COURAGE TO STAND

My friend Gordon Pennington sent this Press Announcement to me:

May 16, 2020:
As Michigan remains under strict lockdown orders, Shelley Luther, recently arrested for opening up her Dallas hair salon, will be traveling to Owosso, Michigan to support the 77-year-old barber Karl Manke, of
Karl Manke’s Barber and Beauty Shop. Manke has been cutting hair as a fixture in Owosso for decades and awarded “Best Barber” in the community for many years.

Under Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s arguably unconstitutional draconian shutdown of the state, Manke has been cutting hair for the last two weeks to economically survive despite being issued citations for violating the Governor’s strict shutdown orders. Governor Whitmer’s administration has now unilaterally suspended Manke’s license to cut hair, threatened with thousands of dollars in fines and legal fees for going back to work.
Governor Whitmer continues to dictate more shutdown orders, spurning the Legislature, which did not extend her emergency powers beyond April 30th and whose approval is required by law.

“Karl, like many of the barbers and hairdressers in Dallas, is a fixture of the community, and has cut hair for generations of Michigan families,” said Luther. “Governor Whitmer has denied him the right and ability to support his family and meet his financial obligations. Along with Texas, Michigan needs to open for business safely, and it needs to happen now. The economic burdens, as well as the collateral damage caused by these overextended closure orders, are crippling our economies and plunging many small business owners into despair and bankruptcy.”

Manke and Luther have been in the national spotlight, reflecting the widespread and growing concerns of Americans whose livelihoods and local economies have been devastated. They will both be speaking in support of other small business owners who are finding themselves in dire financial straits and needing to open up to survive. It might be too late for several businesses across Michigan, which have announced they will close their businesses permanently due to the uncertain and prolonged restrictions by Governor Whitmer.