Richmond's Morning News with Gary Hess: November 24, 2025

Richmond's Morning News News Radio, WRVA, Gary Hess in for Rich Herrera this morning. It is Monday, November 24th. It is Thanksgiving week, and let's be honest. We all have so very much to be thankful for, and I hope you spend some time dwelling upon that this week. And of course, that means with Thanksgiving week, that means getting everything ready for the feast on Thursday. That means a lot of travel. That means... That means a lot of things. It also means football. Three NFL games coming up on Thanksgiving Day. The Virginia-Virginia Tech Commonwealth Cup clash is set for Saturday night and high school football playoffs are going on. So food, family, football, and lots of fun. Thanksgiving week, but most importantly, dwelling on those we love and realizing we have so very much to be thankful for. You know, it's funny because not, you know, As those of you who listen regularly know, I've been dealing with a couple of injuries and recovering from surgery. And it has really made me realize that I have much to be thankful for in terms of the fact that 60 years on this planet. I have led a remarkably healthy life. It has made me realize that we have friends, neighbors, and family members who have swooped in to help us when needed. And we are just so blessed to have so many people around. So the gift of perspective is a wonderful thing. So hope you had a great weekend, and I hope you have an incredible Thanksgiving week in store. Interesting week. We're going to see some rain tomorrow. and Wednesday, and Wednesday, the temperature could hit first number seven, 70s. But then Thanksgiving Day, it's going to be a lot cooler with highs in the 50s. So I hope you, once again, getting ready for an incredible Thanksgiving. Coming up at 735 this morning, we're going to bring on our friend Morgan Dean from AAA, Mid-Atlantic, to talk about Thanksgiving travel and gas prices and all of that kind of stuff. We have got Brian Kilmeade coming up, 635, just in a couple of minutes. We're going to hear from Brian Kilmeade, the Brian Kilmeade, which you can hear 9 to 12 right here on News, WRVA, Fox News, Fox Nation. Brian does a great job recapitalizing some of the events going on in Washington. some of the latest news. And then we'll also talk about his involvement with America 250 and looking back at some of the great stories surrounding the American Revolution. At 705 this morning, we're scheduled to be joined by Ryan Schmels from Fox News to talk about Capitol Hill. And the fact that in the midst of this Thanksgiving season, they are busy rebuking colleagues, multiple examples of that. And we'll get into that sum at 7 o'clock this morning. We mentioned Morgan Dean at 735. In the 8 o'clock hour today, we're going to hear from the director of operations at Nova Aquatics, Drew Hearth. They have been doing expansion over at the Old Regency Square site.

Kudos to the folks, Marco Rubio, President Trump, who are making the effort to try to come up with a deal that both Russia and Ukraine can live with because, you know, coming up in February, another anniversary of this war, and frankly, it really, really needs to end. When you look at the... The last week, you know, you think the Epstein files really dominated. And this video, by the way, how interesting to see President Trump meeting with Zohran Mamdani on Friday, right? And that they met on Friday in the Oval Office. And it's interesting because while they have had kind of vitriol toward each other. The rhetoric at that meeting was much more, how do you put it, friendly? I'm not sure, you know, anyway, they think they can work together, especially on a few key issues, and we'll see. I don't know how that's going to work, but it was between the Epstein Files and Zohran Mamdani and the Saudi Clown Prince, Crown Prince, it was an eventful week at the White House and in D.C. And it's going to be a short week this week, but we will see what happens with that. And Marjorie Taylor Greene, did you see that, is now saying she is going to step away from her role. She has decided to leave her seat in Congress after some well publicized disagreements with the president. President this weekend said he'd love to see Green return to politics someday. He also said it's not going to be easy for her to reemerge as a political force after she announced she would give up her seat. on January the 5th. So, man, I'll tell you what, it's a holiday week, and things are going to slow down later this week as they speed up on the highways. But things have been happening fast and furious. You'll hear more about that with Brian Kilmeade coming up at 635. In case you missed it late Friday, the UVA shooter, Chris Jay Jones got... five live sentences. It was a week-long sentencing hearing. A bunch of witnesses called on both sides, closing arguments, almost like you would see in a trial, except it was a sentencing hearing. And then the judge stepped away and it took less than an hour.

for her to come back and sentence Jay Jones to life in prison for three counts of first degree murder and two counts of aggravated malicious wounding. He also faces 23 years for felony gun charges that victims, families, survivors. People who've been involved in Chris Jay Jones's life in the past. Investigators, a lot of compelling testimony during this trial. But Devin Chandler, LaVelle Davis, Deshaun Perry, killed, if you remember, November 13, 2022 on a bus as they returned to UVA from a field trip. And two others were wounded. And Chris Jay Jones, who grew up here in the Richmond area, is now going to spend the rest of his life in prison. Although he will be eligible for what they call geriatric parole. So we will have to wait and see on that. But Chris Jay Jones, it brought up a lot of feelings from that. from the old, from the trial and from the incident, you know, you never forget, but you do move on and you move forward, shall we say. And folks at UVA have done that, but this kind of dredged it all back up this week, hearing all that testimony of that horrible night. I remember doing news updates on Monday morning. after that incident happened on Sunday night, and it was a shooting, and three were dead, and then as the morning went on, it might be football players, and then we learned the first, and then we were, you know, able, and it all kind of crept out. You know, of course, my background's in sports, and then we do, you know, and then I'm doing news as well, and that's when these two worlds collide. and we found out the horrific news of the deaths of Devin Chandler, Deshawn Perry, and LaVelle Davis, and, of course, the other two who were wounded. But Chris Jay Jones will be spending at least most of the rest of his life in prison. Okay, it's Richland's morning news. News Radio WRVA. We are off and running on a Monday morning. Back in a moment, News Radio WRVA.

625 News Radio WRVA. Got a love coming back into Rocky Mountain Way by Joe Wash. Awesome. I want to sing, but I won't. Too early on a Monday morning to sing or for anybody to listen to that. Hey, want to shout out Jeremy on the other side of the glass helping me this morning. Could not do this without him. He's doing a fabulous job. So appreciate Jeremy and everything he's done. Coming up at the bottom of the hour after the bottom of the hour news break, well, you're going to hear my visit with Brian Kilmeade, the Brian Kilmeade right here, 9 to 12 today on News, WRV, of course, Fox News, Fox Nation. Great stuff from him, including a little talk about America 250. been watching a little bit of the new Ken Burns documentary on the American Revolution. And as you'll hear Brian mentioned, he leans left a little bit. And so there are things to remember, but it's still, he is a brilliant documentarian. I think about the one about Major League Baseball. I think about the one about country music. I think about a lot of the different things that he has done over the years. So we will get into that a little bit with Brian Kilmeade, plus a lot of the news of the day. Also, excited later this morning to talk to Morgan Dean to hear what it's going to be like on the highways as this Thanksgiving week is underway. A lot of your kids have, I believe, two-day weeks coming up this week, and it is definitely going to be. a heavy travel week for folks. Talk to my next door neighbor. They're traveling. And I said, you're coming back Sunday? He goes, oh, no, we're coming back Saturday. And I don't blame him for that. Okay, bottom of the hour break coming up. You're listening. Richens Morning News News, News Radio, WRVA.

