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Washington court rules against florist in gay wedding case - Albuquerque Journal

Bellevue College, a large crowd of Stutzman’s supporters greeted her outside, chanting her name and waving signs that said “Justice For Barronelle.”In a February 2015 ruling, Benton County Superior Court Judge Alexander Ekstrom found that Stutzman’s refusal to provide flowers because of sexual orientation violated Washington’s anti-discrimination and consumer protection laws. The following month, Ekstrom ordered Stutzman to pay a $1,000 penalty to the state and $1 in costs and fees.Stutzman entered the florist business 30 years ago, when her mother bought a flower shop.At a press conference following the ruling, Ferguson said that under Washington law, a business is not required to provide a particular service, but if it does so for couples of the opposite sex, it must provide that service equally to same-sex couples. Ferguson noted that Stutzman is not currently selling wedding flowers, but if she were to resume that side of her business, she would not be allowed to sell to only heterosexual couples.“The state Supreme Court has made that very clear,” he said.___AP writer Gene Johnson contributed from Seattle. ... https://www.abqjournal.com/951260/washington-court-rules-against-florist-in-gay-wedding-case.html

In Loving Memory: Obituaries Of The Week February 14, 2021 - Smokey Barn News

Gardens Mausoleum with Brother Patrick Nix, Tim Harris, and Chris Read officiating. Pallbearers will be Timothy Black, Bud Johnson, Robert Alan Holman, Shane Toole, Aaron Nix, Chris Read, and Jeff Benton. Honorary pallbearers will be the men of the Hope Center in Springfield. There will be no visitation prior to the service. The family ask that all in attendance please wear facial mask or coverings.Sherry was born August 20, 1960 in Springfield to the late L.B. and Elizabeth Jo Vanderpool Black. She was a graduate of Jo Byrns High School Class of 1978. She owned and operated Sherry’s Florist for over 39 years in Springfield. She was a member and past president of CTPA (Certified Tennessee Professional Florist). She was a member of Flewellyn Baptist Church, where she taught Sunday school and worked in Women’s Missions and with the Senior Adult’s. Sherry was a dedicated contributor to the Hope Center in Springfield, that has been a mission outreach ministry of Flewellyn Baptist Church. She loved traveling, her animals and pets, and spending time with her family enjoying their many culinary dining out experiences and places of travel together. Flowers were Sherry’s passion, and the love that she had for her family, customers, and many friends was always expressed in the wonderful designs and creations she did at her flower shop. Sherry not only wanted you to see the beauty of the flowers, but to also feel the warmth that they brought to your life and to the lives of others. Whether it was a fresh vase, pall, spray, basket, or one of her many unique wedding designs, Sherry wanted each design to live in your minds, hearts, and thoughts forever.In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her beloved dog and child: Willie. Sherry is survived by her sister and brother-in-law: Pam and Bud Johnson of Springfield, by her brother and sister-in-law: Timothy and Peggy Black of Springfield, by her niece: Nikki Reid of Springfield, by her personal friend: Benjamin Clarkson, and by many cousins and friends.Tribute WallRobertson County Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.Obituary for Mildred Webb BurnetteMildred Webb Burnette, 93, of Greenbrier, passed from this life into the presence of her Lord on Saturday February 13, 2021 at the home of her daughter in Greenbrier. A private family graveside service will be conducted Tuesday February 23rd in the Springfield Memorial Gardens with Pastor Jon Briggs officiating.Mildred Webb Burnette was born in Algood, TN on September 17, 1927 to Morris Brewer Webb and Ethel Lee Rittenberry Webb. She and her family moved to West Nashville in 1934. She loved to reminisce about her time spent roller skating around the city and at the Hippodrome Roller Rink, playing in... https://smokeybarn.com/in-loving-memory-obituaries-of-the-week-february-14-2021/

In Loving Memory: Obituaries Of The Week January 31, 2021 - Smokey Barn News

Rayburn Bugg, Jr. and a sister, Melissa Dawn Bugg.She is survived by her husband, Eddie Gill of Springfield; daughter and son-in-law, Amanda and David-Paul Benton of Springfield; son and daughter-in-law, Robert Michael and Melissa Gill of Springfield; brother, Steven Bugg of Texas; and grandchildren, JaMarion Gill, Elizabeth Jean Benton, and Caleb Lee Benton.a href="https... https://smokeybarn.com/in-loving-memory-obituaries-of-the-week-january-31-2021/

