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Central Pa. diners that defied Wolf's closure order catch flak for accepting federal COVID-19 aid
Pennlive ^ | 10 July A.D. 2020 | Matt Miller

Posted on 07/10/2020 10:09:41 AM PDT by lightman

The owners of two York County diners that reopened in violation of Gov. Tom Wolf’s coronavirus closure orders are getting a hefty helping of flak on Facebook over their acceptance of COVID-19 aid through the federal Paycheck Protection Program.

That ire is being directed at the owners of the Round the Clock Diners by critics who claim it is unfair that the eateries were approved for more than $150,000 in loans through the PPP even as they defied Wolf’s controversial shutdown directive.

Other businesses that obeyed the order suffered financially while Round the Clock kept serving eat-in meals, opponents contend.

The PPP is a measure used by the feds to try to offset the economic impact of COVID-19 and enable affected business to keep paying their workers. Approval of loans is not tied to obedience to state shutdown orders linked to the pandemic.

Attempts to contact the Round the Clock owners for comment on the online criticism were not immediately successful Friday morning.

State officials suspended the licenses of the diners in Springettsbury and Manchester townships, which are owned by the Sacarellos family, and they were fined for offering dine-in service in violation of Wolf’s directives.

Christos Sacarellos told PennLive in May that the family chose to reopen for dine-in “to get back to some normalcy.” He said customer feedback had been positive. The diners were restricting occupancy and practicing social distancing, he said.

The Sacarellos diners weren’t alone in ignoring the governor. Businesses across the state revolted and reopened, often with the support of Republican legislators who have tried, and so far failed, to override Wolf’s COVID-19 restrictions. The state Supreme Court has denied numerous challenged to the governor’s directives.

That didn’t sway the critics on the Facebook thread.

“How could he accept this government money when he broke the law to open when we all stayed closed to protect our community? Is this even legal?,” one commenter asked. “How do the business owners who actually followed the rules feel about this? Appears to me to be a big pat on the back from ol Trumpty Dumpty for disobeying the government.”

While the PPP excludes businesses that break the law from receiving loans, Wolf’s shutdown order was part of an emergency declaration and was not enacted as a state law.

“Wait- they stayed open, got fined, and still got the money?!? Why?” another commenter wrote. Others threatened to boycott the eateries.

The federal government has released a list of recipients of PPP aid, but only for those who received at least $150,000.

One of the largest beneficiaries of COVID-19-related federal aid is the Roman Catholic Church. An analysis by the Associated Press showed the church and its affiliates received at least $1.4 billion in taxpayer-financed aid at a time when the church has been rocked by clergy child-sex abuse scandals and some diocese, including the Harrisburg Diocese, have filed for bankruptcy protection.

Locally, diocese affiliates in the PPP $150K-Plus Club include Bishop McDevitt High School, Catholic Charities, Harrisburg Catholic Administrative Services, and the parishes and schools of Holy Name of Jesus, Saint Catherine Labour, Saint Mary Margaret Alcoque and Saint Patrick.

Numerous nonCatholic religious organizations also are on the U.S. government’s PPP listiThe owners of two York County diners that reopened in violation of Gov. Tom Wolf’s coronavirus closure orders are getting a hefty helping of flak on Facebook over their acceptance of COVID-19 aid through the federal Paycheck Protection Program.

That ire is being directed at the owners of the Round the Clock Diners by critics who claim it is unfair that the eateries were approved for more than $150,000 in loans through the PPP even as they defied Wolf’s controversial shutdown directive.

Other businesses that obeyed the order suffered financially while Round the Clock kept serving eat-in meals, opponents contend.

The PPP is a measure used by the feds to try to offset the economic impact of COVID-19 and enable affected business to keep paying their workers. Approval of loans is not tied to obedience to state shutdown orders linked to the pandemic.

Attempts to contact the Round the Clock owners for comment on the online criticism were not immediately successful Friday morning.

State officials suspended the licenses of the diners in Springettsbury and Manchester townships, which are owned by the Sacarellos family, and they were fined for offering dine-in service in violation of Wolf’s directives.

Christos Sacarellos told PennLive in May that the family chose to reopen for dine-in “to get back to some normalcy.” He said customer feedback had been positive. The diners were restricting occupancy and practicing social distancing, he said.

The Sacarellos diners weren’t alone in ignoring the governor. Businesses across the state revolted and reopened, often with the support of Republican legislators who have tried, and so far failed, to override Wolf’s COVID-19 restrictions. The state Supreme Court has denied numerous challenged to the governor’s directives.

That didn’t sway the critics on the Facebook thread.

