Two Lincoln grocery stores found their locations identified on a list that has caused a stir and drawn criticism from both sides of the mask mandate.
Natural Grocers and Leon's Gourmet Grocer were included on a list published by the Facebook group "No Mask Lincoln" despite clear signage and store policies requiring masks inside their businesses as the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department mask mandate dictates.Â
Chad Winters, owner of Leon's, said he found out last week about inclusion and saw patrons of his store disputing the accuracy of the list while others on social media debated boycotting stores on the list.Â
"We were just kind of caught in the crossfire," Winters said.
Before Omaha had a mask mandate, Winters said, a work crew from there tried to enter his store to start remodeling but he wouldn't allow them to work without masks.Â
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"Our customers would not have liked that," he said.
An official at the Colorado-based Natural Grocers said its staff have had to clarify with customers that the store requires shoppers ages 10 and older to wear a mask unless it impairs their health, and it has encountered the issue in Lincoln and elsewhere.
"Unfortunately, retailers around the country are dealing with misinformation regarding their face mask policies, and we are no different," Heather Isely, Natural Grocers’ executive vice president, said in a statement. "That said, we have made every effort to make our policies very clear from the beginning."
Both businesses reached out to the Facebook group to have their businesses removed.Â
Page administrator Janell Folkerts, a Lincoln resident and marketing professional, acknowledged that the group has caused some confusion locally.Â
She launched the group and began curating and publishing her list after Lincoln and Lancaster County implemented Nebraska's first mask mandate in late July.Â
Folkerts, who does not wear a mask because of a medical condition, initially shared privately on Facebook the names of businesses that honored the mandate exemption that allows people with a medical condition not to wear a mask.Â
She wanted to highlight local alternatives to big-box stores that respected the rights of people to not to wear a mask, she said, but she got so many requests for a list she created a group page.
More than 6,000 people have since joined her private group, but not all of the members have understood the list's aims with some pushing back after seeing masked employees and customers inside businesses on the list, Folkerts said.
The listed businesses were included when either the owner told her they wanted to be included on the list or when she or some of her trusted friends had a positive, unmasked experience in a business, she said.
A misperception has emerged online that the businesses listed oppose the county mask mandate, Folkerts said, and some business owners have reached out to her because of that, as well as a general backlash to being on the list.Â
She said she will honor any request from business owners to remove their name from the list, and both Leon's and Natural Grocers have been removed.
But moderating the group and its posting has become a second job given the flurry of comments and discussions, many of which include opposition to mask mandates, she said.
Folkerts doesn't regret starting the list despite being called a liar, having her motives maligned and receiving threats online, she said.
"But I definitely have taken on much more drama than I ever thought it would lead to."
Veterans parade still onÂ
Lincoln will hold its third annual Veterans Day parade Sunday.Â
The parade will be the first put on without monetary support from the city, which has been a goal of the organizers who sought to rely on private sponsorships and donations, City Councilman Roy Christensen said.Â
He first proposed having a city veterans parade in 2017.
This year's parade will run on K Street from 21st Street west to 14th Street beginning at 2 p.m.
The parade will be broadcast on LNKTV, the city's government-access channel, which can be found on Allo channels 2 and 3, Spectrum channels 1300 and 1301, and Kinetic channel 1005 and 1010 and at .
For more information, visit .
Fast takes
Quotable: "We're not involved." — Lincoln Independent Business Association Executive Director Bud Synhorst said of the LNK Recall effort to oust the mayor and four Lincoln City Council members. LNK Recall has filed paperwork that requires it to disclose campaign contributions.Â
15,395 — The estimated number of Lancaster County residents who are veterans of the U.S. Armed Services, according to the latest U.S. census figures. Thank you for the commitment and sacrifices you made to this country.Â
138,236 — The number of Lancaster County voters who cast ballots in the 2016 general election. That marked 73% of the county's registered voters. How many more will vote in this year's election?