■ A court blocked an order that let San Diego County eateries resume indoor and outdoor service.
California appeals court overrules judge who allowed restaurants to reopen
SAN DIEGO — A California appeals court on Friday blocked a judge’s order allowing San Diego County restaurants to resume indoor and outdoor dining, keeping Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home edict in full effect.
A three-judge panel’s brief order gave no explanation and came almost immediately after the state asked for emergency intervention. Two strip clubs were given until Wednesday to ask the appeals court to reconsider.
The decision came only two days after a judge authorized all restaurants in the county of more than 3 million people to reopen on their own terms. It marked the biggest victory yet for opponents of California’s public health orders but proved short-lived.
The state on Friday asked the appeals court to immediately step in, saying the scope of the judge’s order far exceeded what the strip clubs sought when they sued in October. Lawyers said the state health care system was “on the brink of collapse” with no intensive-care beds available in Southern California.
Jason Saccuzzo, a lawyer for Pacers Showgirls International, said he was disappointed and would continue fighting California’s “illogical and unconstitutional orders.” The clubs — Pacers and Cheetahs Gentlemen’s Club — will ask the appeals court early next week to reconsider.
Sacuzzo said he was given no opportunity to address the appeals court and told Pacers’ staff that the club would immediately close.
“This is a huge blow to them right before Christmas, as well as for all restaurants in San Diego, in what has already been a very tight year for them financially given all the uncertainty caused by the ever changing orders of Governor Newsom,” he wrote in an email.
Amid the rapid-fire developments, San Diego County reported a record 3,611 new confirmed cases Friday.
California registered 300 coronavirus deaths and more than 41,000 cases Friday after a record 379 deaths and more than 52,000 cases Thursday.
Only hours earlier, eggs, waffles and burritos flew out of the kitchen at The Old Townhouse, a 45-yearold institution in San Diego’s Ocean Beach neighborhood that immediately resumed indoor dining when the judge cleared the way for restaurants to reopen.
Other eateries in the neighborhood known for its laid-back surfer vibe remain closed, illustrating the difficult choice faced restaurants as they weigh whether to reopen amid the legal uncertainty.
In other developments:
■ Michigan lifted a ban on in-person instruction at high schools and said movie theaters and other entertainment venues can reopen with capacity restrictions following a decline in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations.
■ South Carolina first lady Peggy Mcmaster tested positive for the coronavirus. The governor’s office announced that the 73-year-old Mcmaster took a “precautionary, routine test” Thursday and learned Friday morning the results were positive. Officials said she was not experiencing any symptoms.
■ A second federal inmate scheduled to be put to death next month in a series of executions by the Trump administration has tested positive for COVID-19, his lawyers said Friday. The diagnosis of Cory Johnson, who was convicted of killing seven people related to his drug trafficking in Virginia, comes a day after attorneys for Dustin John Higgs confirmed he tested positive at a
U.S. prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, where both men are on death row.