SD Gov. Kristi Noem has a message for Minnesota bar owners being targeted by leftist AG Keith Ellison: Move here. 'We won't shut you down.'



Minnesota's radical left-wing Democratic attorney general continues to go after his state's bar and restaurant owners who dare to violate the governor's COVID-19 edicts prohibiting indoor dining.

So now South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem is encouraging these put-upon business owners to move to her state, vowing that she will not make them close their doors.

What happened?

Late last week, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced lawsuits against two bars that defied Democratic Gov. Tim Walz's order that bars and restaurants may not offer indoor dining services, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. Walz's edict does allow eateries to serve customers outdoors — but with Minnesota's typically bitter winters, most establishments have found that to be an unrealistic option.

Alibi Drinkery in Lakeville knowingly disobeyed the governor's command last week. The bar flouted the ban and served people indoors, and even proclaimed its defiance on Facebook, saying: "OPEN TODAY. COME IN FOR FOOD AND DRINKS!" The attorney general filed a temporary restraining order in an attempt to force Alibi Drinkery closed, but to no avail.

Another bar in Princeton, Neighbors on the Rum, was targeted by Ellison of having 40 to 50 people indoors last week.

On Monday, Ellison announced another three bars were added to his naughty list. From WCCO-TV:

According to Ellison, the lawsuits include St. Patrick's Tavern in New Prague, Pour House in Clarks Grove and The Interchange in Albert Lea.

Ellison says St. Patrick's Tavern had 150 to 200 vehicles in its parking lot on Dec. 18 and witnesses reported the establishment was standing room only, with it “packed inside so tightly that it was difficult to move around inside."

The state also received more than a dozen complaints about Pour House, including a report that the bar was operating at max capacity and no face coverings were being worn by any employee or customer.

The Interchange announced it would be opening for in-door dining on Dec. 15 and also held an indoor concert on Dec. 17. It was served a cease-and-desist order by the Minnesota Department of Health, but the restaurant owner vowed to continue on-side dining, Ellison's office said.

Noem makes an offer

When Gov. Noem heard about the persecution of Minnesota restaurants and bars last week, she made them what was likely a pretty tempting offer: Move to a state that won't force you to close and lose your business — a state like South Dakota.

"Come to South Dakota!" she tweeted in response to the Star Tribune report. "We respect your rights. We won't shut you down."

Come to South Dakota! We respect your rights. We won’t shut you down. https://t.co/FDaRj92Qmu
— Governor Kristi Noem (@Governor Kristi Noem)1608564391.0

California restaurant owner: 'We're in survival mode right now'



Restaurant owners in New York and California continue to suffer under heavy restrictions as lawmakers issue increasingly draconian edicts during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

A report from Fox News highlights the plight of some restaurant owners, who spoke out about their fear of closing business for good.

"We're in survival mode right now. We're just trying to stay afloat right now, we really don't know what to do, said Chef Rodney Worth, who owns the Peasant and Pear in California.

Worth appeared on Fox News Friday for an interview about how his business is coping with California's new lockdown.

"We've done everything they've said to do, and you know, people have spent thousands of dollars on tents, we have outside dining, we have the best sanitizer, we have training," Worth said. But even so, businesses are struggling to earn enough to keep running while the state prohibits indoor dining services.

"We're like dying a death by a thousand cuts right now," he added. On top of it all, Worth said no one among his business associates and fellow restauranteurs has reported anyone in their restaurants contracting COVID.

"We have not had one case of COVID in our restaurants with 55 employees and all the restaurants near us, we haven't heard of any cases of COVID at all."

Watch:


His complaints have been echoed by other business owners fed up with the edicts of local lawmakers. In New York City, where the state has ordered restaurants to close their indoor dining rooms, a massive snowstorm has forced businesses to close their outdoor dining arrangements as well. The result is many of these restaurants aren't serving customers or making money at all.

Melissa Fleischut, president and CEO of the New York State Restaurant Association, said Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo's coronavirus policies have dealt a "huge blow" to the industry.

"This action will inevitably result in massive layoffs and vast closures right before the holidays," Fleischut said. She characterized the closures as "unfair and devastating."

"It will be the last straw for countless more restaurants and jobs," said Andrew Rigie, executive director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance. "The restrictions begin on Monday with zero economic support for small businesses that are already struggling to survive."

