Tag: cooking classes

Virginia restaurant refuses service to conservative advocacy group

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RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A Virginia-based conservative Christian advocacy group was turned away from a local restaurant just an hour before their reservation last week.

A representative of the Family Foundation said he was frustrated after the group was turned away from Metzger Bar and Butchery last Wednesday. The group claims the refusal had to do with their religious beliefs.

According to Todd Gathje, Director of Government Relations for the Family Foundation, one of the owners of Metzger called a representative of the Family Foundation about an hour before the reservation time, saying that the group would not be dining in the restaurant.

“We’ve had events at restaurants all over the city and have never encountered a situation like this,” Gathje said. “It’s no secret that we are very much involved in the public policy debate on a number of controversial issues. But we never expected that we would be denied service at a restaurant based on our religious values ​​or political beliefs.”

For businesses like restaurants, federal and state laws do not allow discrimination based on protected classes such as race, religion, sex and more, as defined by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

It’s not yet clear if this incident falls under one of those protected classes.

In a Facebook post the following day, Metzger wrote that the restaurant has “very rarely refused service to anyone who wished to dine with us.”

Facebook post by Metzger on Thursday explaining their refusal to serve the Family Foundation.

However, the restaurant added, “We have always refused service to anyone for making our staff feel uncomfortable and unsafe and this was the driving force behind our decision.”

The restaurant noted that many staff members were LGBTQ or women and that it believed the Family Foundation “seeks to deprive women and LGBTQ+ persons of their basic rights in Virginia.”

Gathje has previously written for the Family Foundation about a stalled effort in 2021 to remove an unenforceable provision of the Virginia Constitution — invalidated by the US Supreme Court in 2015 — that defines marriage as between one man and one woman, saying that removing it would be open the door to “polygamous, incestuous, kinship or even child marriages.”

Gathje said he thought it was unfair of the restaurant to deny service over the group’s religious beliefs.

“It was a very intolerant message being conveyed,” Gathje said.

The Family Foundation says it is open to the possibility of a sit down so that something like this will never happen again.

“We would welcome an opportunity to have a discussion with them,” Gathje said. “Meet with them in a private setting where you can have a heart-to-heart about some of the issues.”

8 News reached out to Metzger Bar and Butchery for an interview before publication and did not receive a response.

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Metro State students, pilots and volunteers airlift food, toys and supplies for veterans and their families

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Metro State University students, pilots and volunteers loaded food, toys and supplies into more than two dozen aircraft at the Centennial Airport on Sunday.

It was all part of the annual VFW Charity Airlift.

Mitchell Johnson is on the Metro State flight team, and he’s volunteering his time, aircraft, and fuel costs to help deliver much-needed relief to veterans and their families.

“I think we have about seven thousand pounds of food and supplies going out today,” said Johnson. “So, we’re all very excited to come out and get to both, kind of mashing our hobby and our passion for aviation, with being able to help people throughout the holidays.”

For 12 years, the VFW Charity Airlift has worked with the Colorado Aviation Business Association and Metro State’s Precision and Aerobatics flight teams to make the event happen. And this isn’t just any donation drop, its focus is getting to those people in rural communities, which many times are hard to reach.

“We get so many donations here within the metro area, but our rural communities are really underserved, so we found a way as pilots, one that we can give back to our community, by collecting donations here in the metro area, and then providing them,” said Chris Swathwood, with CABA. “That’s really what we want our students to see, not only is it the career and future but aviation can be used in such a positive way to really help support our country and our community.”

Sunday’s special flight is taking Johnson to Pueblo, and he’s hoping his kindness and the kindness of others will go far beyond.

“Do your part, and as a whole, you can make a difference,” he said.

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Columbus considers changing food trucks, cart hours

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Columbus food cart and truck owners are unhappy about proposed legislation being considered by the city which, if approved, would change the hours mobile food vendors can operate.

Police and city leaders said the change was about safety, but food cart owners said they were not the problem.

“Because of a small population of people making poor choices and choosing to handle themselves poorly, the city has chosen to shift blame on parties that really do come in peace,” said Adam Wallace, owner of Adam’s Eden and Feed the Need LLC.

The proposed legislation would largely affect the food carts that operate in the Short North. On Tuesday, the city held its second public hearing on the topic, with at least one more planned.

“This is life-changing. The cost of the equipment, the whole business would be worthless if they approved this legislation to close at 2 am,” Wallace said.

Wallace owns two food trucks and four food carts. The carts can be found in the Short North on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. Right now, mobile food vendors need to be closed by 3 am The proposed legislation being considered by the city would change that to 2 am

“I think there’s more to the discussion,” said Columbus Council member Emmanuel Remy, who chairs the council’s Public Safety Committee. “This isn’t the final hour we’re going to consider at this point. We need to look at other things, what the safety plan is for the area, certainly what type of limitations we put on where they can operate, those types of things beyond just what an hour is established at.”

City leaders say it’s a safety issue. According to Remy, one of the biggest problems is when bars close, large groups gather outside, sometimes leading to violence. Remy and Columbus Police Deputy Chief Smith Weir said the proposal would help cut down on the congregating.

“Food carts and violence do not go hand in hand and decades of peaceful operation cannot be overlooked or undone by the actions of a few,” Wallace said.

According to Wallace and other food cart owners, if they lose the hour, they’d lose 80 percent of their business, adding the proposed legislation unfairly targets them.

“We’re not trying to hurt people’s business, but we certainly want to make sure we’re creating a safety plan that works best for an area like the Short North,” Remy said.

Six community members spoke at Tuesday’s public hearing: three in favor of the legislation and three, including Wallace, against it.

Remy said the earliest a vote would take place on the proposed change is late January.

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