A real activist would have gone to jail to defend her principles. But wouldn't it be ironic if she caught COVID-19 in jail? I believe the press release from the police department said this was just a publicity stunt by the art gallery owner who is not taking a deadly disease seriously.

True dat, but (assuming you are white), I have to say your comment in and of itself is an example of white privilege, and it's a doozy. How many people of color who don't have your (white) privileged life are able to saunter around on these message boards and comment?

You should be ashamed of yourself.

Please explain why it is okay to have a flea market open with LOTS of people & a gallery, which probably may have only a few people a day enter is not okay.

This is disappointing. I can’t blame her for not being a martyr, but I do blame the police for enforcing these overbearing and facist orders. I think it’s shameful. She has every right to earn a living and we all have every right to visit her gallery or choose not to.

Literally no one would have been involuntarily exposed to an infectious disease because of this, so these orders are just the next stage of California being a nanny-state.

I am sure that Katherina didn't intend to create this conflict with anyone. She has closed the gallery on Wednesday as it was indicated to her by the MP Police.

We are all stressed out because of the virus, shelter at home; and the uncertainty of the future, specially for small business like ours.
I own "Marcela's Village Gallery" right across "A Ventures Gallery" and I am very concerned how long will I be able to stay open.
It's just me and a part time employee, I am a self proprietor, therefore, I was not eligible for any small business loans or grants and I am paying rent and utilities.

The beauty of Art is that in canvas all colors of the rainbow, we don't see one color, we see all colors!

Stay Healthy, Stay Happy!

Marciela, sole propietors are eligible for CARES/PPP funds. Actually accessing them is another matter but if you have an accountant to act on your behalf you can hope to apply successfully.

Web Link

I don't understand why it is ok to open bookstores and florists, but not are galleries?

Thank you Belle Haven,
I have tried and have been unsuccessful; I will reach for an accountant to help me. I very much appreciate your information.

Marcela Del Alcazar
risamard@gmail.com

Why does people need to make everything about race?

This is nothing to do with that. This is about making a living in difficult time.

Mr or Ms white privilege you have personal problem.

don't believe it when the politicians say "we are all in it together" Gov Gav says one thing, yet 6 counties health officials are saying another !! And I'll bet Gov Gav gets a paycheck & he didn't get turned down for PPP help.
I agree with the earlier post - how is it safer at a flea market than at a small art gallery?
The artists at the gallery are not able to have their work sold, then there is no commission to the gallery owner, then there is no money for rent, then the landlord will not have any money for his obligations.
HOw many people are in contact with the food you receive from a "to Go" order ? and how many people come in contact with a book, puzzle or flowers you want to buy for Mother's Day WAKE UP PEOPLE -

You must understand how this virus works -- not only are YOU in danger when you go out, but may be endangering OTHERS without knowing it because you can carry & spread the virus but have no symptoms whatsoever.

Therefore, the only way to slow & stop the virus is for everyone to observe the quarantine.

ALSO: The infection rate may be down in rural counties of California BUT it is climbing steadily in the SF Metro Area. NOT a pretty picture at all. LOOK AT THE DATA:

Web Link

ALSO, look at the WORLD RATE DIFFERENCES: Countries where EVERYONE observed the quarantine were back in business first (blue graphs) -- then look at the overall curve for the U.S. (red graph). NOT pretty.

Web Link

Do you want to be responsible -- even unwittingly -- for infecting others? What if others unwittingly infect you or your kids?

vile fascism on full display right in downtown MP - disgusting!

I meant to add this footnote on my comment above.

Clearly the gallery owner got the point when her gallery was closed down. She made a horrible mistake & showed a total lack of judgement. In just a few hours, she wiped out so much of her previous public support & she became a villain. I certainly thought her premature opening was totally wrong.

Nevertheless, let's hope her business survives. The gallery has been a valued addition to Menlo Park -- its high quality exhibits are unique, it gives local artists a venue to reach the community, and its regular public activities have increased local spirit & participation.

Ms. Powers should issue an IMMEDIATE & GENUINE public apology -- I hope we can accept it and I hope her business will survive.

Maybe she could rent a refrigerator, put a couple sandwiches in it, and therefore become an "essential" business. In the meantime, I am going to roam around Target and Costco.

Makes perfect sense, right?

We can all decide to shelter not not shelter. Just for what it's worth, I am.

