Podcast for August 8, 2026: Charlottesville City Council agrees to spend an additional $4 million to prepare office building for temporary shelter

The opening of the Beijing Olympics. A president announces his resignation, and a certain incident took place on a Chicago bridge. These are just some of the things that have happened on other editions of August 8th throughout recent time. There's only been one regular edition of Charlottesville community engagement in the six years since publication began. So when you're done here, go back and time travel to 2023. In this edition for 2026, the city of Charlottesville will hire outside groups to manage the emergency shelter at 2000 Holiday Drive and help with the encampment clearance. Voices speak out against the upcoming ending of the Rivana River encampments. Charlottesville City Manager explains how 2000 Holiday Drive is just part of the city's response to homelessness. The Albemar Economic Development Authority will support classes to assist the wine industry learn new techniques after a difficult spring, and more people are using the Kay Ivey Solid Waste Authority.

In today's sponsored shout-out, Panorama Natural Burial believes that caring for the deceased can be simple, meaningful, and deeply connected to the natural world. As a natural burial ground just outside Charlottesville, they offer families an alternative to traditional burial that honors both the people that we love and the land that will carry them forward. Whether you are planning ahead, navigating a recent loss, or are just curious about natural burial, they welcome the conversation. They host regular tours and community events throughout the year, building new ways of understanding death, land, ecology, ritual, memory, and community. If you want to know more, please visit panorama burial.com. They are open daily to the public from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. They welcome your visit. In less than a month, the city of Charlottesville intends to relocate willing residents of the Rivana River encampments to a vacant office building, the city purchased in October of 2025 for $6.2 million. Sam Roman is the assistant city manager, and he gave a briefing to city council on the afternoon of August 3rd. Although the city has taken the lead as it relates to emergency shelter operations, our goal really remains the same. And that is to collaborate with our partners, our providers, and other folks to ensure that we open holiday drive as close to September 1st as possible and with a viable shelter operating plan. Several hours later, City Council agreed to spend $4 million from the city's Capital Improvement Program Contingency Fund for homeless intervention services to include emergency sheltering and direct to housing supports. Specific amounts to specific agencies were not specified at the meeting because negotiations are still underway. Council learned in the evening that a group called Central Arizona Shelter Strategies is in line to operate 2,000 holiday drive in the short term. Council also voted 4 to 0 to waive a second reading that would allow city manager Sam Bernie Sanders to complete the negotiations. Charlottesville Mayor Juan Diego Wade was absent from the work session and the rest of the meeting. Another group that will be hired is the Clutch Consulting Group. Further details from the evening discussion will be in the next edition of the newsletter, and a press release was sent out on the morning of August 4th that confirmed Cass, but not the Clutch Consulting Group. More on those in the next segment. Roman began his update at around 4.30 p.m. with an initial assessment of people living at the encampments conducted concurrently with a point in time count held in late July. That consisted primarily of UVA clinicians and our local providers to include Potcham, maintain the presence at the riverfront where they set up two tables, two kiosks.

One of them on the Zero East High side and the other one, the Freebridge side, using the data from the assessment in Pit Count to interact with the folks down in the encampment. Roman said that intake led to assistance of 54 people. He used the phrase, documented connections. Those connections include SNAP benefits and applications, health care coordinations. employment and education opportunities, case management intake, scheduling follow-up appointments, identification, and vital records, behavioral health and recovery support, and reentry support through Home to Hope as well. City staff have begun to identify items at the encampments that appear to have been abandoned and will soon have a contractor come out to remove them. The city's Parks and Recreation Department has been collecting trash in the area on a daily basis. Roman said the city is close to an agreement with an entity to provide services at 2000 Holiday Drive, but did not initially give a name at the work session. He also said there will be an engagement plan to communicate what will be happening with businesses near 2000 Holiday Drive. Last week, the Virginia Restaurant, Lodging and Travel Association sent a letter to council seeking answers to 10 questions, as reported by CVS19 News. These include questions such as will the city arrange bus transportation throughout the entire city or will the bus stop continue to be located on Emmett? What will be the documented police protocol for trespassers on business properties who aren't patrons? And so on. Roman said he and the police chief visited the area on Monday, along with other city officials, including economic development. We spent about an hour and a half in the area just talking with the different businesses and really just kind of filling in some of the gaps as we know them now, some of the informational gaps that existed. Back in May, executive director Shayla Washington of the Blue Ridge Area Coalition for the Homeless, said the nonprofit had received a quote from the Clutch Consulting Group to help get people into homes for up to a year and a half. The company was created in 2018 by two people who helped rebuild the homelessness response system in Houston, Texas. Roman said the company was here last week. After spending time in Charlottesville, they have offered their technical assistance to us that will partner with us to utilize the resources available to connect. landlords and housing opportunities with current individuals in the encampment that were a part of the assessment. Roman said this will include training city staff on case management so they can continue doing the processing work. They will also continue to advise us on technical matters pertaining to the encampment, the encampment closure as we request. A price was not initially mentioned.