It's Monday on Richmond's Morning News News Radio WRVA, Gary Hess in for Rich Herrera. And as we often do on Monday, we're visiting now with Brian Kilmeade, Fox and Friends, Fox News, Fox Nation, and of course the Brian Kilmeade, which you can hear today right here on News Radio WRVA from 9 to 12. And... Brian, I want to start with coming out of the government shutdown and the Jeffrey Epstein files this last week. It seems to me that the rhetoric on Capitol Hill in general between Republicans and Democrats is as far apart as it's ever been. It's as divisive as has ever been. Is that genie pretty much in the bottle, out of the bottle forever? No, not forever. It's not going to take much. I mean, there's some things, there's some things like, I mean, there's a lot of Republicans who agree with Democrats when it comes to Ukraine, and I think we're going to get something. I'm seeing some positive moves. So if Russia moves a little bit, I think we could be looking at something there, and I think you got 80%. of Republicans agreeing with Democrats on that. I know the president's a little bit of an outlier, but I think that he is, that's his way of dealing and making a deal, pushing and prodding both sides and making it seem equal, even though we all know who's guilty of that war. I think if you start turning around the economy, which president's doing, I think that when things start turning the other way, the Democrats got to have a hard time. You know, they're going to have a hard time saying the president is ignoring the economy, which you're doing now. The other thing which I think they both understand is we've got to address health care for the American people that the days of condemning Obamacare, we know it. And by Democrats coming to the table, they're saying they know it's failed. They know whatever the model thought, whatever the think tanks gave us has not worked. So I see them coming together on that. The president said it to me on Friday when we interviewed him, when I interviewed him. And I think he mentioned that they're going to do something this week, and so did Senator Warner. When it comes to fundamentally, I think they're with him in Venezuela. I think the president's team could do a better job briefing the Democrats. And I think that could fill in some gaps, especially if Maduro just leaves. Then I think you're going to have Democrats no longer – no longer fighting back on Venezuela, but right now they see vulnerability. That treason tape that they put out was so horrific, was so ill-timed, was so dumb by people in the military on the Democratic side. I take it over it. It's so freaking stupid and unnecessarily divisive, to your point. Now we have a bunch of people defending it, and they judge to defend it by saying, well, we know some things the president has said in the past. uh... well you know last time when he said shoot people in the lags during uh... protest even margaret uh... brennan pushed back and go those are these are comments he made those weren't policies you know when he said that i i can put troops here but that's what he said he didn't do it so what i witness there is unnecessarily divisiveness and i'm going to talk about that today but i think a lot of it is they're frustrated i mean trump is doing so much so quickly

And they're willing to say, well, you haven't ended that war like you promised. Oh, you haven't turned out the economy as quick as you can. Well, it's true. But it's on its way. And I think when they realize that Trump is going to be done soon, and the midterms are over, I think that we'll see a quiet down for a period of time. But, you know, my hope is that there's a people in there that are like John Thune. And Mike Johnson, they're not firebrands. These are level-headed people that people on both sides like talking to. They're not the extremists like Jasmine Crockett and Marjorie Taylor Greene and outliers like Rand Paul. I think there's a lot of people that are just saying, okay, we can deal when we have to. But I think there's so much riding on the midterms that it's hard to imagine things settling down much until after the midterms. Real quick, one more thing about that video. Is it more amazing that the video was made in the first place or that some Democrats are actually doubling down on it? Ooh, that's too tough a question for me at this hour. I mean, it's really disappointing. So this is what I said in my Open on One Nation. I expect videos like that from the squad. I expected it from the view. But I don't expect it from... A guy, a woman who fancies herself a moderate, like Elissa Slotkin. I don't expect it from an astronaut and a fighter pilot like Mark Kelly, even though every time I try to look at him as a moderate, I see him acting extremist and hanging out with Alex Soros. And I just don't expect it from somebody with a resume like Jason Crow in the military, although I found out that he was mentored by Adam Schiff. I just don't expect it for military people. Because they just have such a high regard from him. It's always catching me by surprise. So that was it. That was the biggest surprise. And then what are you going to do? Say, I made a mistake? No. Their explanations are horrific. And then Jason Crow gets on and plays a voicemail of a threat that he got after Donald Trump came out and said, this is treason and treasonally is punished by death. He walked that back on my show. He says, I'm not saying they should have death, but he said, you know, at a different time and a different era, that's what it could be. But that's Trump. So, I mean, come on. You're special forces. You've got an angry voicemail. I'm sure you get angry emails. You've got to see some of my emails. I have death threats. I've had death threats. And I've had cops call me up and say, we're following up on this. I'd even realize it. But I would never play a death threat on the air trying to get sympathy. You know, you say things. You pick people off and people get to extreme. But that's just the nature of this. But to go on Margaret Brennan faced the nation and say, listen to one angry person who threatened me on voicemail, this guy survived three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. What are you worried about a voicemail for? You alluded to it earlier. What is your understanding of the latest effort at a Russia-Ukraine peace deal? Well, it's a 28-point plan that's pretty much admitted that was written by Russia, and I think they're making it better. I was really encouraged Marco Rubio, one of the most smartest people in Washington, most practical, too, I say. He said he had probably the most productive conversations with the Ukrainians and with our European counterparts that he's had since his whole war started. And since he, you know, he was one foreign relations and in the Senate.

And so he is really encouraged. My question is, how much does Russia need it? And that's going to be key. Does Russia need this deal? Are they hurting worse than we think? And I think we always miscalculate the Russians, even when they were the Soviets. We always don't quite understand how bad things are there. And that's why they pulled over Woodcock and said, look, here's my 28-page plan. And they looked at it, the 28-point plan, and they looked at it and said, okay, let's take a look at it. The president said, okay, I like it, let's do it. Let's force them to do it. And then they go, no, no. It became so unpopular, the president realized, I can't go with this, but they're making it better. And this is what they need. This is what we all know. They're not getting the 20%, they're 18% of the country back. They're not getting Crimea back. That's just flat out it. But what they need is legitimate security guarantees. They got burned in 94. They got burned in 2014. There's got to be international forces or an immediate quick action team should the Russians do this and then go into the nitty gritty. And then get that 100. There's a lot of stuff in there that they like. There's 100 billion of Russian frozen funds that's going to go to Ukraine to help rebuild their country. And then Ukraine is already the second biggest army in Europe. They're also now the best and the most experienced. And they started at 200,000. Now they're at 800,000. They want to cap them at 600,000. Well, if you've got 600,000, you got reserves. You got 800,000. And, man, does anybody want to fight to Ukrainians again? Please. I mean, this is a fighting force. It's going to be a great ally for us. And I think that the message now is, NATO is bigger with two new, with Finland, with Finland. Sweden, and now everyone's going to be buying our weapons to fight their own battles in Europe and really be a big pushback on Russia. So I think there's a lot of good things that come out of this. The president should realize one thing. A bad deal, it's no longer Biden's war. If it's a bad deal... and sets up another and rush it to fight another day. Take the rest of Georgia, go from Moldova and go, you know, rattle the cages of Lithuanian, Estonia. If that happens, the president will look, that'll be on his baseball card. And I don't think he deserves that. And I just think if you just reason with him, with people in the area like Marco Rubio has his ear and has his respect, I think the president's got to realize it. You know, even though he didn't start it, it's going to be his responsibility. Just like the economy is his responsibility, even though Obama gave him a much better economy than Biden. It's going to take longer to dig out. People don't want to hear it. They just said, hey, you got the job now. So I think that if the president can hear that, I think that he'll make sure we get a good deal or no deal. Brian, real quick, before we let you go, I've been watching the Ken Burns American Revolution documentary this week, and it makes me want to come around America 250s about seven months away. I know you've been involved with some of the great American Revolution stories as part of the What Makes America Great Series. How much have you enjoyed kind of recounting some of those stories into the George Washington, Delaware River, the Boston Massacre, things like that?

