Defying stay-home order, Nampa bar to reopen: ‘We truly do not care if you disagree’

A Treasure Valley bar has announced that it plans to reopen before the statewide stay-home order is lifted.

Slick’s Bar, 525 E. Karcher Road in Nampa, posted on Facebook that it will return to business Saturday.

“We are currently working on what our reopen will look like to fit the CDC orders,” Slick’s wrote on its official Facebook page. “We understand that people have their opinions. Please keep in mind it is your opinion and on this subject matter we truly do not care if you disagree. We refuse to be one of the small businesses that becomes extinct due to government overreach.”

In Idaho, “nonessential” businesses, including bars, have been temporarily closed through April 30. Gov. Brad Little issued a stay-home order to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, as did governors in more than 40 states.

Little’s order includes a potential misdemeanor for those who violate it, but he was vague about enforcement.

“Peer pressure from the communities is always our first preference,” Little said in March. “We will look at each instance case by case. … My goal is to get full compliance.”

On April 17, Slick’s Bar posted photos on Facebook from Disobey Idaho, a gathering at the Idaho Capitol to protest the order. A popular hangout for motorcycle enthusiasts, Slick’s encouraged people to meet at the bar this Friday to ride to the Capitol together and gather again.

In the post about opening the bar, Slick’s said that, “Just as we have the right as Americans to reopen, you have the right to exercise your freedom to choose to support our business or not support it during us taking this stand and for the days, months and years to follow.”

“We have applied for all the small-business loans and received no help,” Slick’s added. “So it’s time to help ourselves because the same government that has put us in this position has no intention of helping us through this.”

This story was originally published April 20, 2020 at 3:19 PM.