“How could he accept this government money when he broke the law to open when we all stayed closed to protect our community? Is this even legal?,” one commenter asked. “How do the business owners who actually followed the rules feel about this? Appears to me to be a big pat on the back from ol Trumpty Dumpty for disobeying the government.”

While the PPP excludes businesses that break the law from receiving loans, Wolf’s shutdown order was part of an emergency declaration and was not enacted as a state law.

“Wait- they stayed open, got fined, and still got the money?!? Why?” another commenter wrote. Others threatened to boycott the eateries.

The federal government has released a list of recipients of PPP aid, but only for those who received at least $150,000.

One of the largest beneficiaries of COVID-19-related federal aid is the Roman Catholic Church. An analysis by the Associated Press showed the church and its affiliates received at least $1.4 billion in taxpayer-financed aid at a time when the church has been rocked by clergy child-sex abuse scandals and some diocese, including the Harrisburg Diocese, have filed for bankruptcy protection.

Locally, diocese affiliates in the PPP $150K-Plus Club include Bishop McDevitt High School, Catholic Charities, Harrisburg Catholic Administrative Services, and the parishes and schools of Holy Name of Jesus, Saint Catherine Labour, Saint Mary Margaret Alcoque and Saint Patrick.

Numerous nonCatholic religious organizations also are on the U.S. government’s PPP listing. More than 26,000 businesses and organizations in Pennsylvania received at least $150,000 through the program.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; News/Current Events; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: openpa; roundtheclock; tommiethecommie; wolf
Road trip time!

RTC dutifully followed the closure order from March 17 until Mother's Day.

They reopened both location's on Mother's Day and have followed the CDC guidelines on table spacing, menus, etc.

1 posted on 07/10/2020 10:09:41 AM PDT by lightman
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To: fatima; Fresh Wind; st.eqed; xsmommy; House Atreides; Nowhere Man; PaulZe; brityank; Physicist; ...

Pennsylvania Ping!

Please ping me with articles of interest.

FReepmail me to be added to the list.

2 posted on 07/10/2020 10:10:44 AM PDT by lightman (I am a binary Trinitarian. Deal with it!)
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To: lightman

.....”Other businesses that obeyed the order suffered financially while Round the Clock kept serving eat-in meals, opponents contend”....

Boo-Hoo!

Just consider those who stayed open a bonus for having the guts to stand against this shutdown!


3 posted on 07/10/2020 10:13:28 AM PDT by caww
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To: caww

Indeed.

Tommie the Commie Wolf kept extending “emergencies” and delaying reopenings.

There was nothing in PPP requiring recipients to keep following closure orders indefinitely.


4 posted on 07/10/2020 10:19:57 AM PDT by lightman (I am a binary Trinitarian. Deal with it!)
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To: lightman

Where’s my $600 /week bonus for WORKING!


5 posted on 07/10/2020 10:21:36 AM PDT by P.O.E. (Pray for America)
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To: lightman

“How could he accept this government money when he broke the law to open when we all stayed closed to protect our community? Is this even legal?,” one commenter asked. “How do the business owners who actually followed the rules feel about this? Appears to me to be a big pat on the back from ol Trumpty Dumpty for disobeying the government.”

F*ck you, Karen!


6 posted on 07/10/2020 10:27:35 AM PDT by Flick Lives (My work's illegal, but at least it's honest. - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds)
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To: lightman

Wolf knows exactly what he’s doing and this with political purpose....there’s a lot of push back against what he’s doing but so far nothings been successful.....as long as he can keep his Emergency in place the balls in his court. I know Reps are trying to push through a bill so that Governors are limited in order to pull back on their power...but there just doesn’t seem to be anything with teeth to stop Wolf...and he knows it!


7 posted on 07/10/2020 11:00:52 AM PDT by caww
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To: lightman

Typical or the Federal government handing out $$$


8 posted on 07/10/2020 11:22:41 AM PDT by sickoflibs (BREAKING NEWS: BLM cures COVID-19, it's safe to go out and protest Trump again.)
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To: caww

Though a lame duck a cornered Wolf is dangerous.


9 posted on 07/10/2020 12:18:09 PM PDT by lightman (I am a binary Trinitarian. Deal with it!)
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To: lightman
The PPP is a measure used by the feds to try to offset the economic impact of COVID-19 and enable affected business to keep paying their workers. Approval of loans is not tied to obedience to state shutdown orders linked to the pandemic.

I'm pretty sure one of the requirements to get the PPP loan was that you have to spend a significant part of it (60%+ I think) on payroll. But many of these businesses that are shut down aren't paying their employees anything - so they aren't eligible for the PPP loan anyway!
10 posted on 07/12/2020 8:26:47 PM PDT by Svartalfiar
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