On top of it all, city officials have been unclear about what restaurants can and cannot do.

New York local officials on Thursday implemented a new rule preventing outdoor diners from permitting their customers to use indoor restrooms. The backlash from restaurant owners and their customers was so intense, officials were forced to reverse the policy. New York City mayor Bill de Blasio said on Friday the bathroom rule was "a mistake."


NYC mayor: Restaurants need to close, but everyone should ride the subway



New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said that subways are safe and encouraged New Yorkers to use mass transit on the same day he said the city should be ready for a full shutdown after restaurants were ordered to halt indoor dining amid a surge of coronavirus cases.

Speaking at his daily briefing Monday, de Blasio said, "it is important to let people know the subways are safe." Prompted by a reporter, he floated the idea of setting an example by riding the subway himself to show there's nothing to fear, similar to how he plans to publicly take the COVID-19 vaccine, the New York Post reports.

"I like the idea of having a period of time to really emphasize to people that they're safe, by being out there," he said.

Subway ridership dramatically decreased in the first few weeks of the coronavirus pandemic amid fears that being around other people in an indoor cramped space might increase spread of the coronavirus. But studies have shown that public transportation does not pose a significant risk of viral transmission.

"We have found out that the use of mass transit is not a singularly important factor in the transmission of influenza," Mitchell Moss, director of the NYU Rudin Center for Transportation, told Gothamist earlier this month. Moss is one of the authors of a New York University study that examined data from 121 U.S. cities over 10 years and found the number of people who died of influenza did not increase in cities with higher participation in public transit.

The findings were hailed by New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

"This is the latest in a cascade of scientific reporting that shows transit is not a vector for the spread of respiratory diseases, and there has been no serious evidence worldwide connecting transit routes and spread of this virus," said MTA spokesperson Meredith Daniels in a statement.

Though Mayor de Blasio endorsed the city subway system, he also warned Monday that his city should be prepared for another "full shutdown" to slow the spread of coronavirus.

Speaking with CNN's Alisyn Camerota, de Blasio cited growing numbers of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations as cause for concern and the rationale for new coronavirus restrictions.

"We're seeing the kind of level of infection with the coronavirus we haven't seen since May, and we have got to stop that momentum — or else, our hospital system will be threatened," the mayor said.

The mayor's comments raise the question: If the whole city needs to shut down, who will ride the subway?

California HHS secretary admits bans on outdoor dining aren't based on evidence of danger



As business anxiety mounts over renewed coronavirus lockdowns in several states, California's secretary of Health and Human Services made a stunning admission this week that will do little to assuage the concerns of those who say the restrictions go too far.

Delivering an update on COVID-19 in California Tuesday, state HHS Secretary Mark Ghaly admitted that policies banning restaurants from hosting outdoor dining are not based on evidence that suggests dining outdoors is unsafe. The policy, Reason reported, is actually about incentivizing people to stay home and is "not a comment on the relative safety of outdoor dining," Ghaly said.

"The decision to include, among other sectors, outdoor dining and limiting that, turning to restaurants to deliver and provide takeout options instead, really has to do with the goal of trying to keep people at home," he explained.

Previously, Ghaly said, "We have worked hard with that industry to create safer ways for outdoor dining to happen."

The state encouraged restaurants to adopt precautions such as "keeping tables farther apart," or "ensuring masking happens as much as possible" to limit the risk of viral transmission.

"All of those factors make sectors like outdoor dining lower risk," Ghaly continued. "But right now, with the levels of transmission that we're seeing, we advise against anything that you can do in another way, in a lower-risk way, that avoids you either leaving your home or…leaving your home in a way that…cause[s] you to mix with others."

Last week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a new regional stay-at-home order that separates the state into five regions and goes into effect in a given region when remaining hospital ICU capacity there drops below 15%. In addition to mandating that people stay home and limiting the size of private and public gatherings, the state ordered some "nonessential" businesses to close and mandated that restaurants only serve takeout or delivery. Indoor and outdoor dining is banned in the state, ostensibly to reduce the spread of coronavirus.

But lockdown policies have real consequences for business owners and their employees who are told by the state they are not allowed to provide their services. A recent survey conducted by the National Restaurant Association found that since the COVID-19 pandemic began, one in six restaurants nationwide has been forced to close permanently.