Well, thanks to that question. It's unbelievable. And I just, I kind of laughed because I used to, you know, I did sports. It used to be like, oh, I can't, you know, it's at the Super Bowl. The World Series is no better place I'd like to be. Now when I go to the Battle of Gettysburg and when I'm at NORAD inside a mountain, you know, when I'm doing Washington's Crossing, I guess I'm growing up because that gives me chills. to think that these people walk these very, our places, you know, and to go to Fort Ticonderoga, where Ethan Allen and Benedict Donald took the fort from the British. And you relive those moments and you see the sketches and they're exactly like what I'm looking at. It just gets me really excited. And I have not started Ken Burns. I started maybe on the train the other day about 20 minutes, but I'm going to just sit down and I'm going to go through it. Ken Burns is a genius. And he tells a great story. But he tends to lean left. And that doesn't mean you forget about how horrible slavery is. And that in many ways, our dealings with American Indians, have been less honorable. But you have to balance it out that there was also massacres going on with our settlers as we move west and families who have been killed in the most brutal fashion imaginable al-Qaeda style by the American Indian. So I just worry about him going way left, but I enjoy the fact that he tackles his story. I'm going to tell you, American people, listen, nobody has a pass like us. Nobody can go back in our history and say, well, this reminds me off. No, this is a human all-star team, people that were told to get out of their country or chose to leave their country. All these cultures came together, and the way things broke our direction, we literally saved civilization. And you could say that hyperbole, but if you look at this honestly, there's no other conclusion. Take a step back. You haven't looked at history since 11th grade. It's not your fault. but go ahead and evaluate where we are as a country so you can fully appreciate the 250th celebration. And thank you for the work that you're doing, reemphasizing the importance of civic education in the schools because it's critically important. I've addressed that with my kids. It hasn't gone very well, but I'm making the effort real quick. I'll let you go. Who do you have on the show today? David Deacious, who's probably as tapped in as anybody, into foreign policy. He was giving Trump a real chance. Senator Markwayne Mullin Mohn will be with us, Alan West. And we're going to talk about Zohran Mamdani, the economy, Dems and the treason tape we just mentioned and making progress in Geneva. Although I could have had, instead of a big three, I could have had a big ten. There are so many great topics today. All right. Great stuff. Great to talk to you. Appreciate the time. And happy Thanksgiving. All right, man, you too. Thank you. Yep, that's Brian Kilmeade from Fox News, Fox Nation, and the Brian Kilmeade, which you can hear 9 to 12 today right here on News Radio, WRVA. News, traffic, weather, entertainment, and obviously no term limits. The legendary WRVA celebrated 100 years as the voice of Virginia.

Richens Morning News News Radio WRVA. Gary has it today and tomorrow for Rich Herrera. Rich is wrapping up that trip to Italy and we'll be back, I believe on Friday with Richman's Morning News, Black Friday edition. Meanwhile, coming up is the 7 o'clock hour. We're going to visit with Morgan Dean from AAA Mid-Atlantic to talk Thanksgiving travel and all things you need to know if you're hitting the roads for Thanksgiving. That's coming up at 735 and coming up after the top of the hour break. We're scheduled to visit. visit with Fox News correspondent Ryan Schmels about the goings on on Capitol Hill. What is up with all this rebuking of colleagues and spending all this time on the floor? doing these former rebukes, is that taking away from the work that needs to be done? Questions that need to be asked. We'll get into that right after the 7 o'clock hour. The 8 o'clock hour includes Drew Hurt, the director of operations of Nova, about the expansion at Regency and Lane Casadante from CBS 6, previewing the Virginia Tech game, and much, much more. One hour in the books. Richens Morning News, it's Monday, November 24th. We're back in just a couple of minutes. You are listening to News Radio, WRBA. Richmond's Morning News News Radio WRVA, Gary Hess, in for Rich Herrera. Today is Monday, November the 24th. It is Thanksgiving week, and I encourage you to focus on the things you have to be thankful for. Obviously going to be lots of family, food, football, all the things that come with Thanksgiving, but dwelling on the things that we have to be grateful for, a huge part of what we do on this Thanksgiving week. And, of course, There's also going to be a lot of folks hitting the airports, hitting the highways, and we're going to talk to Morgan Dean from AAA Mid-Atlantic about just how busy things are expected to be. Talk about gas prices. Talk a little bit about when the busiest times on the highways will be. And when the highest volume is expected, that comes up at 7.35 this morning. 8 o'clock hour today. I'm going to talk to Drew Hurt, the director of operations from Nova. Nova. Nova has expanded to the old Regency Square site. And phase two of that project is complete. A lot of, a lot of, families in the RVA have had kids swim at Nova and we're going to hear about what the exciting things going on over with the Regency expansion for Nova. We got Michael Greer from Greer Financial and Lane Cassidante from CBS6. Lots of things to talk to him about including the upcoming Virginia Tech game. Lots of stuff in the news. Negotiations are ongoing in the Russia-Ukraine war and we are efforting to. You know, see what's going to happen with that as time goes by. But Russia and Ukraine have been added for several years now. And there's progress on a peace plan. President Trump.