On Monday, the city's new Connect-Sharwitzville Community Engagement Platform got a new page. Here's a section from the Charlottesville Homelessness Response and River Fund transition page. Sharwitzville is taking a coordinated and compassionate approach to support people who are experiencing homelessness. The page is intended to inform the public how they can assist with the transition. It also informs the public that temporary cameras have been set up to support public safety for individuals staying in the encampment, trail users, volunteers, and staff. According to the website, these cameras record video but not audio and no facial recognition technology is used. Roman told counsel the cameras are part of the increased presence by Charlottesville Police and the Charlottesville Fire Department. Following the most recent incident, CPD increased patrols and maintain an enhanced public safety presence in the area, including overnight areas. Enhanced public safety presence is ongoing and likely to last throughout the closure of the encampment. City Councilor Lloyd Snook said the number of people who have been assessed so far is lower than the number of people believed to be at the encampments. We've had estimates at 1.15 and 80 and so on, and now we're finding 38 or maybe 30 that are actually, we're actually making contact with. Do we have a sense, even just a working hypothesis vaguely of what's going on? Roman said the city's chief strategy officer is working with nonprofits in the continuum of care to get that information ready to share. In some cases, it's difficult to analyze that information. However, we do endeavor to do the very best that we can with that. Last June, City Council authorized $425,000 from the surplus fund for two homelessness outreach specialists. Human Services Director of Misty Graves said those jobs will be posted soon, plus a third. That's going to include one program manager and also two homelessness outreach specialists. What we hope that these positions will be able to do is to also help support accurate data collection. These folks will actually be in the field, not just at the Zero East High or the Free Bridge encampments, but in other areas and where folks may be sleeping outdoors to... Ask questions like, where did you last sleep? Earlier this spring, City Councilor Jen Fleischer was assigned to a working group on this topic and has been working closely with the many groups trying to provide assistance, such as the Havens work to take people to the Department of Motor Vehicles to get an ID. Potcham's team has been remarkable from... leading the assessments in a trauma-informed way, but also making these connections that are critical to that trust building and that kind of walking the walk that we have wanted to do. UVA health, med students and nursing, bringing all kinds of expertise and connections from general wound care to mental health.

Fleischer also provided some demographics on the people at the encampment. She said there's an average age of 37. She said there are couples there as well as people who are trying to reunite with family. She said a consistent presence has helped earn trust for the transition effort. The teams have really worked hard to not only be consistent. We've been there every day for at least four hours a day, but double days for a lot of the first week and a few times last week as well. City Councilor Natalie Oshrin asked about the plans that had been presented by the three Continuum of Care non-profits back in late March. The firm Mitchell Matthews Architects and planners had been hired to prepare an initial schematic, but that has not been publicly updated. What are the features that are going to be there? What is it actually going to look like? How much of that has been conceptualized and how much does it differ from those plans? Roman said the goal is to make the existing footprint work in the short term, with one change being physical alterations to make sure people can get in and out of the building safely. Another is to have places to store the belongings of those who will stay there. Whatever is done will have to pass inspection. What we're working on is making sure that, you know, building code, the building official is happy with the plans that we have for the building. The plan for now is to be able to use 2000 Holiday Drive as an emergency shelter, while the greater renovations are also taking place. There's no public price tag for how much that will cost. The Virginia General Assembly finalized a biennial budget in late June, very close to the beginning of this fiscal year. That included a budget amendment to provide additional funds to help Sharwitzville tackle the issue. Here is the exact wording of the budget amendment. Out of the amounts in this paragraph, 7 million the first year is provided to the City of Charlottesville for the development of a transitional housing and life skills training facility to increase capacity to serve individuals and families experiencing homelessness in the community. It will be up to the City Council to decide how that money should be used. City staff are recommending using a portion for the Salvation Army's expansion project. Council has already contributed $3 million to this project. The recommendation that is coming to you all on your August 17th agenda is for $3 million to be provided to the Salvation Army, basically framing it as a match to the city's contribution to the Center of Hope Capital Campaign. Bernie Sanders said the other $4 million will be used for transitional housing services, but not the emergency shelter planned for 2,000 holiday drive because it does not match the language in the budget amendment. The transitional housing component is that it becomes a place that people get to live in for an extended period of time, and there are minimal conditions that have to be met. An example would be that they would have independence in that space. So an ability to cook, an ability to clean, and the ability to take care of themselves. And congregate shelter, that is not the case. They're sharing that with everybody. There's no control, no limitations on that. The Vista 29 project under construction on U.S. 29 is an example of transitional housing.