Maker Space: Eden Garrett's idea blossomed - NWAOnline

Northwest Arkansas."I love Northwest Arkansas," she says. "There are so many opportunities for growth here. And because I work out of a truck, I can go from Fayetteville to Rogers to Springdale to Bentonville and all of those towns in between -- so I catch more people than just being in the middle of Springfield."Garrett says part of the process of becoming a successful business person was learning how to be flexible when business was in a slow period."I'm just motivated every day to push forward and make the sales higher each day -- even if it's really slow, even if, that day, no one wants flowers," she says. "I'll think, 'OK, what else can I do? Can I do deliveries? Can I announce on social media that all bouquets are $5 or that delivery is free on this particular day?' Each day, I'm going to make as much money as I can and provide an excellent product."She's also available for parties and weddings; one popular option for celebrations are the custom flower crowns partygoers can make inside the truck.Garrett says she's wanted to own a business since she was a child. Her first business idea -- a boutique that would serve as both a makeup salon as well as an event space, so you could get ready for a party right there at the site -- came to her when she was just 10 years old."My mom owned her own business, and I was just super fascinated by it," she says. "I've always known I didn't want to have a 9-to-5 job where I sit behind a desk all day -- that's just not who I am. I've always wanted to own my own business."It's clear that her youth isn't holding her back. Eden's Flower Truck was recognized at the 2019 Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce Excellence in Business Awards Ceremony, and she's opening up her first brick and mortar store called Eden's Botanicals this month. She says opening a storefront was in her five-year plan but, when she found a perfect location on North Steele Boulevard, her business instincts told her it was the right time to make a move."The storefront will mostly be for workshops and parties -- more of an event space," says Garrett, who adds that the mobile truck will still be used for floral sales. "We'll also sell flower gifts [in the store]. I'm super excited."Garrett is already looking towards the future and making plans -- big plans."I want to own some land, hopefully around the Fayetteville area, and have a mini-Magnolia Market, similar to [Fixer Upper stars] Chip and Joanna Gaines' business," she says. "I want there to be a few cottages, like an Airbnb, and then also have a spot to grow my own flowers so I don't have to buy them wholesale any more. And I would sell gifts and flowers and other merchandise and have it all be in one giant property, a destination that people from all over come to."If what she's accomplished so far is any indication, the goals of her 10-year plan may just be closer than she thinks..inline_item { float: left; display: inline; }div class="inline__bloc... https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2020/feb/13/maker-space-eden-garrett-s-idea-blossom/

Court again rules against florist who refused gay couple - The Spokesman-Review

She refused. Ferguson filed a complaint under the state’s consumer protection and anti-discrimination statutes, and the couple filed a separate lawsuit. A Benton County Superior Court judge combined the cases and reviewed the arguments, eventually issuing an injunction against Stutzman requested by Ferguson and awarding damages to the couple.The Washington Supreme Court upheld both decisions, and Stutzman appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. But before it could be argued there, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to create a cake for a same-sex wedding, saying that during the process of deciding whether he was violating that state’s anti-discrimination laws, a member of the Civil Rights Commission made disparaging remarks about the baker’s religion.The U.S. Supreme Court sent the Arlene’s Flowers case back to the Washington Supreme Court to reconsider it in light of the Masterpiece Cakeshop decision. Attorneys for Stutzman argued the cases were the same, contending Ferguson was showing animus toward religion by taking action against Arlene’s Flowers but not against a Seattle coffee shop that refused to serve Christians. But McCloud wrote there is key distinction between the two cases because the Colorado case involved religious intolerance from an adjudicatory body. The only two such bodies – the trial court and the state Supreme Court – showed no such intolerance. The attorney general’s office isn’t an adjudicatory body and the coffee shop case is irrelevant, she wrote. The court also rejected Stutzman’s arguments that applying the state’s anti-discrimination laws to her refusal to provide floral arrangements for a same-sex wedding violates her constitutional rights. “Discrimination based on same sex-marriage constitutes discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation,” McCloud wrote. Enforcing the anti-discrimination law in this case does not violate her rights of artistic expression because it doesn’t fit with previous cases that protect that right. Allowing such an exemption would create a two-tiered system system the law, similar to saying a dime-store lunch counter would have to serve an interracial couple but an upscale bistro wouldn’t, she wrote, quoting from a friend of the court brief.Stutzman can still freely practice her religion, McCloud wrote. She was never asked to attend the wedding ceremony. She has provided floral arrangements for weddings of Muslims and atheists, and wasn’t endorsing Islam or atheism by doing that.“After careful review on remand, we are confident that the courts resolved this dispute with tolerance, and we therefore find no reason to change our original judgment,” the court concluded. https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/jun/06/court-again-rules-against-florist-who-refused-gay-/

Coronavirus hits flower farms at the worst possible time - Chicago Tribune

Cousins Matt Ott, 17, left and Luke Ott, 16, pull the flowers off the hanging plants so the plants won't die March 24, 2020, at Cleveland Ott & Son, a wholesale nursery in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, that sells its flowers and plants to smaller garden centers in the region, most of which are closed. (Steven M. Falk/AP)... https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-nw-coronavirus-flowers-bouquet-20200407-h7t4shavzffllmiiy6gsmwno3a-story.html