Putting his name on his peace plan, Russia kind of put it together, and now they're tweaking it to make it palatable for Ukraine. Can the sides get together on the job is Senator Marco Rubio to see if he can get that done? And there is progress to report, but still kind of waiting to see what all is going to happen with that. And, of course, wrangling on Capitol Hill about... with the video about the military and disagreements with President Trump President Trump is a lightning rod and you know the You know, people are going to just, you know, be negative toward him regardless of what happens. I think that is well documented over four years in the White House and now coming up on a year into his second term after four years out. So that just is what it is. You know, how will that change when we move forward in 2028 when loser draw is anybody's guess? Also, Marjorie Taylor Greene after, you know, kind of being a contrarian voice on the Republican side, has announced she is resigning her seat in Congress on January 5th. And President Trump has had some pretty rough things to say about her as she has disagreed with him publicly on some issues. But over the weekend, said he hopes she returns to politics someday. But he did mention it's not going to be easy for her as well. She was one of the vocal proponents of the release of the Epstein files, which is now going to happen. And we'll just have to wait and see. One other thing that is worth noting is the is the what has gone on on Capitol Hill in terms of What has gone on on Capitol Hill in terms of Congress going after each other? They come back from this recess after the end of the government shutdown and, you know, basically amid promises that they were going to get right to work. Well, what they got to work on was sniping at each other, attacking colleagues. voting to rebuke other members, eating up hours of time, which is the opposite of getting things done. And so it crossed party lines. Democrats started Democrats, Republicans targeting Republicans in some cases. It is not been pretty. And it's amazing they found time to pass.

the end of the government shutdown and to pass the bill to release the Epstein files. And so they have gotten a couple things done, but this has really taken away from that. Don Beyer from Virginia was one of the people who have introduced legislation Thursday to change House rules to make it harder for a member-to-target colleagues. Don Bacon, a Republican from Nebraska. So this was a bipartisan piece of legislation. They warned that the chamber is at risk of devolving into an irreparable cycle of caustic personal brawling, almost reminiscent of the British Parliament, where they yell at each other all the time. you know, becoming very similar in that vein. So it is kind of ugly that... that that that has just gone on and on and on. We are we were scheduled to be joined right now by Ryan Smiles from Fox News. We've had a hard time getting contact with him. So we're talking a little bit about what's going on on Capitol Hill. But a couple of other things I wanted to mention very briefly. And that is. in the city of Richmond. And we'll get into this more tomorrow with Michael Phillips from the Richmonder. But Mayor of Vula has announced progress in closing outstanding audit findings across multiple departments. You know, one of the things that Mayor Avula pointed to when he came into office, which is coming up on a year ago, was commitment to building a city hall that thrives and has accountability and transparency. And they have been working toward that. And the audit. report shows that Richmond has made major progress in strengthening several of those departments with more work still to do. And we'll see what comes of that. Now, there are still issues. Don't think for one minute. There are not still issues because there are. Five months after city auditors found that the Richman Retirement System paid more than 550 grand to deceased retirees. The new audit released Friday shows multiple high-priority recommendations remain open, and some of the issues are still unresolved. Some retirees who have passed away are still receiving payments. I don't think that's how it's supposed to go.

So ongoing failures being flagged by those city auditors. And so while the improvements have been made, there is still work to do. When it comes to this department, the Richmond retirement system, there are still issues. that remain unresolved despite the recommendations on how they can improve from the you know the the the audit some of those things have not been put in place yet so The Advula administration has seen some progress, but a long way to go. And, of course, as you know, Richmond is a city that, from a government standpoint, city council, the school board, the mayor's office, it has been... run in a questionable manner for years and years. And so Rome wasn't built in a day. It wasn't cleaned up in a day. And the effort is ongoing to fix that problem. So that is what is going on there. Okay. So also want to mention that these are exciting times for... For football fans, high school football playoffs, the regional semester. So we're two rounds into the public school playoffs. We have seven local teams that are still alive. In class six, Thomas Dale. In class five, Hermitage and Highland Springs. In class four, Denwitty, I mean, it should say Huguenot and Verena. In class three, Petersburg, and in class two, Armstrong. Armstrong is 12 and O on the season, putting together a historic season for City of Richmond football. Two city schools, Huguenot and Armstrong still alive. And a couple of those are playing each other. Hermitage Highland Springs play each other for a regional championship. Huguenot and Verona play each other for a regional championship. So we are guaranteed at least two teams winning regional titles and moving on to the state semifinals. A very exciting time for fans of high school football. And then in college football, the clash, the, the. The rivalry renewal between Richmond and William and Mary was this past week. One of the old, longstanding rivalries in college football that we know about here. Richmond got that win down in Williamsburg. And then the battle for the Commonwealth Cup is this coming Saturday night. What an interesting sight Saturday seeing James Franklin at the Virginia Tech game walking around kissing babies, waving to folks, just being in the middle of everything. So James Franklin.

Off and running while Philip Montgomery is still coaching the team on an interim basis. It's an interesting dynamic. But Virginia Tech at UVA, the Hooser 9 and 2 need a win to make the ACC championship game. So a lot on the line for a UVA team that's had a great season. But. Look at the history. Virginia has beaten Virginia Tech once in 20 years. So the Hokies dominate this series and can they prevent the who's from playing in the ACC championship game? That's what we'll find out on Saturday night in Charlottesville. Of course, three NFL games on Thanksgiving Day, one on Black Friday. So. Football is a huge part of the Thanksgiving weekend and Thanksgiving week off and running. We'll step aside, take a quick break. You are listening to Richman's Morning News, News Radio, WRVA.

Ah, James Brown. Gary Hess here for Richerair, Richards Morning News, News Radio, WRVA. It is 725, and coming up after the bottom of the hour break, we'll visit with Morgan Dean from AAA Mid-Atlantic and hear all about the pitfalls and what to expect if you are traveling. for the Thanksgiving holiday. Big news to know there. Once again, in case you missed it, late Friday, the UVA shooter, Chris Jay Jones, sentenced to five life sentences. for the murder of three UVA football players wounding two others. He had pled guilty. He also faces a total of 23 years for felony gun charges. Devin Chandler, LaVelle Davis, Deshaun Perry killed in the incident on a bus as it returned to UVA after a class field trip. That was November of 2022. It was an emotional week of... Sentencing hearing testimony from family members, from survivors of the shooting, and then also investigators and others who were involved in Chris Jay Jones' life as he was growing up. Ultimately, the judge sided with the prosecution in her sentencing. She acknowledged Jay Jones was mentally ill, but said that did not excuse what he did. He will be eligible for what they call geriatric. parole. So that is what is in store for Chris Jay Jones as he heads to spend at least most of the rest of his life in prison. Okay, coming up in the 8 o'clock hour, we're going to hear from Nova Director of Operations Drew Hurt about the new facility at Regency that has recently been completed. Phase two. Michael Greer, Gerr Financial, and CBS sports director, Lane Cassinante, as we talk about a big sports week coming up here in the Richmond area statewide and across the country. And after this break, Morgan Dean, AAA Mid-Atlantic, Thanksgiving travel. All that for you as you were listening to Richmond's Morning News, News Radio, WRVA. It is 733 News. It is 733 News Radio WRVA. I'm Gary Hess in for Rich Herrera on this Monday, November 24th. It is the beginning of Thanksgiving week, and we are ready to go. You know what? There are a lot of people that are getting ready to go. So that's why we wanted to turn to our friend Morgan Dean from AAA Mid-Atlantic to find out just what it's going to be like on the highways and in the airports coming up for this Thanksgiving holiday. Morgan, welcome to the program. How are you this morning?

