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Their view: Facebook has only itself to blame for drastic remedy

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WILKES-BARRE &mdash; Frank Rodano came out of the kitchen at Rodano&rsquo;s on Public Square just long enough to greet a reporter Thursday evening.
				What did Rodano think about Gov. Tom Wolf&rsquo;s latest restrictions on bars and restaurants?
				The owner of Franklin&rsquo;s and Rodano&rsquo;s declined to comment, merely gesturing to his empty restaurant, typically a downtown hot spot.
				Wolf on Thursday announced a ban on indoor dining and alcohol sales, among other restrictions, set to take effect Saturday and remain in place through Jan. 4. Take-out sales will be permitted to continue.
				Opinions among area restaurateurs and bar owners included significant frustration, but also some understanding about the changes.
				&ldquo;Obviously we&rsquo;re going to follow the rules,&rdquo; John Senunas, owner of Senunas&rsquo; Bar and Grill said. &ldquo;There are people that know a lot more on the subject than me making the decisions so we listen and do what&rsquo;s best for the community.&rdquo;
				&ldquo;The sooner we can get things under control the sooner we will be back,&rdquo; Senunas added. &ldquo;We hope that we will be back Jan. 4 but we will have to see how things are.&rdquo;
				The announcement from the governor cited studies from Stanford and Yale. Each study found that restaurants accounted for a signifcant amount of new infections or that closing restaurants reduced fatality rates.
				&ldquo;It&rsquo;s all about doing what is best for our community and that is what we are doing,&rdquo; Senunas said. &ldquo;We have been around for 61 years and we have always done what is right and we will continue to do right by our community.&rdquo; 
				&lsquo;Crisis within the crisis&rsquo;
				Wolf should call the General Assembly back into session &ldquo;to address the crisis within the crisis &#8230; the state&rsquo;s financial abandonment of thousands of Pennsylvania&rsquo;s small businesses, taverns and restaurants,&rdquo; said Chuck Moran, executive director of the Pennsylvania Licensed Beverage and Tavern Association.
				As the Associated Press reported, The Wolf administration had tried a series of less restrictive measures in recent weeks and months, with indoor capacity restrictions at bars and restaurants, a statewide mask mandate and a requirement that out-of-state travelers test negative for the virus before arrival. Health officials have also begged people to stay at home whenever possible.
				But Wolf acknowledged those measures and advisories have not prevented Pennsylvania&rsquo;s numbers from going in the wrong direction amid the national surge.
				&lsquo;They&rsquo;re not helping us&rsquo;
				Meanwhile, Bob Hogan, owner of Wilkes-Barre&rsquo;s Riverside Cafe, was critical of the Wolf administration&rsquo;s decision to shutter restaurants but not offer any assistance, instead attempting to punt to Congress to pass assistance at the federal level.
				&ldquo;They&rsquo;re not helping us; they&rsquo;re not doing anything to help us,&rdquo; Hogan said.
				Hogan said he&rsquo;s been nearly religious about following all the safety guidelines.
				&ldquo;All my tables are 6 feet apart. I&rsquo;ve done everything they asked for 10 months. I closed down when they wanted me to close down. I did everything to keep my people safe,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Still, they&rsquo;re telling me I gotta do more.&rdquo;
				Hogan said it is unfair that this order is being applied unilaterally, when he&rsquo;s followed all the guidelines but says he&rsquo;s seen other business-owners shirking them.
				Hogan said &mdash; and it was echoed by other business-owners we spoke with &mdash; that it is now more critical than ever to support local businesses.
				&ldquo;If you want us to last, please come out and support us,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If you want us to serve you and do what we&rsquo;ve been doing, not only my business, but all the local bars&#8230; we gotta make it. The government certainly isn&rsquo;t helping.
				&ldquo;I have one of two options: I either close my doors or I have enough people to pay my electric bills, because they&rsquo;ll just keep sending us notices,&rdquo; Hogan went on. &ldquo;My hands are tied and it&rsquo;s the government that&rsquo;s tying them.&rdquo;
				The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Bar, restaurant owners frustrated, fearful as new Pa. restrictions announced