as is the crossings at 4th Street. Both are managed by a nonprofit called Support Works Housing. Next, we're going to hear from people who spoke at the meeting after the 4 p.m. work session. Charlottesville City Council voted on August 3rd to spend $4 million from a surplus fund to be used in part to hire Central Arizona Shelter Services to run a temporary emergency shelter at 2000 Holiday Drive, an office building purchased in October 2025 using $6.2 million from the same surplus fund. While there was no public hearing associated with that vote, several people took the opportunity to voice their opposition at the public comment period. Because Charlottesville Mayor Juan Diego Wade was absent, Vice Mayor Natalie Oshman ran the meeting. She began by thanking those who were about to speak, but offered a reminder of the rules of engagement. We do want to remind folks that this meeting is for residents and neighbors to hear from the city. and to address the city's representatives. Those of us up here on the dais are here for that feedback. Our small D democratic values mean that we welcome commentary on all sorts of subjects and a diverse array of opinions. Ashrin asked those in the audience to refrain from heckling, interrupting, or doing anything to intimidate speakers. The first speaker was Donis Chambers, a resident of the encampment under Free Bridge. He said he has participated in a work group for the public space, but said the service providers have not listened. I was thinking y'all was going to get our ideas, figure out what we need, and built the shelter to support us. But obviously, y'all don't care what we say. Y'all don't care what we think. And y'all just building a shelter just to throw us in there. There's no way all these people is going to be side by side laying on cots in a shelter. That makes no sense at all. Chambers said he will not be going to the emergency shelter. Albemar County resident Andrew Gray said he had two family members who spent their entire adult lives on the street and recalled how neither wanted to stay in a shelter and preferred to live outside when they could. He said the city needs to continue to invest in housing. People say housing issues are complicated. I don't think they are. Human beings have a right to housing. At the same time, the people of Charlottesville have a right to walk through parks without sexual harassment, the businesses have a right to not be stolen from. Our adults and our children have a right to recreation near the river without worrying about environmental hazards like needles. Gray said the forced removal will only be a temporary measure and people will find another place to live outside.

Isis Newman accused the city of lying about their intentions and using the death of an encampment resident to justify the upcoming transition. What the city is doing is disrespecting his death. Imagine that you died and in response, the city evicted all your friends. That is more than I would do to my worst enemy. Do not lie in our faces and tell us that you care. Jennifer Grant, another resident of the encampment, said she would consider the shelter but wouldn't go until she has the answers to several questions. The building is not even up to structure. You can't even give us an idea of what we're going to be sleeping on. You cannot even give us an idea of what is going to be in there. You can't, we don't have anywhere to put our stuff storage wise. And Coughlin, a professor at the University of Virginia, had concerns about what she called the criminalization of the space where people have been living. She said they have due process rights that may be in danger of being violated. Since I'm a lawyer, and I think a lot about optics, I'm not sure that there will be lawsuits brought against you, but you would want to think about what those lawsuits would involve, the amount of resources that they would take, the attention that they would garner, and the way that that would distract us from. the really important thing that we need to do, which is to provide housing. In March 2021, Charlottesville City Council adopted an affordable housing plan as part of the Seville Plans Together initiative. Among the recommendations was that council spend at least $10 million a year on housing programs, a level that has been met and exceeded ever since. In the next story, we'll hear a little bit about how some of that has been spent and will soon be spent.

