California county defies governor’s virus shutdown order
A rural California county allowed nonessential businesses to reopen and diners to eat in restaurants on Friday, becoming the first to defy Gov. Gavin Newsom’s statewide shutdown orders during the coronavirus pandemic.
Modoc County is “moving forward with our reopening plan,” said Heather Hadwick, the county’s deputy director of emergency services. She said the county of about 9,000 people in the state’s far northeast corner had no COVID-19 cases.
Hadwick said the county had not heard from the governor about its reopening plan, but she asserted it aligns with Newsom’s indicators for reopening. Schools were not opening Friday, but it was an option for districts that can accommodate preventative measures, she said...