C&C Coffee and Kitchen, a restaurant in Castle Rock, Colorado, ignored statewide orders to remain closed and welcomed customers for Mother's Day. The restaurant, not only filled it's indoor and outdoor seating area, but had a line of customers going out of the door.
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"We are standing for America, small businesses, the Constitution and against the overreach of our governor in Colorado!!," the restaurant wrote on Twitter.
Pictures from the restaurant show massive crowds, clearly violating the social distance protocol.
The Tri-County Health Department released a statement about the restaurant's decision to open, Sunday:
We are disappointed that [C&C] has decided to ignore the Governor’s Safer at Home order and open up today with no attention to social distancing. This decision runs the risk of undermining the impact that other Douglas County businesses and residents have achieved over the last seven weeks by taking various social distancing measures. As the entity charged with enforcing the Governor’s statewide Safer at Home Public Health Order, we will follow up with this restaurant to ensure that they, like other restaurants in the county, take appropriate steps to protect the public health, by limiting service to curbside and take-out service.
Previously, authorities have said that businesses who violate the closure order will be subject to having their licenses revoked.
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Brandy More "Open" To "Verzuz" Battle Than Monica, But Still Hesitant
While Brandy says she’s “open” to doing a “Verzuz” battle unlike Monica, she’s still hesitant about the “nerve-racking” prospect of going hit-for-hit.
Although Brandy may be “open” to a “Verzuz” battle against Monica, she’s still not thrilled about the idea of going hit-for-hit. Timbaland and Swizz Beatz‘s “Verzuz” series has been a hallmark of quarantine entertainment thus far, providing music fans with tons of joy and comfort while they’re stuck at home. It was recently announced that Jill Scott and Erykah Badu would be the first set of female participants to go head-to-head a “Verzuz” battle, but two other ladies that have been brought up frequently as worthy potential opponents are R&B It girls, Brandy and Monica. The two songstresses rose to prominence around the same time in the 90s and early 2000s, and while there were rumours of their animosity towards one another ever since they recorded their breakout hit, “The Boy Is Mine,” they seem to be on good terms these days.
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On Friday (May 1st), Brandy sat down for a a virtual interview with Essence over Facebook to discuss her brand new single, “Baby Mama,” with Chance The Rapper. During the video chat, she was asked if she’d be interested in participating in a “Verzuz” battle in general (12:35), but she didn’t seem too certain about it.
“I really can’t see myself doing that,” Brandy confessed. “I mean, I’m open to it, but I haven’t really thought about it.” She then notes that the interviewer is “the second person that’s mentioned that to me,” before calling the prospect of a hit battle, “nerve-racking.” The obvious opponent of Monica is then suggested, to which she says, “Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t know.” However, she goes on to say, “I’m open. I’m open for sure. I’m open. I’m not closed-minded.”
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Monica, however, was much less willing to consider participating in a battle with Brandy, saying that she “doubts” it would ever happen. Although she thinks the concept of “Verzuz” is “an incredible idea” and appreciates the fact that it’s turned into “a celebration” of artists’ vast catalogues, she’s not jumping at the prospect of doing a face-off with Brandy, since the two of them have been pitted against each other their whole careers. “The reality is, people have put us against each other for 20-something years,” Monica said, despite the fact that, as she puts it, they’re “polar opposites.” However, she’d be interested in a more celebratory type of affair, rather than one of a competitive nature.
Boston GameStop Tells Employees To Wear Plastic Bags To Stay Open
A GameStop in Boston attempted to remain open by having employees wear plastic bags on their hands.
GameStop is continuing to try to stay open, while non-essential businesses are being told to close their doors. In Boston, employees were told to wrap their hands in plastic bags in order to remain open.
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Boston Globe reporter Katie Johnston broke the story. She detailed how a store manager explained the process to employees:
“Workers have been told to wrap a plastic bag around one hand to protect it from exposure to the virus, open the door a crack, and take the customer’s credit card, the manager said. Employees are then to run the card with a hand still encased in the bag, flip the bag inside out, leaving the card inside, put the purchase in the bag, and hand it back through the door.”
On a national level, GameStop’s fight to be considered an “essential business” has been met with backlash. The company eventually said it would close it doors on March 22.
“We have been steadfast in our adherence to CDC-guided safety and local government orders for retailers in each of our communities. As millions of Americans look to GameStop to adjust to their new normal of increased time at home, for work, learning and play, we have implemented practices to help ensure the safety and health of our employees, customers and partners,” George Sherman, chief executive officer of GameStop, said in the press release.
