GoFundMe pulls campaign meant to cover legal fees for mask-defiant Blue Springs cafe
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Rae’s Cafe vs mask mandate
Jackson County Health Department officials have issued an order to close a Blue Springs cafe that has been ignoring the county’s mask requirement. The owner of the restaurant has said she will not follow the rule.
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An online fundraising site pulled a page raising money for Rae’s Cafe in Blue Springs and returned all contributions to donors over the weekend.
Rae’s Cafe was cited for violating Jackson County’s mask mandate and is set to appear in court. The page had been established to raise legal expenses. It had generated nearly $5,000 of its $15,000 goal by Friday afternoon.
The fundraiser violated the GoFundMe terms of service, said Olivia Kealey, a spokesperson for the site.
Kealey didn’t specify which terms had been violated, but provided a link to the site’s full terms of service.
Under the first term, however, users agree not to use the site to raise funds or establish or contribute to any campaign with the implicit or explicit purpose of or involving “the violation of any law, regulation, industry requirement or third-party guidelines or agreements by which they are bound.”
The cafe in a strip center on Missouri 7 highway in Blue Springs has for weeks defied Jackson County’s mask order and orders for it to shut down.
A court hearing scheduled for Wednesday morning was canceled after the attorney for the cafe and its owner, Amanda Wohletz, requested and were granted a new judge. The hearing was concerning a temporary restraining order barring the cafe, which is still open, from operating.
Jackson County officials filed a lawsuit last week seeking a court order to close the cafe, accusing its owner of “endangering the health, safety and welfare of the community.”
County officials were granted a temporary restraining order on Friday that prevented Wohletz from operating Rae’s Cafe. That order was modified on Monday with the exception that cafe could be operated as permitted by the county’s health order.
The order specifically noted that the health order “exempts facial coverings or mask requirement tor persons who have disabilities where face coverings or masks constitute a substantial impairment to their health and well-being based upon medical direction.”
Jackson County first reinstated the mask order in early August to help control the spread of the highly-contagious delta variant, which caused cases and hospitalizations to soar. Extension of the order was approved by county leaders on Aug. 30.
Rae’s Cafe refused to follow the mandate, the county contends.
After receiving multiple complaints, health officials issued a warning and two tickets along with a notice that if the restaurant and its owner didn’t comply with the health order, the restaurant’s food establishment permit would be revoked.
When the health department received additional complaints, officials posted a sign on the restaurant’s door on Sept. 3 stating that the they closed the cafe for not following the mandate and “causing a significant threat to the health and safety of patrons.”
The county also revoked its food permit.
Despite being ordered to close immediately, Wohletz kept the cafe open. She told The Star that they were complying with the mask mandate because she and her staff were medically exempt.
She did not elaborate on what would qualify the entire staff to be exempt.
In a bid to remain open, Wohletz said Rae’s Cafe no longer was a public restaurant, but rather it was a private club that required patrons to sign a ledger and pay a $1 fee to enter. County leaders maintain that is an illegitimate attempt to circumvent the rules.
Last week, the Jackson County Health Department issued another order for the restaurant to close, saying it posed an “imminent health hazard.”
Wohletz, however, continued to defy the orders to close and kept her restaurant open, leading to the court proceedings.
Meanwhile, the cafe continues to serve customers. The cafe reopened on Tuesday touting a pork chop and eggs special, according to its Facebook page. It also posted a special for Wednesday.
This story was originally published September 15, 2021 at 3:01 PM.