Good morning, Gary. You're doing fantastic. How about yourself? I'm doing good. It's good to hear your voice, my friend. So just how extensive are the numbers going to be traveling for this Thanksgiving holiday? So nationwide, we're looking at about 82 million people traveling all across the United States. Of that, about 73 million will be on the roadways, another 6 million flying. When we start to look at Virginia, talking about just over 2 million total travel here for the Thanksgiving holiday, about 1.9 million of those folks jumping in the car, another 133,000 taken to the airports and then taken to the sky. going to be a pretty busy next couple of days here in a row starting tomorrow. That's when our official forecast starts, is it starts tomorrow and runs through the following Monday. How does those numbers compare with past years? So overall nationwide, it's about 2% higher than what we saw last year here in Virginia up about 1.1% compared to last year. And the big thing is to kind of benchmark it back to 2019 pre-pandemic days. And in a lot of cases, we're above that. I think that's what we watched over the past few years is when would we be back to that 2019 benchmark? And a lot of categories we hit that in 2020, 2023, 24, and since then it's been above that. It's going to be busy out there no matter what you're doing. So we just remind travelers to take that deep breath and hold on to that frustration and try and get through it. That's all you can do. But the one thing you can do is kind of avoid peak times. When or a couple of times people, if possible, should try to avoid going and then coming when hitting the highways. So if we're hitting the roadways, tomorrow and Wednesday are going to be very, very busy days on the way out. A lot of people trying to get out of town and get to their destinations ahead of Thanksgiving. If you can leave in that morning time period, that should help you avoid some of the backups that really build in that late afternoon into the evening commute time period where you have holiday travelers on the road fighting for space with evening commuters. On the other end of that, Sunday's going to be a busy day coming back in. Leaving in the morning and doing that that day as well can make a big difference on you getting back home without hitting a lot of those backups. For those who are flying, the busiest travel day is expected to be Sunday. People stagger when they fly out, but all tend to fly back on Sunday. So Sunday is expected to be one of the busiest days at airports of the year. TSA, even warning, it expects to process a screen more than 3 million people on Sunday. It's going to be busy out there. It doesn't really seem to matter when you travel. It's going to be busy. We're talking to Morgan Dean from AAA Mid-Atlantic, and obviously one thing people who are hitting the highways can be concerned with is the price of gasoline. That appears to have been somewhat stable of late.

Stable is a great word, Gary. In fact, I couldn't have said it better myself. We are 291 in Virginia for the gas average today. Exact same price that we were paying a week ago. It is up four cents in the past month, but down about a nickel compared to last year. So really not far off on what we were paying a year ago. Not that I think anybody keeps any kind of a hash mark or a tracker in their car on that, but I think... Knowing that you're paying roughly the same or slightly less is probably a good thing for drivers, puts a few coins back in the pocket. Obviously paying the same or less is better than paying more. It's definitely better. For sure. For sure. And, you know, shop around. There are 25 states right now with gas prices under $3 per gallon. So if you were driving through a state where it's even cheaper, plan some of those gas stops out where you can save a couple of pennies along the route. Morgan, temperatures are starting to get cooler. Talk about what people need to do to make sure their cars are ready and then if something happens, what they have in their car to deal with what might happen. For short, I just heard your weather forecast a moment ago talking about snow in some areas. We are to that point for the year. Just going over your vehicle real quick, making sure your tires are pumped up to the right pressure and that your tread looks good. If your tires look like a basketball, that is not a good situation to be in. They are not going to stop you on the roadway. Make sure you've got good tread there. Also, have you had any issues with your battery? Has it been slow to start in the cool weather? When you get to the cold weather, it's probably going to give out on you. So get that checked out as well. Walk all the way around the car with the lights on. You want good visibility on the front side so you can see and you want to be visible to drivers behind you on the back side. So make sure all those bulbs are in good shape. And then check the windshield wipers. You want good windshield wipers. We take them for granted until we kick them on a storm. And sometimes that's when they're not clearing that windshield. Big, big thing when you're traveling on the roadway and looking at inclement weather. And also, we need to have that emergency kit in our cars now. Let's think back a couple of years ago to all those folks that were stuck overnight in their vehicles, frozen in the roadway there between Caroline County and all the way up to Northern Virginia. What would you want to have in your car? Jumper cables, kitty litter, traction mats, an ice scraper, a snowbrush, all important things to help you get your car out if it is stuck. You also want to have a first aid kit, but you also want to have some things for yourself as well. A blanket, an extra jacket, a hat, gloves, snacks. and water in case you are in that vehicle for an extended period of time. You prepare for the worst, but you hope for the best as you're hitting the road, Gary. You mentioned that the measuring period starts tomorrow is between tomorrow and Wednesday. Which day do you expect to be busier or having more activity? I think Wednesday will probably be a little bit busier than Tuesday. That's why leaving during those non-peak hours can be so important on avoiding some of those backups on the roadway. We talked about leaving in the morning. It's a good time period. If you don't mind driving in the dark, leaving some of those non-peak hours late night into overnight can be good too. But if you're not a fan of driving in the dark, that's probably not a good place you to be. Another thing to think about.

We are at the peak of deer mating season right now, and a lot of that happens into the evening and into that darkness time period. So there are some dangers out there to be aware of. Use those high beams when you can. They tend to reflect off those eyeballs, and you can see the deer from a distance and hopefully avoid an impact with one. Boy, I tell you what, that's a great reminder being on the lookout for... for deer. But just talk about kind of being the awareness level of all the other drivers around you and maintain the following distance and the space around your car. While the traffic is heavy, it may be hard to do. But let's talk about the importance of that. You were right on there. Think about that before you even back out of the parking space or leave the garage. Take that deep breath and say, I want to get safely to where I'm going. I want to get everybody in the car safely to where we're going. And I want everybody else on the roadway to get there as well. Increase that following distance to vehicle in front of you, especially with some of that stop and go traffic. Following that speed limit is very, very important. Staying off to that right-hand lane and jumping into the left lane when you need to pass somebody, but then getting back to the right. helps block some of those log jams from building up out there and then focusing on being courteous using your turn signal not darting over in front of other drivers we don't want to have one of these aggressive driving incidents turn into a road rage incident on a roadway that puts you and everybody around you at risk so taking that deep breath and just saying i know there could be some backups but i want to get there safely Is there a place where folks, centralized place where folks can pick up if they need to review all this information online or social media that they can check out? We have a lot of this information at our website. Very easy one to remember, triple a.com. There you go. Well, Morgan, appreciate your time. As always, be safe throughout your holidays and happy Thanksgiving, my friend. Gary, thank you for the time. You as well, sir. Happy Thanksgiving. Okay, that's Morgan Dean from AAA Mid-Atlantic. So back to pre-pandemic numbers as about 2 million Virginians are going to be traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday. I know some folks that are hitting the road on Wednesday, leaving before. before daylight to try to get ahead of some things. And I think they're coming home Saturday instead of Sunday to try to beat that heavy traffic. And you heard Morgan mentioned gas prices are stable. 291 in Virginia, but here in Richmond, the average is actually a little higher, 296, but that is still relatively stable. just three cents more than a week ago, but down a couple of cents from yesterday. So that upper 290s into the 280s right around the $3 mark, gas prices have kind of been hovering around there for quite a while now. And they had a couple of little spikes and a little dips, but that has kind of right been the sweet spot here of late for gas prices in the RVA. Bottom line, if you have to, if you're traveling for Thanksgiving, be patient.

