{"id":2458531,"date":"2020-05-17T10:48:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-17T16:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/shooters-restaurant-license-suspended-ahead-of-court-hearing\/"},"modified":"2020-05-17T10:48:00","modified_gmt":"2020-05-17T16:48:00","slug":"shooters-restaurant-license-suspended-ahead-of-court-hearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/shooters-restaurant-license-suspended-ahead-of-court-hearing\/","title":{"rendered":"Shooters\u2019 restaurant license suspended ahead of court hearing"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.797552836485\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-325836-946\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled gallery-container\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-3-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-3-1024x660.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kyle Mills \/ Post Independent | Matthew Palomvi talks with mother Sandra, who is visiting from Minnesota, after they had breakfast Thursday morning at Shooter Grill in Rifle. In defiance of a cease and desist order Shooter\u2019s owner Lauren Boebert opened her business to customers outside of her Third Street business Thursday.\" class=\"swift-gallery-slide h-100\" readability=\"0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"12\">\n<p><strong>Matthew Palomvi talks with mother Sandra, who is visiting from Minnesota, after they had breakfast Thursday morning at Shooter Grill in Rifle. In defiance of a cease and desist order Shooter\u2019s owner Lauren Boebert opened her business to customers outside of her Third Street business Thursday.<\/strong><br \/>Kyle Mills \/ Post Independent<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-3-1024x660.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Matthew Palomvi talks with mother Sandra, who is visiting from Minnesota, after they had breakfast Thursday morning at Shooter Grill in Rifle. In defiance of a cease and desist order Shooter\u2019s owner Lauren Boebert opened her business to customers outside of her Third Street business Thursday.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-3-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-3-1-1024x782.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kyle Mills \/ Post Independent | Lauren Boebert, owner of Shooters Grill in Rifle, checks on a few of her customers Thursday morning. After opening her restaurant last week to dine-in customers, Boebert was issued a cease and desist order Tuesday, which was followed by a court-issued temporary restraining order Wednesday.\" class=\"swift-gallery-slide h-100\" readability=\"1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"14\">\n<p><strong>Lauren Boebert, owner of Shooters Grill in Rifle, checks on a few of her customers Thursday morning. After opening her restaurant last week to dine-in customers, Boebert was issued a cease and desist order Tuesday, which was followed by a court-issued temporary restraining order Wednesday.<\/strong><br \/>Kyle Mills \/ Post Independent<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-3-1-1024x782.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Lauren Boebert, owner of Shooters Grill in Rifle, checks on a few of her customers Thursday morning. After opening her restaurant last week to dine-in customers, Boebert was issued a cease and desist order Tuesday, which was followed by a court-issued temporary restraining order Wednesday.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-3-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-3-2-1024x687.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kyle Mills \/ Post Independent | In defiance of a cease and desist order and temporary court-issued restraining order Shooters Grill in Rifle was open for business Thursday, serving customers outside the Third Street restaurant.\" class=\"swift-gallery-slide h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>In defiance of a cease and desist order and temporary court-issued restraining order Shooters Grill in Rifle was open for business Thursday, serving customers outside the Third Street restaurant.<\/strong><br \/>Kyle Mills \/ Post Independent<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/Shooters-gpi-051520-3-2-1024x687.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"In defiance of a cease and desist order and temporary court-issued restraining order Shooters Grill in Rifle was open for business Thursday, serving customers outside the Third Street restaurant.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/shooters-restaurant-license-suspended-ahead-of-court-hearing\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/shooters-restaurant-license-suspended-ahead-of-court-hearing\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Garfield County Public Health on Friday suspended the food service license of Shooters Grill in Rifle, after the restaurant continued to serve customers on site in defiance of state public health orders and against a court injunction issued earlier in the week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">As a result of the 30-day suspension, owner Lauren Boebert now faces the likelihood of not being able to reopen to full service when other county restaurants do later this month, even if a variance that was submitted to state health officials on Friday is approved.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe license suspension was necessary because a restaurant that is open for on-premises consumption currently creates an imminent health hazard as defined by Colorado\u2019s Food Protection Act,\u201d County Health said in a statement issued Saturday evening. \u201cThe license suspension is independent of the public health order violations also facing the establishment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Boebert is due in court in Glenwood Springs at 9 a.m. today where County Health is seeking a preliminary injunction. District Judge Anne Norrdin last Wednesday issued a temporary restraining order requiring Boebert to comply with the state and county health orders.