer prices in Charlottesville. Smoke their meats routinely and they have fantastic price points. You got the Vigia barbecue ribs on there? Yep. And we'll close by that hunk of meat at BJ's Barbecue. I've had nine of the ten ribs on this list. BJ's ribs on screen. The only one I have not had is Ralph Samson's taproom. If you want to know more about ribs in the area,

iloveseville.com forward slash Seville ribs. Judah puts together a marvelous top 10, and it sounds like he's very eager to work on the most iconic businesses in the Charlottesville area list. Any closing thoughts for your fans there? Judah B. Wickauer, the jack of all trades, the jack of all wits, a nuanced individual. Get ready for my next uh story the top 200 most iconic places in charlottesville i'm sure you can whittle that down possibly oh no judah you're being asked to give attention and positivity to the small business owner that's iconic is not necessarily about the small business owner why do you say that

because it could be anything i mean uh we're talking iconic it doesn't necessarily have to be small businesses i would hope you do iconic small businesses and you're not going to put on their lowes or walmart what are you going to say? Lowe's or Walmart or Food Lion? Because they also have longevity? I mean, I probably wouldn't. I would hope not. I think we need a specific set of boundaries. I thought we just did.

Longevity, innovative, creative, withstood a change in consumer spending habits. So basically longevity. I mean, some businesses didn't change their... That's true. Their practices and they're still alive. Yeah. That's 100% true. I wouldn't say dataless books has changed a damn thing

no not a whole lot and it's still alive yeah it hasn't changed anything so does it so does that mean they're out no well dataless books it's iconic we both agree with that but if one of the criteria is ability to pivot. I'd say the primary criteria for iconic is longevity. Longevity. All right. So that's what I said. But I hope to God you don't put Walmart on there because it's had Sam Walton Bentonville, Arkansas roots. Right. And if you did, please keep my name away from it. Anyway, I just want to give some positive attention to small business. All right, that's the Monday edition of the program.

Judah Wickauer, executive producer, director, co-host. My name is Jerry Miller. Back tomorrow at 10.15 a.m. with the I Love Seville show, or 10.15 a.m. with the Jerry and Jerry show, where we're probably going to be asking this question, what is going on with Tony Bennett's men's basketball team? Thank you.