Restaurant Owner Defies Federal 'Shutdown'

We need more people like Glenn Helseth.

For the past 11 years Helseth and his wife have operated the Carrot Tree Kitchens Restaurant inside the historic Cole Digges House in Yorktown, Va.

The National Park Service owns and operates the building. So when the government shut down on Oct. 1, the Helseths were given 48 hours to pack up and move out.

The couple also owns a restaurant on Jamestown Island. They had to close that restaurant after the National Park Service blocked access to the island.

“We’re upset on a number of levels – not the least of which is the impending financial doom that Carrot Tree faces,” Glenn told me.

At least 20 of his longtime employees are facing the unemployment line. They can’t make rent and some are faced with choosing between buying food or buying medicine.

So Glenn decided it was time to take some action – and at 11 a.m. ET he reopened the Carrot Tree Kitchens Restaurant – in defiance of the federal government.

He says he’s “occupying Carrot Tree Yorktown.” He even had the nerve to feed his most loyal customer today — a 100 year old woman.

Like the parks that the National Park Service thugs have closed off, Helseth’s restaurant pays into the Treasury from its receipts. Closing it down is costing the taxpayers money.