Take your time, be aware of everyone else around you, be courteous, and everybody will get safely to where they need to go, and we can all enjoy our thanksgivings together. Okay, that is good advice. Thank you to Morgan Dean from AAA Mid-Atlantic. I'm Gary Hess. We'll step aside for a break. You are listening to Richens Morning News, News Radio, W.R. 755 News Radio WRVA, Richmond's Morning News. Gary Hess in for Rich Herrera. Hope your Thanksgiving week is off to a good start for schools. It's a two-day week. Some people are off all week. Some people working Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. You just never know. Plenty of work being done here around the Casa Day Hess as we get ready to host on Thursday. 17 people, I think. And I'm doing all I can to help, considering I'm gimping around here. And, uh, um, You know, still in recovery from that surgery. Excited that I'm seeing some progress after getting physical therapy rolling a couple of weeks ago. Okay, 8 o'clock hour is still ahead on today's program. Don't forget, 9 to 12 today is Brian Kilmeade, then Dana Lash and, of course, Jeff Katz 3 to 6. Drew Hurt, Director of Operations at Nova up next, new facility. at Regency, two phases, second phase recently completed. We're going to have him on a little after the 8 o'clock top of the hour break to hear all about that. Michael Greer coming up as well in the 8 o'clock hour. And at 835, Lane Cassidante from CBS 6 as we preview the Virginia Virginia Tech game this week and much, much more. Very excited about things in store. Tomorrow's program will include Michael Phillips from the Richmonder talking about some of the key things going on around town. We're also going to have on Bob Holsworth to kind of do a post-mortem on the election and a quick look at how things. are going so far in transition. All that and more, you're listening to News Radio, WRVA. Richmond's Morning News, News Radio, WRVA, 1140 AM, 96.1 FM and the Odyssey app. Hope you're doing well on this Monday morning. Gary Hess in for Rich Herrera. I'm in tomorrow morning as well. And... Thanksgiving week is upon us. So happy Thanksgiving week to all of you as we are embarking upon this very exciting time of year, Thanksgiving, and then into the Christmas season. Of course, if you go to stores, you think the Christmas season is underway already. A lot of people in the Richmond area have had kids or have swam themselves or have had kids swim at Nova Aquatics, a well-known name all around town. There's been an expansion project going on.

The latest phase has been completed. And to dig into that a little bit, we welcome to the program, the Director of Operations for Nova. Drew Hearth, Drew, Drew. Thank you for being with us today. How are you today? I'm fine, Gary. How are you doing? I'm doing good. It's good to hear your voice. For those who don't know, tell us about what Nova is and what it does. Sure. So we are a USA Swimming Club team located in the West End. We are a nonprofit organization. We've been in existence for almost 40 years now. We got our start as a very small club team, which is 18 and under swimming. And that was our start, a USA Swimming Club team. And fast forward, 40 years, we've become... As you mentioned, a pretty well-known institution in the world of youth sports in Richmond. We're one of the largest and most successful club teams in the country. And as you mentioned, we've expanded our facility at Regency. And over the last five years, we've been at Regency, which has really allowed us to expand what we can offer in the community exponentially in terms of aquatic programming and safety. So that's a quick... quick update as to what Nova is and what we are about. Drew, kind of detail for us the latest phase of this expansion project at Regency that was completed not long ago. Sure thing. So we are, we used to. started at our Regency home about six years ago, and we took over, for those of your listeners that remember the Regency Mall on its heyday, we took over the Macy's on the south side or the backside of the mall. And our first phase was to finish off the first floor of that old Macy's department store. We added a 50-meter... pool, which we can configure into 25 yards as well. And we have two other small teaching pools. Lots of space on the first floor when we opened up. Now, we're in year five, as I mentioned. And what we've done in the last, really, year and a half is to finish the vision for that entire site. So when we opened up the first floor, we had the perimeter of some of the remaining second floor that we closed off. And at the time, we couldn't make that part of the construction happen. And we've been able to finish off the second floor. And what that has meant for us is, really checked a box of spectator seating. And we're now able to host just, you know, large events, larger events that we were able to host before. And when I say events, I mean swim meets competitions, which is a checks of sports tourism box that is so important to Enrico County right now. And we're a part of that.

Obviously, the expansion was needed as growth happened. Just talk about what that new facility at Regency has kind of meant to the organization in terms of its evolution. Sure things. So as I mentioned before, you know, we are a club swim team. We have over 800 swimmers on our team itself. But, you know, our region and the community has been able to expand and grow exponentially because of that regency site. You know, in Recco County, all roughly 4,500 second graders and then in the school system have some sort of learn to swim. Swim lessons happening across Henreiko. At Nova, we take care of about 1,500 of those 4,500 second graders. We have been able to really kickstart high school swimming with the expansion of Nova at Regency in this facility. Six of the nine high schools practice at Nova facilities, and all nine high schools will have competitions, many competitions at our Regency site. And, you know, the expansion itself, which is why we're talking today, is, as I said, really is allowing us to expand the types and the really up the level of meets that we're able to host at home, which keeps our families in their own houses and our swimmers in their own beds, which is great for them, less travel for our folks, and bringing folks into Henrico County into the Richmond area to, you know, support their kids and attend competitions. Obviously, sports tourism is a huge priority in Hintryko County. Let's talk about being a part of that and the support you've gotten from the county folks. Sure, thanks. So, as you know, Henreco has two malls that they've really targeted for redevelopment, and one as Regency and the second, the old Virginia Center Common. So, you know, in the last, you know, five years, you know, the opening of the indoor sports and event center really signalized, you know, a really focus that the county leadership has had on, you know, making sure that Henreco is competitive in the world of sports tourism. And, you know, what we've been able to do at NOVA is, you know, we have the 30 years, 40 years of knowledge and expertise running aquatic centers, running pools. We have our original pools on Gaten Road a little bit further in the West End that are still open. And, you know, the county realized that there's a partnership, and, you know, we can check that swimming and aquatics sports tourism box with that county support. and they're not necessarily opening their own aquatic center of their own. So being able to, you know, be a partner with the county and bring in the out-of-town athletes and families to attend swim meets at Regency is really what the second floor has been all about. We have seating for capacity on the second floor for a thousand.

