ALTURAS, Calif. – At the Brass Rail, two neon signs were beaming “OPEN" Friday, as the town and county slowly hummed to life, the first to do so in California in defiance of Gov.
Gavin Newsom's order to stay home. About a dozen customers were in the bar of the Basque restaurant — the only portion open so far — eager to be back among friends and neighbors after a six-week shutdown mandated by the Democratic governor 300 miles (480 kilometres) south in Sacramento.
A few wore masks. “It’s been a long haul. We’re a small community," said owner Jodie Larranga. “It’s not that we’ve been given permission, we’ve just had a bellyful.