Unemployment, obviously, has skyrocketed since the pandemic began. Some 1.3 million Americans will owe a collective $7.2 billion in unpaid rent by the end of this year. Millions of Americans face economic hardship this season, and business owners in California and other states imposing lockdowns are speaking out because it's not fair.

One woman who owns a restaurant in Los Angeles posted a video that went viral in early December in which she tearfully expressed her outrage that the state told her she could not serve customers outdoors but local officials permitted a TV production to ignore the restrictions and serve outdoor catering. Another California business owner recently complained to Fox News that California's restrictions have a "trickle-down effect" — if some businesses are forced to close because the state says they cannot serve customers, other service providers who rely on those businesses as clients also suffer and may be forced close too.

Some fed-up restauranteurs have begun challenging the state in court, with initial success. A judge on Tuesday ruled that Los Angeles County had acted "arbitrarily" in imposing a ban on outdoor dining without conducting a proper "risk-benefit" analysis beforehand. However, these local restrictions were superseded by Newsom's statewide order, which has not yet been successfully challenged in court.

Elsewhere in the country there are those who have chosen to outright defy government mandates that order them to close. The owners of Atilis Gym in Bellmawr, New Jersey, have kept their facility open despite the government fining them $15,497.76 for every day they do so. Gym co-owner Frank Trumbetti argues that he shouldn't have to close his business if he adopts safety protocols that enforce proper social distancing to keep his customers safe. He says that after 83,000 visits to his facility, not one case of COVID-19 has been traced back to Atilis Gym. His complaint is that the government is not providing sufficient evidence to show why ordering businesses to close will be effective at reducing the spread of the virus.

It's a complaint echoed by Barstool Sports president Dave Portnoy who blasted New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for ordering New York City restaurants to cease indoor dining in a viral video posted Friday.

"In this country, politicians are taking away to the right to earn a living. It's that simple and it's insanity," Portnoy asserted.

'It's insanity!' Barstool Sports President Dave Portnoy says Cuomo and other politicians are stealing your right to earn a living



Barstool Sports President Dave Portnoy blasted New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo's decision to close New York City's restaurants in a video rant that has gone viral.

Cuomo announced Friday that New York City restaurants will be ordered to close indoor dining services Monday as the city battles surging coronavirus cases. Restaurants are permitted to provide takeout, delivery, and host outdoor dining, though the approaching winter weather could make dining outside unattractive.

In a video posted to social media, Portnoy accused Cuomo and other politicians of stealing Americans' right to earn a living.

Politicians Are Stealing the Basic Right To Earn A Living https://t.co/9Yx9Vf1iP1
— Dave Portnoy (@Dave Portnoy)1607708788.0

"New York City just closed indoor dining. What do they think is going to happen? What do they think is going to happen to thousands of restaurants — they're done!" Portnoy exclaimed.

"The bar and restaurant industry and small businesses have been squeezed and squeezed and squeezed, and they've tried everything. They've been as creative as possible!"

Noting how bars and restaurants have adopted social distancing protocols, changed seating arrangements, and built plexiglass and other barriers to continue to serve customers during the pandemic, Portnoy lamented that the despite these efforts the government is ordering businesses to stop serving customers.

"How do you expect these people to survive? What are people going to go out to dinner now in ice cold temperatures? It's insanity!" he said.

"Listen, the vaccine is right around the corner. If you're health-impaired, you're afraid of it, you're old, don't go out. Stay inside for three months, the vaccine is coming. But let people decide!" he continued.

"I can't believe in this country, what I consider the most basic right of them all — the right to earn a living, the right to earn a livelihood — is now being stolen, it is being stolen by a few politicians who believe they are smarter than me and you. They believe they have the right to tell me and you how to live our lives," Portnoy said. "They're saying they're protecting us, let us protect ourselves. You're not protecting a family that you just destroyed. These people aren't getting their livelihoods back."

He also criticized the lack of uniformity in the coronavirus restrictions, noting how they vary from state to state or even from county to county. He also suggested that telling restaurants to close won't deter people from going out.

"If somebody wants to go out, where do you think they're going? House parties!" he said. "It doesn't even make sense ... the people who will be going to these restaurants are still going out, I promise you. All you're doing is ruining thousands and thousands and thousands of lives."

"In this country, politicians are taking away to the right to earn a living. It's that simple and it's insanity," Portnoy stated.