That goes in tandem with the capacity on our first floor, which is also at 1,000. So we have over 2,000 folks that we can have in the building for any one given meat. And that's a huge number. It really allows us to go after some big regional and national level meets that are going to bring people to Henrikio. Heads and beds is what it's all about. Have you had success in the effort to try to draw some of those meats, or is that kind of an in-progress thing? For sure, we have had success. Last year, when we were only on the first floor at Regency, we had 28 competitions scheduled throughout the calendar year. We are going to increase that number by six total events this year. We've been awarded a meet this summer of 2026 and 27 at the end of July where we'll have over 900 athletes from all up and down the East Coast. in their families for a good five days. And, you know, that's a direct result of getting the second floor finished. We're talking to Drew here at the Director of Operations for Nova Aquatics. With the evolution of what has happened at Regency, how has that changed the way you guys use and view the original property in the Far West End? Sure things. So, you know, as I said before, one of the things that we've been able to do is really expand what we can offer to the community outside of the NOVA-based programming that was really, we didn't have the capacity at our Gaten location to really, you know, check that box. So, you know, moving to Regency has allowed, we have tons of tangible benefits, excuse me, that our families have realized. you know, better practice times, kids getting done with practice earlier in the day, less crowded lanes for our athletes. And we've been able to really expand some of our swim lessons programming at our Gaten location. And it's really allowed us, you know, just a ton of more flexibility to really increase, you know, what the Nova organization can offer to our members and the overall community at large. If folks want to know more information or how to get maybe sign up their kids or get them involved, how is the best way to go about that? Sure thing. So it's really easy. www. nova swim.org is our main website where, you know, you can find out all the information about our Learn to Swim Lessons Program, our competitive team, our facilities, and everything else that we can offer in the world of aquatics. And to say a competitive team, you know, if people don't know, Nova has had swimmers that have gone on, obviously a bunch that have gone on to college excellence and some who have swam in the Olympics. Yes, sir. We have, as I said, 38 years of success and really, you know, helping shape, you know, the lives of young people in the West End of Richmond and throughout the Richmond area. And that's led up to the highest levels of success in the sport, which is really amazing. You know, we've had two Olympians, two Olympic medalists come from our program, Townley Haas and Charlie Swanson. And then we just have, we have countless.

athletes every year that are going on to continue their swimming journey and whether it's you know college varsity swimming club swimming uh it's really you know a pipeline that is as is done a we just touched a lot of lives over the years in the west end and throughout richmond well thanks for the insight congratulations on the completion of phase two over at regency and keep up the great work happy thanksgiving I appreciate it, Gary. Happy Thanksgiving to you and everybody listening to Home. Appreciate it. That's Drew Hart, the Director of Operations at Nova. And you are listening to Richens Morning News, News Radio, WRVA. Okay, 825 News Radio WRVA. Coming up at 835, we're going to talk to Lane Cassidante from CBS 6, maybe a minute or two before that after the bottom of the hour break. Talk about the UVA Virginia Tech game coming up this Saturday, the battle for the Commonwealth Cup. Interesting. Things going on this year with UVA needing a win to qualify for the ACC championship game. UVA, Virginia Tech, meanwhile, comes in 3 and 8. James Franklin is now in place as the new coach. And so interesting battle lines where UVA playing at home. Much better record would be considered the clear favorite. The problem is the who's have beaten the Hokies one time in 20 years, and so it becomes a believe it when you see it kind of thing. So we'll talk to Lane about that and much other sports-related topics on this Monday morning of Thanksgiving week here on News Radio, WRVA. Hosting tomorrow as well and going to be... having Michael Phillips on from the Richmonder to talk about some local issues. And we're also going to spend some time with Bob Holsworth, Dr. Bob Holsworth, to get some breakdown of the election results now that we're almost a month away. And to peek in on how transition is going with Abigail Spanberger set to take over his governor in just a little more than a month. We'll step aside. Quick break. News Radio, WRBA.

833. Richard's Morning News, News Radio WRVA, Gary Hess, and for Rich Herrera. Now, for those of you that know me, you know my background is in sports. I can talk news and current events with the best of them. But if I can ever slip away and talk sports, I'm going to jump at the chance. So we bring in my friend, CBS Six Sports Director, longtime CBS Sports Director. Lane Cassidante, how you doing, my friend? Hey, good morning, Gary. How's everybody? I think we're doing good. Happy Thanksgiving week and all of that, and that means football. And let's start with that. UVA, Virginia Tech, you know, the ongoing storyline here is how tech dominates this series. And so when you look at it in this year's terms alone, UVA 9 and 2, need a win to get to the conference championship game for J-TEC struggling this year and has its new man in James Franklin playing in Charlottesville. The dynamics are unusual when you consider that UVA's only won this game once in 20 years. And that just by law of averages is just unreal to think about, right? Because you would have to believe that somewhere along the line, they would get one or two there, but it just hasn't happened. And, you know, the prevailing wisdom about this year, given the entire scenario that you just laid out, is if UVA doesn't get them this year, they may never get them. And with everything that's on the line for them, you know, everything that you just mentioned. there should be no way that they are not ready to play this game. They're coming off a bye week as well. They did not play this past Saturday. So, yeah, it's all laid out for them. You can't ask for anything more when you're in a situation like that than to have everything right in front of you. You control your destiny as the saying goes, and then they absolutely do that. It has been a great season for UVA. There's no other way to put it, nine and two. But you have to wonder, for those that have been around the program for a while, they have to wonder if there's some kind of weird juju surrounding this. Well, in terms of what? How do you mean? I just mean in terms of being unable to get wins over the Hokies, even on years where they seem like they're in position to do so. Well, and you know, and I can't remember, you may remember who said this, but the other team has scholarship players too. And coaches have used that for years. But. You know, it's there's always, yeah, there's always been something for Virginia Tech. And again, you know, UVA is having, you know, the kind of season that they haven't had in a while. So there's that. Virginia Tech has always, you know, when Virginia Tech has needed it, they've always found a way to get it. Virginia Tech for a long time just had better teams under Frank Beamer and a lot of the players that went on to play on Sundays up there. So.

But, yeah, you would think that somewhere along the line that they'd get more than just one in the last 20 years. That's, you know, a rivalry usually depends on both teams putting something into it. And for a long time, this has been just gone one way. Late, talk to me about your take on the excitement surrounding the hire of James Franklin in Blacksburg. Well, I mean, a lot of people, when he became available, he was the first name that a lot of people went to. A lot of the fans were hoping it would go this way. And Whit Babcock admitted on Wednesday when Franklin was introduced that when Franklin became available, that was the first name that went to the committee. And that became the only name in which the committee was interested. And they did everything they could. They focused all of their efforts on bringing him to Blacksburg. He's a fantastic recruiter, including here in Virginia. He's gotten a number of kids from the Commonwealth to come up to Penn State. And he did very well up there. He just couldn't manage to win the big games that they needed to win. Two things I want to remind everybody about James Franklin. Last year, he had Penn State playing in the national semifinals, one game away from playing for a national title. That's pretty good. And nine weeks ago, he was coaching the number two ranked team in the country. That's how quickly things change now in the era of the NIL and the transfer portal. And there is so much money in this game right now. It always comes back to money, right? There's so much money riding on all of this right now that you can't really afford to have the kind of losses that he had. Will Penn State regret letting him go? That remains to be seen. Will Virginia Tech be happy that they got him? I think they already are. He got through the initial part. He won the press conference. Now the job is to get players in there, to get a staff in there, and now he's got to get on the field and see how he can turn this program around. Starting next year, the honeymoon period for these guys is much, much shorter than it used to be. I know you know this, and you probably brought it up. In Frank Beamer's sixth season in Blacksburg, the Hokies went two, nine, and one. If that happens in this day and age, Frank Beamer doesn't get a seventh season, and we never see how he transforms the entire program. It's all different now. You know, the basketball version of that is when... the Duke fans wanted to fire Mike Shashefsky and Tom Butter said no, and we all know how that worked out for the Blue Devils. So you're absolutely right, though. Neither one of those things would have happened in this day and age. Speaking of things happening, let's shift gears and take a look at the purple and gold up in Harrisonburg, where Bob Chesney has the Dukes at 10 and 1 and eyeing the already in the Sunbelt championship game and eyeing a potential bid to the college football playoff.

