REDDING, Calif. – Brenda Luntey is openly violating California’s order to close her restaurant to indoor dining.
But she wants her customers and critics to know she isn't typically a rule-breaker. It’s a matter of survival.“This is my first episode of civil disobedience in my entire life.
My whole family is in law enforcement. I’m a follow-the-rules kind of person,” said Luntey, owner of San Francisco Deli, a popular sandwich shop in Redding, more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) north of the restaurant’s namesake city.
It's in northern Shasta County, one of several rural California counties that appeared to dodge the virus in the spring but are now seeing some of the most alarming spikes in COVID-19 infections statewide.