You're listening to Sharwoodsville Community Engagement for August 8th, 2026. Thank you for listening. There's no more shoutouts, as I said, and I have nothing prepared as I record this little bit of information. I do want to say, though, that thank you so much for listening to the podcast. I really do very much enjoy doing these, even though I'd like to get them out earlier, but it's actually kind of a fun way to spend Saturday morning. Just sitting here trying to figure out, well, what stories have I done? what stories are coming forward. It's a great privilege to be able to do this work, and I just wanted you to know that. And thank those of you, because I know some of you listening are people who are supporting this work, work that I think is important, probably now more than ever, in a world where things like the cap on the number of stations that one corporation can own has been lifted. So the need for independent and different voices is important now more than ever. Thank you to those who are supporting here. Now, let's get more stories in.

Charlottesville City Council's decision on August 3rd to approve $4 million for emergency homeless sheltering and direct-to-housing supports is the latest in a series of steps orchestrated by Charlottesville City Manager Sam Bernie Sanders. Almost three years ago, I stood before council and stated that we need to do two things, set a new standard, and manage expectations as it related to homelessness in our city. And while that in and of itself is not a plan, it was accomplished, it was accompanied by what I refer to as community interventions. That has included the hiring of the block-by-block team to clean the downtown mall on a regular basis, designating a city staff member to serve as downtown strategy manager and renting a bathroom at York Place for a public bathroom. The downtown transit center has also been reopened, and Bernie Sanders said negotiations are underway with the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority to open a permanent public restroom at the building C RHA owns in the 300 block of East Main. The city now pays the Blue Ridge Area Coalition for the homeless $250,000 a year as a fundamental agency, and the city paid for that entity to conduct a point-in-time count in late July. Bernie Sanders said the city has provided a storage space in the parking lot of the Salvation Army on Ridge Street that is used by many to store belongings, and the city has provided bags for both the haven. and the Blue Ridge Coalition for the Homeless to distribute for that purpose. But many have continued asking the city to do more. There have also been complaints about people in an impaired state on the mall. Bernie Sanders said the city is working with Region 10 to find out how to get assistance to more people. Sleeping on the mall was a regular complaint. Ordinance was presented. Council deferred in favor of alternate place so that we could get an opportunity for people to have a place to go. And we've been working diligently on that ever since. Bernie Sanders said 2,000 Holiday Drive was purchased to provide a low barrier shelter. but the community needs more transitional housing and spaces that allow more privacy to individuals. And we do recognize that that congregate shelter is not the preferred option. It is an option for us to have available as soon as we possibly can, and then we can grow from that, and that is the intention. The Salvation Army's Center for Hope is part of the overall solution to add more transitional housing. The entity has plans to expand from 55 beds to 114 beds and double the size of a community dining room to 120 seats. Charlottesville has already contributed $3 million, and council will be asked to allocate another $3 million on August 17th. $7 million was awarded from the state of Virginia through the support of Senator Cree deeds. That money is to be split between the city and the Salvation Army.

The remaining $4 million will go toward transitional housing and is not the same $4 million that is being used for the encampment transition and the outfit of 2000 Holiday Drive in the short term. In all, there are three different groups that will receive some of those funds. They are the Central Arizona Shelter Services. They're going to operate the emergency shelter at 2000 Holiday Drive. The Clutch Consulting Group, they'll provide direct-to-housing services. and a group called Community Solutions. These three partner organizations are working with the city and the continuum of care to broaden our efforts and to fill present gaps to ensure a better opportunity to make homelessness rare, brief, and non-occurring. Bernie Sanders said a scope of work for each is still in development, and he said he hoped that would be complete within 30 days. He said the budget submitted by Cass was $3 million to serve 120 people for a 12-month period. a situation deemed to be the worst-case scenario. In recent years, Charlottesville has experienced large budget surpluses with 21.7 million in fiscal year 23, 22.4 million in fiscal year 24, and 8.5 million in fiscal year 25. The results for fiscal year 26 will become known in December when an audit of the accounts has been completed. Bernie Sanders told counsel there's a balance left of about $16 million in the fund, and about $10 million has been set aside for property acquisitions. He said in the near term, there is a need to move forward with the permanent plan for 2000 Holiday Drive. So the plan is to open a centralized one-stop homeless services center at 2000 Holiday Drive featuring an overnight shelter. eventually a day shelter, comprehensive set of on-site wraparound services, connection to off-site services, transitional housing options for 18 months to 24 months, longer-term stays after we get this facility open and continue efforts to access permanent affordable housing. Bernie Sanders said in the short term there would be a storage space for residents as there's enough room in the building. A building permit has been issued for minor construction work to get it ready for habitation. We're finalizing those details, and that is not being paid for by this $4 million that is being paid for by local philanthropy. City Councilor Michael Payne advanced the concerns of several speakers who appeared during the public comment period. Obviously, one of the other questions we've gotten is about pets. Is it known at this point what the approach would be in terms of how they staff the facility? Bernie Sanders said Cass accepts those with pets and has procedures in place. So we have to look at their procedures to determine how that is done. That has not been a practice here. So we are adding to that benefit. So hopefully we can help individuals who have historically not been able to come inside for that reason. Bernie Sanders said Cass has been in operation since 1984 and operates across the state of Arizona. He said one of their employees had a family connection to Charlottesville and contact with the city was made. And from that, we were able to dig deep into this conversation and we have become satisfied with what we've learned.