Prior argument was a person's decision to shelter or not would affect more than just his/her own health, because hospitals would get overwhelmed. The estimates, made in good faith, were way off. That argument doesn't apply now. It could again in the future, or not, and more restrictions could be constitutionally reasonable at that point in time if it does wind up applying.

The woman is not a villain for opening her gallery. She should not be apologizing. What's next? Menlo Park PD puts her in jail?

Seems very similar to a recent case in Texas that was overkill.

@new guy - bingo. what started as altruism has devolved into a silly game of cat and mouse. i say out with these wannabe autocrats.

> vile fascism on full display

Hmmmm... okay. Let's review:

1. America putting citizens into concentration camps in 1942 - not fascism. Web Link

2. America, for purposes of public health, requiring masks (imagine the horror!) and social distancing - vile fascism.

Got it. Where do you stand on a tyrant deciding to not allow certain votes to be counted? This morning:

"Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump

So in California ... It’s all rigged out there. These votes must not count. SCAM!

8:45 AM · May 9, 2020·Twitter
85.4K Likes"

From your post proclaiming "vile fascism on full display" you must be quite the expert on fascism; tyrants disallowing votes - fascism or not?

To the fascism conspiracy theorist - perhaps you should talk with George Takei (the original Sulu!) who was in an American concentration camp as a kid.

George Takei
@GeorgeTakei

I didn't spend my childhood in barbed wire enclosed internment camps so I could listen to grown adults today cry oppression because they have to wear a mask at Costco.
7:00 PM · May 8, 2020·Twitter

Be careful folks, the socialist trolls are back and commenting on this post. They claim they are from different neighborhoods (this time Atherton, it’s usually various neighborhoods in Menlo). Don’t get in an argument with them. If you examine their style, you can find the same troll on many boards here, using different neighborhoods. They also use the private browser feature so they can “like” their own posts giving a false sense of validity.

mr./ms. "Reality Check" ----- It's the right-wing paranoid Fascist trolls that I'm worried about!! Very scary.

> the socialist trolls are back and commenting on this post.

The fringe live in an area where they are outnumbered 5 to 1, and get all up in their feelings when their posts aren't 'liked' enough. Golly gee - who knew?!

Answer us this: do you support our impeached potus when he says California votes should be thrown out, as he did today?

"These votes must not count. SCAM!"

Reality Check
Yes you most definitely need one - a reality check prior to commenting.

Accusations etc
Agree with the message but take umbrage at calling the Japanese internment camps "concentration". During WWII concentration camps were death camps for Jews, LGBT, disabled, etc. People were there for two purposes - work them to death - or outright liquidate them. To compare the US Japanese internet camps to the concentration camps used by the Germans is sitting on the memories of millions who would have gladly taken the option of a US internment camp.

So is Menlo Park going to pay my rent and other bills while I’m closed???

@ownerSC: How will you pay bills without any customers period because they are ill?

> but take umbrage at calling the Japanese internment camps "concentration".

They were, by most any reasonable definition. Unless you're defining Concentration Camps as Death Camps. Most delineate the difference.

Concentration camp
WRITTEN BY: The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Alternative Title: internment camp
"Concentration camp, internment centre for political prisoners and members of national or minority groups who are confined for reasons of state security, exploitation, or punishment, usually by executive decree or military order."

From the same page - among many photos, they show a photo of an American concentration camp in 1942, attribution, Library of Congress: Web Link and Web Link

So, yeah, I'm with Sulu on this one:

" @GeorgeTakei
I didn't spend my childhood in barbed wire enclosed internment camps so I could listen to grown adults today cry oppression because they have to wear a mask at Costco."

Claiming "vile fascism on full display" over public health measures is the very definition of 'crying oppression'.

Lest you continue to think I'm trampling on the Holocaust, this definition also applies:

"The term concentration camp refers to a camp in which people are detained or confined, usually under harsh conditions and without regard to legal norms of arrest and imprisonment that are acceptable in a constitutional democracy."

Source: Web Link
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Death camps come after concentration camps, which come after migrant detainee camps on borders, which come after....

the people of SMC are already mixing in the streets riding bikes, walking, dining, shopping. go outside today - see for yourself. like it our not, the train has left the station. at this point, the designation of essential vs non-essential is entirely ineffective, arbitrary and only hurting those who need to go to work.

The art gallery should sell some facemasks, then they'd be allowed to open as a facemask store. No different than Walgreens being open. Easy solution.