And Bob Chesney is just, if you ever get a chance to meet him, obviously my son is a senior up there, and I've been up there a few times for games the last two seasons. Bob Chesney is just... an incredibly impressive person. He's very high energy. He is unfailingly positive, and he's the kind of guy that you just want to play for. And he managed to keep a fair amount. And now last year's team wasn't bad up there. They did pretty well. He took over, obviously, for Kurt. Oh, my God. Why can't I remember the name of the Indiana head coach? Signetti, thank you. Took over for Kurt Signetti, and a lot of people were wondering, well, Signetti wins, Google him. And, you know, what's this new guy going to do when he comes in? And all he did was keep the standard where it is. He maybe even raised it a little bit. And he managed to keep a few players around after Signetti left. He managed to get a few others in there. There are, you know, two of his biggest contributors this year, Nick DeGenerro, and Landon Ellis. who came from the spiders last year, and we're very productive for the spiders, and now they're doing the same thing up in Harrisonburg. He's managing to get kids to come to Harrisonburg, one of the smallest towns in the country that still supports Division I college football. And he's done, he has sustained the program, taking it a little bit further. Their problem this year is their strength of schedule. The Sunbelt, you know, outside of James Madison and maybe one of the team hasn't been great this year. Their strength of schedule is what's keeping them from really grabbing on to that group of five spot in the college football playoff. But all they can do is keep winning. They win the Sunbelt title and they can put their resume out there and say, this is what we've done. And we can and will play with anybody. You remember, they played at Louisville earlier this year, and I believe they were leading that game at the half. So, you know, the teams that they had, the one loss that they had, they were in that game for a very long time against an ACC opponent. We're talking to Lane Cassadante Sports Director, CBS6. And, of course, we're talking about Virginia and Virginia Tech, JMU. And those are the schools that, some of the schools that nominate players for the Dudley Award. For the uninitiated, tell folks what the Dudley Award is and where they can see who's going to win it this year. The Dudley Award is basically Virginia's version of the Heisman Trophy. It's given to the best college football player in Division I across the state. One or one double A is people like you and I still call it at times. Yes, in the FBS or the FCS program. So that's your Richmond, your William & Mary's, your Norfolk States, your Hamptons, your Virginia, Virginia Tech, Liberty, JMU, the best player from those divisions.

is awarded the Bill Dudley Award. It's been handed out since 1990. And since 2004, we have also handed out the Willie Lanier Award, which goes to the best player from schools in Division 2, 3, or the NIA level, which is your Randolph-Macon's, your Hamden, Sydney, your Virginia Union, Virginia State schools like that. And... The two awards are voted on by a panel of 15 sportscasters and sports writers from across the state, and we will be announcing the winners of this year's awards on Thursday, December 11th on CBS 6 at 745 that evening. And I'm very excited as you mentioned, your son being a student at JMU. My son's a student at Christopher Newport and the captains who are undefeated and have a home playoff game this coming Saturday. Have a very compelling candidate to win the Lanier Award this year. So I'm very excited to see how he does. Anyway, always great to catch up with you. Enjoy the football this week. And I'm sure we'll see you along the trail as we always do. We will be out there. Thanks for having me, Gary. Have a great holiday, everyone. Yep. Thank you. That's Lane Cassidante. Great guy. Great, does a great job along with Sean over at CBS6, the gold standard of covering sports on TV in the Richard Metro. Okay, we'll step aside. Quick break. We're closing in on Brian Kilmeade coming up at the top of the hour. News Radio, WRVA. Gary Hess here to wrap things up on this Monday of Richon's Morning News, in for Rich Herrera. Thanks to Jeremy for taking good care of me today and doing the great job that he always does, producer extraordinaire. Don't forget coming up later today. Brian Kilmeade, 9 to 12, Dana Lash, Jeff Katz, the great lineup we have here on a daily basis here on Richmond's News Radio, WRVA, The Voice of Virginia, celebrating 100 years of serving. The 804. Don't forget, travel really kicks in tomorrow for Thanksgiving. A lot of folks are going to be hitting the highways even more on Wednesday. Airports are going to be busy. Be patient. Be prepared to really. Be safe to get, so everybody gets where they want to go. Obviously, Thanksgiving is Thursday. The weather's going to crop weight Thursday, although we may see some rain Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday morning. If you're doing any outdoor prep, we've got to get our smoker ready for the turkey, so we've got to be mindful of the weather forecast over the next couple. of days. I'm in tomorrow morning as well. We're going to talk to Michael Phillips from the Richmonder about some big time local stories as the as the as the

City of Richmond continues to try to get things right as Danny Abula approaches one year of his administration. We're also going to talk to Dr. Bob Holsworth as we try to unpack the actual election results and look ahead to transition and how things are going to dramatically change when the General Assembly session begins and when Abigail Spanberger takes over in the governor's mansion from. the current governor, Glenn Youngkin. So that and much, much more tomorrow on Richmond's Morning News. We'll also be getting you ready for a huge week of football, UVA, Virginia Tech. Also, the NFL games coming up on Thanksgiving Day, including a huge one between the Dallas Cowboys and the Kansas City Chiefs. How about that? That's going to be something else. A couple of other things to watch for today. The wrangling on Capitol Hill will continue the work. led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio continues to kind of work with Ukraine on making some tweaks to the peace deal plan that was put together by the Trump administration in Russia to come up with a... a compromise that Russia and Ukraine can agree to and can put an end to this war that has been going on for way too long. So keep an eye on that as well. And we're excited to bring you Richmond's Morning News again tomorrow. Once again, have a great Monday. Enjoy your Thanksgiving week, two-day week for those of you who are involved with the schools. And remember, we always close out the show with a tribute to America. The National Anthem, brought to you by free. service and training, the biggest little gun shop in town at the corner of Creighton and Cold Harbor roads in Mechanicsville. I'm Gary Hess. We'll talk to you tomorrow morning. So long for Richman's Morning News.