A devoted florist gives each 9/11 victim a white birthday rose - The Gazette

I write this,” said Jennifer Glick in an email to the memorial. Her brother Jeremy was among those who rushed the hijackers on Flight 93, which crashed into a field in rural Pennsylvania. “With all the insecurity and chaos that we face right now, knowing that our loved ones are remembered gives me great comfort.”Kerry Irvine, an artist, used to visit the memorial often to think about her sister, Kristy Irvine-Ryan, a 30 year-old equities trader who had been married for just three months when she died. But in March, she told The Washington Post, “It was all chained off, and one of my first thoughts was, ‘Oh, God, her birthday,’ which was May 22nd.” Then she got a photo of her sister’s name decorated with a white rose. “To know they’re taking care of all of them, and giving them the respect they deserve,” she said, “it takes the load off the families a little bit.”The memorial grounds reopened July 4. The museum will begin allowing visitors inside again this weekend - first, family members only on Friday and then the public on Saturday, with drastically limited capacity.Collarone didn’t come up with the idea for the birthday flowers; that was a volunteer in the museum. But he’s the one who’s made it happen all these years, carefully selecting roses - he wants them to be a perfect white - from the city’s flower market and cleaning them and nursing them at his shop Floratech, in Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood. “I’m not looking for the cheapest roses,” he says. “I look for the best.”When the pandemic forced New York to shut down, halting inbound flights bearing hard-to-get white roses from global suppliers in the Netherlands and South America, Collarone knew instantly “that I had to take care of it,” he says. “I went into an immediate rescue mode for the 9/11 memorial.”Whereas roses had been coming in on 10 flights a day, there was now one flight a week from Europe. He worked connections (“My Holland guys helped me out.”), paid large markups as freight pricessoared, and sent drivers to the airport to pick up loads of roses directly from the source, circumventing wholesalers, because, he says, the city’s flower market, then and now, “is operating on life support.”His own shop, which used to supply flowers for Madison Square Garden and high-end hotels like the Mandarin Oriental, has hit dire straits. “We’re lucky if we make enough money to keep our electricity on,” Collarone says. He’s had to close all three of his retail flower shops, and lay off all of his employees, some of whom had been working with him for 20 to 30 years.Still, he wouldn’t dream of stopping the birthday-rose ritual, or asking for payment.He “grew up poor,” he says, in the firemen-and-cops enclave of Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, and worked in a flower shop before becoming an insurance salesman.It was a chance meeting with Andy Warhol at the legendary Limelight nightclub, he says, that got him to turn back toward his love of flowers. Warhol commissioned him to decorate his parties, Collarone says, because the art icon was amused by the idea of this big guy with a Brooklyn accent who rode his Harley around town and knew everything about roses and hydrangeas.His shop is near the World Trade Center,... https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/a-devoted-florist-gives-each-911-victim-a-white-birthday-rose-20200911

These Valentine's Day Gifts Will Be At Your Doorstep In No Time, Even If You Started Shopping Last Minute - Yahoo Lifestyle