We still have questions. It's not to say that it's a done deal. That's why there's no contract being presented tonight. This is just asking for the resources to commit that the invitation was extended. Their board accepted. But what about other places? Albemar County will open up a waiting list for housing vouchers on August 17th, including Vista 29, an 80-unit single-room occupancy facility under construction by the group Support Works Housing. Bernie Sanders said those units are expected to come online at the end of the year, and it's possible some who decide to live temporarily at 2000 Holiday Drive might be able to get a space there. The folks support works has indicated a desire to be on site at Holiday Drive once the doors open so that they can directly do that work, and we have intended to make sure that that is possible for them to do. As for other transitional housing sites, Bernie Sanders said one option is at a location on Levy Avenue that the city purchased from the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority for $4 million in early 2024, using proceeds from the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA. Bernie Sanders said he's hopeful that a way can be found to provide a different kind of transitional housing than currently exists. He described this as a place where rent is held low to provide a mid-step. And the midstep would be a property that is owned that is depressed in costs because it's covered by the city, any other entity, and it makes it possible for the rent that is attainable. The individual can make that rent payment, and they can stay there 18, 24 months while they figure out other things, work with case managers, work through wraparound services, and eventually move into a permanent rental situation. We don't have those units here today. City Councilor Michael Payne pointed out that solutions are going to be expensive, such as Vista 29 costing a little less than $30 million, and that was put together with multiple partnerships. He said the city cannot do it alone and encouraged people in the audience who want to help solve the problem to think like builders. If you're interested in it, On your own, look through property listings in the community, see what's for sale. Look at what would it look like to be able to acquire that site. If there are renovations needed on that site, what is the amount of money and work, volunteer labor that would need to go into renovating it? At one point, the city had approached the Salvation Army about using their thrift store on Cherry Avenue. Bernie Sanders suggested that the city might purchase the property from them in order to help them close out their capital campaign for the Center for Hope. Council voted four to zero to allocate that $4 million. They also voted a second time to waive a second reading. There were only four members of Council present. Mayor Juan Diego Wade was absent.

You're listening to Sharwitzville Community Engagement for August 8th, 2026. I'm really enjoying putting this together for you on this day, August 8th, 2026. I really do appreciate that you're... If you're listening, I'm going to get on soon because I've got some soccer matches, football, if you will, that are on right now. We've got Burnley in West Ham United. Those are two separate teams. They are both playing back in the – you guys don't care about this, do you? Okay, fine. Well, what you care about then is two more stories. They're coming up now. In the early hours of Tuesday, April 21st, the temperature, as recorded at the Sharwitzville-Alabamar Regional Airport, hung below freezing for several hours. The cold snap, as well as two others that month, caused significant damage to newly budded grapes. Ashley Hernandez is business development manager in Albemar County's Office of Economic Development. That major frost caused some significant vineyard damage. to our winery customers. And it's making this year's permitting critical to protect the long-term vine health and productivity of the sector. On July 21st, 26, representatives from the Monticello Wine Trail appeared before the Albemar Economic Development Authority to ask for $20,000 to hire pruning experts Simonet and Search to teach staff at area wineries what to do to repair vines at a three-day intensive workshop to be held this December. Corey Craig Hill of Septuinary Winery said the instruction would not just be about education, but a workforce investment. No matter of how much those bigger small wineries invested in site selection or frost protection measures, pruning is something that we all need to do every single year. And with the freeze event that happened in April, we're looking at a decision-making that is not going to affect just 2027. 227, 28, 29, 30 for the next 30 plus years. Greg Hill said efforts need to be made to repair the damage to what she called one of the worst frost events ever in this region. Sometimes vines can take up to five years to bear fruit. This year, she lost all of her crop. And not only did we lose 100% of our crop, in some areas in our vineyard, we lost 30% of our... permanent structure due to the freeze. And what that means actually is the vine will crack. And when it cracks, it damages the lymphatic system of the structure. And it will, either parts of the plant will die off or the entire system will die off. The Virginia wine industry brings in $1.73 billion a year, according to Tracy Love, the executive director of the Monticello Wine Trail.

