‘This whole thing has become politicized’: inside Missouri’s Covid culture wars

With winter coming, health officials are now concerned that the arguments that have roiled Missouri will leave it vulnerable again when a next wave hits

The boarded-up storefront of Rae's Cafe in Blue Springs, Missouri, does not look much like a Covid-19 battleground - but it has become a cause celebre of the anti-masking movement since owner Amanda Wohletz began a campaign in July to defy local Jackson county mask mandates imposed after Delta variant infections surged.

Despite warnings, citations, the revocation of a food permit and a county health department's order to close her doors, Wohletz persisted, claiming in court that the mandate ordering everyone five and up is required to wear a face covering when visiting indoor public spaces was unconstitutionally created" and efforts to enforce it were unlawful, nonsensical".