Liquor board to warn Tri-Cities restaurant about ‘parking lot parties.’ Church also held services
Hundreds of Tri-Citians attended church services and a restaurant parking lot party over the weekend in defiance of Gov. Jay Inslee’s stay-home order.
Richland Police Department told the Tri-City Herald it responded about 6:30 p.m. on Friday to reports of loud music and social distancing concerns at 3 Eyed Fish Kitchen + Bar on Keene Road in Richland.
The responding officer estimates there were 150 to 200 people who had gathered outside the restaurant.
Richland police encouraged social distancing and compliance with the governor’s order.
The department told the Herald it is maintaining an educational stance when responding to coronavirus related events — with an emphasis on voluntary compliance.
The general manager told police she had coordinated with liquor control officials and believed she was in compliance.
A spokesman with the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board told the Herald that the agency has had several interactions with the business related to complaints of it violating the governor’s order.
“We will be issuing this business an official written warning after repeated attempts using an educational approach have not been effective,” the agency said.
“It is our goal that they comply with all state rules, including the governor’s order to protect the public’s health,” it said. “We plan to meet with the owner soon and hope they will choose to comply with the health and safety guidance set forth in the governor’s order.”
Kennewick police said they’d received no calls about the church services at Tri-Cities Calvary Chapel.
“We are not trying to draw unnecessary attention to our church, we simply want to assemble together to worship and study God’s word,” the church posted.
And church leaders spelled out several social distancing guidelines for those who wanted to attend services planned in an outdoor amphitheater.
However, passersby at the Richland parking lot party said most attendees Friday evening were not wearing masks or social distancing as they sat in lawn chairs and mingled. It was the second event there in two weeks.
3 Eyed Fish
Benton County remains in Phase 1 of the state’s four-phased approach to reopening and that means no gatherings are allowed and restaurants are permitted only to serve meals to-go.
Benton County has not been allowed to reopen restaurants, bars and some other businesses as it continues to have new cases of the coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 respiratory illness.
The parking lot party was promoted by the 3 Eyed Fish’s Facebook page, as well as on a Facebook event by ZLuck, a Northwest DJ, who was scheduled to be there.
The original post for May 15 has since been removed from the restaurant’s page but the event page still remains active as does 3 Eyed Fish’s post for the May 8 event.
“Who says we can’t have a little food, music, and drinks while also being safe?” the event page said.
Passersby who posted on the Flatten the Curve Facebook group site reported seeing hundreds of people, as well as cars filling the parking lot in front of the restaurant and the nearby strip of businesses in the Queensgate Village.
Another person said they saw a similar event the weekend before on May 8 in the same parking lot with about 75 to 100 people milling around and sitting on lawn chairs.
Cindy Goulet, owner of 3 Eyed Fish and its sister restaurant LU LU Craft Bar & Kitchen, could not be reached by the Herald on Monday.
Calvary Chapel
Tri-Cities Calvary Chapel quietly resumed holding in-person church services in Kennewick on Sunday, drawing hundreds of parishioners.
“I have never seen people so excited at church,” said Marshall Almarode, who attended the Sunday morning service. The congregation was cheering.
Church Pastor Steve Whinery posted on his Facebook page that the governor has “moved the goal posts.”
When the stay-home order was announced, Whinery abided by it because it had a clear end date of April 24, but that is no longer the case, Whinery posted.
The phased lifting of the stay-home order now will not allow the church to reopen for almost 2.5 months, if then, and social distancing requirements would limit services in the sanctuary to 200 people, he said.
“An open-ended prohibition for our congregation to meet, in its entirety, is unreasonable and unacceptable,” he said. “I will not do it.”
In his Facebook post, which he read aloud at the morning church service, he said that the Bible orders Christians to assemble and worship together, even when doing so is difficult.
“I have a pastor who is bold and courageous,” Almarode said.
‘Unbiblical’
Initially the in-person gatherings were planned for the church’s outdoor amphitheater on West Clearwater Avenue. But a recording on the church answering machine said the evening session was being moved indoors because of weather.
It’s unclear if that happened.
The governor’s stay-home order has banned church services since late March, with the exception of drive-in services that have been allowed in recent weeks. Worshipers are required to remain in their cars through the entire service with windows rolled up.
“While we believe the ongoing ban of church services to be unbiblical and unconstitutional, we do want to be sensitive to the concerns of the health department and the culture at large,” the church posted on its website.
It asked that those who attended wear masks and that people check their temperatures before coming to services.
It asked that people maintain social distancing and said that children attending Sunday school would be seated every other chair and every other row, if possible.
No coffee was served.
The church did not promote the in-person services on its social media until just before the first one began, and recommended to parishioners that they also not widely promote it.
“Please use wisdom and personally invite or refer people to the website or our app for service information,” it said.
The church plans to continue them at 9:30 a.m. at 6:30 p.m. Sundays and 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays.
This story was originally published May 18, 2020 at 1:58 PM.