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The owner of Stats Cocktails & Dreams Bar and Grill is shocked by the $14,000 fine the Regina establishment got for failing to abide by COVID-19 public health orders — and she plans to fight the ticket.
Mia Danakas Weinkauf said two inspectors came into the sports bar on Victoria Avenue East without introducing themselves and slapped the ticket down on the table.
“No warning, no nothing. (They) didn’t even tell the management or the servers that they had done anything wrong,” said Weinkauf.
(Dominick Lucyk/980 CJME)
Weinkauf claims one of the inspectors told her she couldn’t seat people in back-to-back booths, even though the booths are separated by wooden partitions. She believed that was allowed, pointing to other restaurants that do the same, only with Plexiglas.
“The way I was actually approached was so cold and so unethical,” Weinkauf said.
It wasn’t the only time an inspector had visited, though. In mid-January, there was a discrepancy with the logbook that keeps customers’ contact information, but Weinkauf claims that was sorted out and isn’t what the fine is for.
Weinkauf plans to fight the ticket, saying paying it would force the bar to close. She said she has received an outpouring of support from loyal customers.
“(The number of) emails, text messages and phone calls from our patrons that we’ve had for 40 years is unbelievable. I’ve never been so proud to own a business in this city in my life as I am now,” said Weinkauf.
980 CJME has a request in to the Saskatchewan Health Authority for comment.
Stats was one of three Saskatchewan businesses hit with $14,000 fines this week.
According to the provincial government, two bars in Saskatoon — Crackers and the Crazy Cactus — also were fined for violating the public health orders put in place to combat the potential spread of COVID-19.
As for individuals, the Regina Police Service said in a media release Thursday it has issued 17 $2,800 tickets to people for violating the public health order.
The first ticket handed out, on April 5, was given to a 23-year-old woman who didn’t comply with the mandatory 14-day self-isolation period called for by the order.
The most-recent ticket issued, on Sunday, went to a 61-year-old man who had people in his home who didn’t live there.