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\" readability=\"6\">\n<div class=\"row at-donation at-donation-mobile p-0\" readability=\"7\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\" onclick=\"handleDonationButtonClickMidArticle()\">Donate<\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The hearing will consider extending the restraining order for as long as the current public health orders remain in effect, which are now set to expire at midnight May 26.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe court may also consider whether Ms. Boebert is in contempt of a lawful court order,\u201d according to the county\u2019s press statement. \u201cUnfortunately, now that the restaurant license has been suspended, Shooters Grill will likely remain closed even after other Garfield County restaurants are allowed to open.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In a video posted to her \u201cLauren Boebert for Congress\u201d Facebook page shortly after the suspension was served, Boebert said she would comply and not continue serving food through the weekend.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI said I was taking this day by day \u2026 so, I\u2019m not serving food until I meet with them on Monday morning,\u201d Boebert said in the video.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In her post, she calls out Gov. Jared Polis, whose statewide executive order limits restaurants to curbside take-out and delivery service only during the state\u2019s public health response aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cYour policies are literally bankrupting small businesses like mine that are trying their very best to responsibly stay afloat,\u201d Boebert wrote. \u201cThis has to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In protest of the orders, Boebert began serving customers inside her restaurant last weekend. She told county commissioners May 11 that she was following CDC guidelines, including social distancing between customer tables, requiring wait staff to wear face coverings, and limiting her dining-in capacity to 30%.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Boebert was first issued a cease and desist order May 12. The court order came the next day after Boebert continued to operate, and on Thursday and Friday last week she had moved her table service outside on the sidewalk and street parking area.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">On Friday, Garfield County commissioners forwarded a formal request to Polis and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment seeking a variance from the state health orders to reopen restaurants and other businesses sooner.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">It asks that restaurants, fitness facilities\/gyms and churches be allowed to reopen at 50% capacity ahead of May 27 when the governor\u2019s executive order is slated to be lifted. Larger tourist businesses would be limited to 30% capacity under the county\u2019s early opening request. A decision by the state is not expected until later this week, at least.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">One other Rifle restaurant operator, Rasa Higens, who owns Brickhouse Pizza on Third Street a few doors down from Shooters, said she worries that Boebert\u2019s \u201cmartyrdom\u201d could negatively impact the county\u2019s efforts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In a letter to the editor sent to the Post Independent, Higens said, \u201cWaiting patiently to open is our part in fighting covid 19. It is our way and sacrifice in this action that we show our support for all the medical community has done, for which we are grateful.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe want to open, however we do not feel the need to fight local government,\u201d her letter reads in part, continuing, \u201cwe are actively planning to open after the health department gives us the go and we are using our time to brainstorm a healthy way to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Higens added in a followup interview Saturday that she\u2019s \u201ca lot like\u201d Boebert in her beliefs, but she chooses to take a different tact in the current situation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI\u2019m a Christian, I\u2019m a Trump supporter, I believe in open carry,\u201d she said. \u201cBut we don\u2019t want to go about this in a way that\u2019s going to take us longer to open.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Boebert is a Republican candidate for Congress in Colorado\u2019s 3rd District running against incumbent Rep. Scott Tipton (R-Colo.) in next month\u2019s primary.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:jstroud@postindependent.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">jstroud@postindependent.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/shooters-restaurant-license-suspended-ahead-of-court-hearing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Matthew Palomvi talks with mother Sandra, who is visiting from Minnesota, after they had breakfast Thursday morning at Shooter Grill in Rifle. In defiance of a cease and desist order Shooter\u2019s owner Lauren Boebert opened her business to customers outside of her Third Street business Thursday.Kyle Mills \/ Post Independent Lauren Boebert, owner of Shooters [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2458531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-17 15:29:20","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2458531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458531\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2458531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2458531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2458531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}