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Kentucky Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) on Wednesday issued an emergency license suspension for a cafe after refusing to close for violating COVID-19 restrictions.
Lexington Brewed Cafe was ordered to close on Tuesday, but still opened on Wednesday, serving dozens of customers. Owner Andrew Cooperrider said on Tuesday he would not be shutting down domestic service Lexington Herald Leader reported.
Cooperrider is an official with the Kentucky Libertarian Party and posted on his Facebook page that he refused to comply with new restrictions ordered by Gov. Andy Beshear (D) last week.
Beshear issued sweeping new restrictions last week saying, “Inaction is deadly.” Its new restrictions ended in-person learning, banned indoor service at restaurants and bars, and limited the capacity of gyms, weddings and offices.
“Pretending that this virus is not real is not an option,” Beshear said. “It’s time to do what it takes to end this fight.”
Beshear said most restaurants and bars have complied with the order, which went into effect on November 20. For companies defying orders, Beshear said they could lose their liquor license and be fined up to $ 100 by the health department.
Customers are said to have invaded the cafe on Wednesday, some explicitly coming out “because they are fighting” against the governor’s orders.
The newspaper spoke to several of those customers, with a truck driver named Christie Coleman saying, “There’s no reason to shut everything down.” Coleman told the newspaper that she had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and had visited several restaurants everywhere she went.
On his Facebook page, Cooperrider wrote: “Andy doesn’t say beer anymore. ABC has withdrawn the license. It was planned. We didn’t even order beer this week.
Despite the combative reaction from some owners, Beshear made arrangements for such ventures. When announcing the restrictions, he also announced a $ 40 million fund to help restaurants and bars affected by the closures. Businesses may be eligible for assistance of up to $ 20,000 if they have more than one location.
According to recent data, almost all of Kentucky’s counties are in the “red” zone, which means they have reported more than 25 cases per 100,000 population in the past 7 days. Bluegrass State has so far reported 162,838 cases and 1,809 deaths according to CDC data. On November 20, it reported 3,816 cases, the highest number ever recorded in a single day.
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