“We believe it is prudent to institute further safety protocols while meeting this increased demand through curbside pick-up. As such, stores that remain in operation will provide only pick-up at the door or delivery to home activities to further protect our employees and customers.”
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Strip Club In L.A. Refuses To Close, Checks For Fever At The Door
A strip club in L.A. refused to close its doors and was checking patrons' temperatures at the door.
Bliss Showgirls, a strip club in Southern California, has been closed down after allegedly violating COVID-19-related closure orders.
An Instagram post from the club, earlier this week, said the establishment would remain open: "Attention, Bliss Showgirls will be open. Want to stay away from corona, we got 10 min, 15 min, and 25 min quarantines with your favorite showgirl."
The club's owner told Fox 11 that Bliss Showgirls is closed: "We are taking the safety of our employees and customers very serious. I closed my doors Thursday after hearing about the shutdown," he said. "Had security outside the club for a few nights after my Instagram account got hacked the next morning with invites being sent out which was through a dancer who used to run the page who got fired months ago."
However, undercover reporters from Fox 11 found that the club was open and bouncers were checking patrons' temperatures at the door. When presented with this information, the owner responded, "You can lose my number, cause I have no further comment."
LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva tells Fox 11 that his department has come across numerous businesses attempting to stay open:
"We’ve received complaints on particular businesses that have not been adhering to social distancing. Chief among them have been gun shops, night clubs, bars, and strip clubs, so we’ve fanned out and we’re making sure these businesses are complying."
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Lizzo Is "Open" To Having Kids Despite Past Reservations
Lizzo revealed that she is open to the idea of starting a family one day, despite never seeing a future for herself as a mother before.
Lizzo has confessed that she can now see herself starting a family someday, despite feeling differently about the future before. The Grammy-winning artist spoke to The Sunday Times recently about her current feelings toward her relationships with others and the possibility of having children. “It’s different now,” she revealed. “Like my relationship with my family, I’m working on that. I open myself up to friendships. I open myself up to the idea of children, which is big for me, because my albums are my babies.” Though she may feel this way today, she hasn’t always. There was once a time where Lizzo truly believed she would have “no children” and “only two friends.”
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The singer has previously opened up about how crucial her painful experiences were in molding her into the person she is today. “As f*cked up as it sounds, I needed that heartbreak experience,” she told Rolling Stone back in January. “I’m not sad, because I use the pain so constructively. The pain is human experience.” While there are no promises to get started on building a family anytime soon, it looks like we may be seeing a baby Lizzo running around in the future. Hopefully her kids will inherit her musical abilities, because they’ve got some big career shoes to fill.
Nicki Minaj’s Sex Offender Husband’s Charges Dropped By D.A.
Nicki Minaj’s husband Kenneth Petty’s sex offender registration charges were dropped by the L.A. D.A.’s office, but only due to the federal case against him.
The charges against Nicki Minaj‘s husband Kenneth Petty for failing to register as a sex offender in California have been dropped by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office, but only because there is now a federal case against him for similar charges. According to The Blast, a hearing was held in L.A. court on Friday, where prosecutors told the judge that they were dropping the local charges against him.
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Kenneth was charged in Beverly Hills back in November after he was pulled over by police and they discovered that he had never registered as a sex offender upon moving to California. Since it is against the law to move states or change addresses without reporting the move to the sex offender registry within an allotted amount of time, he was arrested by the Los Angeles District Attorney and ultimately released on a $20,000 bond.
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While these charges have now been dropped, it’s only because there’s a more pressing case against him. Kenneth was indicted by the Federal Government this week, after still failing to register in California. He turned himself in and was arrested on a $100,000 bond. Now that there’s a federal case against Kenneth, the D.A.’s office decided to drop the charges against him. “The case was dismissed today because he is facing a similar charge in federal court,” a rep for the D.A’s office explained. Kenneth is facing up to 10 years behind bars if convicted on a federal level, but, according to The Blast, his lawyers may be under the belief that he could knock some time off if he manages to convince the judge in federal court that he didn’t explicitly intend to avoid registering after moving to Los Angeles. Upon his recent arrest, he was forced to hand over his passport and will be required to wear an ankle monitor upon his release.
Kenneth is required to register as a sex offender in the first place due to his conviction in 1995 for first-degree attempted rape. He served almost four years in New York federal prison for the crime. Nicki has been ridiculed for her association with him ever since she went public with their relationship, and she’s been on the receiving end of even more criticism since the news broke of his indictment.