Members of her organization are responsible for about 30% of that number. We're the largest vineyard growing area in the state and have the largest population of wineries, driving people here not only for wine experience, but for restaurants and lodging and, you know, all sorts of tourism activities. We have 40-plus wineries and $48.5 million in local tourism tax revenue. The specific classes to be taught by Simonet and search are intended for Virginia's humid climate, which could lead to something called trunk disease. One class would be taught in English and the other in Spanish. Love said a survey revealed wineries would pay up to $200 total for each class, but it costs $1,000 for each. They sought help from the EDA to help subsidize the instruction so each winery could send a representative. It benefits the entire region because if you have 32 people that now know how to prune this way, then they can teach. Craig Hill said the class is intended to teach methods that are different from the way pruning has been done in this area. So they're not afraid to let the vine grow up and up and up as long as they're keeping the cuts as small as possible. So they would teach... the way to make a correct cut in order to limit the trunk limit in order to make the plant the most efficient at closing itself off from trunk disease so looking at the long term and also um improving the efficiency of the plan for the current years ago. Emily Kilroy, Albemarro's Economic Development Director, said the request was brought to the EDA due to the Economic Development Strategic Plan. The EDA Board of Directors voted unanimously to proceed.

This month, the Thomas Jefferson Planning District is taking public comment on a draft solid waste management plan that must be submitted to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality later this year. Part of the draft plan simply describes all of the players involved with trash and refuse disposal. Here's a section from page 18 of the draft. The Rybana Solid Waste Authority provides solid waste and recycling services that support Charlottesville and Alibar County, including regional drop-off recycling, household hazardous waste collection, special waste collection events, transfer operations, and related public information. The RSWA Board of Directors consists of an elected official from each locality as well as city and county utility department heads. The board meets every other month and last gathered on July 28th. They learned from executive director Bill Moyer that volumes are up this year at the Kay Ivey Solid Waste and Recycling Center. The transfer operation at Kay Ivey Solid Waste continues to increase. In comparison to June of 2025, we've added about 50 tons per day in June of 2026, the 23% increase. And we are staying under our daily permit limit of 450 tons. Last month, the RSWA held a groundbreaking facility for a new piece of equipment that will expand the capacity to recycle cardboard in mixed paper. Moyer said the agency processed about 2,300 tons last year, and the new bailing facility will allow that to grow. Not all of those will go through this facility, but a lot of them will, the mixed paper, cardboard, the plastics. And we run those through the two, we'll have two bailing facilities and 11 bays for the trailers to transport the bales away. Phil McAlipps is RSWA's solid waste manager, and he said the bailing facility will give the public more opportunities to recycle. That they include. offering curbside a place to do curbside receipt and act as a recycling transfer station. We could do that in this facility. There's just a whole lot of things that can be done within that. Structure. According to the minutes from the May 26th meeting, the bailing facility had a cost estimate of $6.4 million, but the actual price is closer to $5.8 million. Both Alba Morrow and Sharwitzville contributed to the project. About that solid waste plan, visit the TjPDC website for a link to the draft and how you can add public comment. There's a link at the newsletter.

And that is the end of Sharwitzville Community Engagement for August 8th, 2026. I'm not sure what happened in that last promo. I only have that one sponsor that you heard at the beginning, Panorama Natural Burial. Hey, I guess I could put that here. Thank them again for their support. If you would like the possibility of kicking in a couple bucks to get your name mentioned here and be perhaps an official podcast sponsor, drop me a line at infoceville.com. I'll be happy to speak with you and share with you the media kit or whatever materials you might want to see to take a look at that. Again, thank you very much for listening. That's the end of the program. And it's now time to get on to the rest of the day. More stories next week. Thanks for listening. And goodbye. Okay, can we... Could we begin with the neighborhood gossip? Um, the...