Uncommon Goods. Here's one example of a delightful little gift — a wine-shaped container filled with tasty truffles. Check out all of the small businesses and makers like this Pennsylvania-based baker, Neil Edley.Uncommon Goods Bottle-of-Wine Chocolate Truffles Box, $, available at Uncommon GoodsCheryl's CookiesThese are decorated and frosted with delicious buttercream icing. (Pssst, there's even an assortment of gluten-free options for our friends with food allergies.)Cheryl's Cookies Cheryl's Long Stemmed Buttercream Frosted Cookie Flower, $, available at Cheryl's CookiesPartake FoodsIndulge in this coveted black-owned brand that offers delicious cookies in every variety — you can even find vegan and gluten-free options here. Chocolate chips, cookie butter, and carrot cake flavors are abundantly available to ship right to your door. Partake Soft Baked Cookie Butter Cookies, $, available at Partake FoodsDavid's CookiesGive the people what they want; an entire tin of chocolate chunk cookies. No nuts, no teeny tiny chocolate chips, just the good stuff from this reliable, top-selling cookie lover's brand — that also happens to ship out delicious cheesecakes to pies, too. David's Cookies Fresh Baked Decadent Jumbo Cookies, $, available at David's CookiesDoughees By M.Dough.WMargo Wolfe’s Miami-based M.Dough.W features brownies, Oreos, caramel, rainbow cookies — you name it and they've stuffed it inside a gooey, fully-cooked, and ready-to-eat cookie dough.Doughees by M Dough W Build A Box (12), $, available at Doughees by M Dough WCarlo's BakeryFrom chocolate fudge cake and rainbow slices to ooey-gooey butter cookies and cannoli kits, you can find it all at Carlo's Bakery. Trust him — he was on Cake Boss. Carlo's Bakery Cannoli Kit - 12 Pack, $, available at GoldbellyMagnolia BakeryAsk almost any New Yorker, and we bet they will say that Magnolia Bakery sells some of the world's best-tasting cupcakes to banana pudding...like, ever. Available in a deliverable variety of flavors with seasonal frostings, this shop's sweets are prime Valentine's gifting material.Magnolia Bakery World Famous Banana Pudding - Party Sized, $, available at Magnolia BakeryBake Me A WishIn addition to brownies, you can send cheesecakes, cupcakes, giant cakes, traditional cakes, baskets, towers, and pies. Plus, 5% off all purchases goes to Bake Me A Wish's Small Business Empowerment Fund.Bake Me A Wish Gourmet Brownie Sampler, $, available at Bake Me A WishWicked Good CupcakesAs seen on Shark Tank, the family-owned team at Wicked Good Cupcakes offers up a fun way to serve and eat, cupcake-in-a-jar. They even have your gluten-free bases covered with a giftable GF package for two, four, and six.Wicked Good Cupcakes Cupcake Jar Custom Pack (12), $, available at Wicked Good CupcakesSugarfinaHome of the OG and ever-popular rosé gummy bears, Sugarfina boasts an equally tasty lineup of specialty treats — from sugar lips to peach bellini hearts, dark chocolate-covered scotch cordials, chocolate vodka shots, and much more — that can be shipped nationwide. Sugarfina XOXO 8 Piece Candy Bento Box, $, available at SugarfinaHarry & DavidAs stated in the brand's Insta profile, the folks over at Harry & David take gift-giving and entertaining pretty seriously. So much so that they offer what seems like hundreds of pre-wrapped items at a moment's notice, which comes in handy for some especially in last-minuting gifting dilemmas.Harry & David Valentine's Day Truffles in Keepsake Box, $, available at Harry & DavidRuss & DaughtersLocated in New York's historic Lower East Side for over 100 years, Russ & Daughters is an institution beloved for its appetizing bagel spread, a good schmear, and babka. The sweet yeasted cake is perfect for breakfast — or anytime.Baked By MelissaBaked By Melissa delivers cupcakes in innovative mini-form, so you can sample the best in seasonal flavor variety — from... https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/valentines-day-gifts-doorstep-no-141400857.html

A devoted florist gives each 9/11 victim a white birthday rose - Anchorage Daily News

I write this,” said Jennifer Glick in an email to the memorial. Her brother Jeremy was among those who rushed the hijackers on Flight 93, which crashed into a field in rural Pennsylvania. “With all the insecurity and chaos that we face right now, knowing that our loved ones are remembered gives me great comfort.” Kerry Irvine, an artist, used to visit the memorial often to think about her sister, Kristy Irvine-Ryan, a 30 year-old equities trader who had been married for just three months when she died. But in March, she told The Washington Post, “It was all chained off, and one of my first thoughts was, ‘Oh, God, her birthday,’ which was May 22nd.” Then she got a photo of her sister’s name decorated with a white rose. “To know they’re taking care of all of them, and giving them the respect they deserve,” she said, “it takes the load off the families a little bit.” The memorial grounds reopened July 4. The museum will begin allowing visitors inside again this weekend - first, family members only on Friday and then the public on Saturday, with drastically limited capacity. Collarone didn’t come up with the idea for the birthday flowers; that was a volunteer in the museum. But he’s the one who’s made it happen all these years, carefully selecting roses — he wants them to be a perfect white — from the city’s flower market and cleaning them and nursing them at his shop Floratech, in Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood. “I’m not looking for the cheapest roses,” he says. “I look for the best.” When the pandemic forced New York to shut down, halting inbound flights bearing hard-to-get white roses from global suppliers in the Netherlands and South America, Collarone knew instantly “that I had to take care of it,” he says. “I went into an immediate rescue mode for the 9/11 memorial.” Whereas roses had been coming in on 10 flights a day, there was now one flight a week from Europe. He worked connections (“My Holland guys helped me out.”), paid large markups as freight pricessoared, and sent drivers to the airport to pick up loads of roses directly from the source, circumventing wholesalers, because, he says, the city’s flower market, then and now, “is operating on life support.” His own shop, which used to supply flowers for Madison Square Garden and high-end hotels like the Mandarin Oriental, has hit di... https://www.adn.com/nation-world/2020/09/10/a-devoted-florist-gives-each-911-victim-a-white-birthday-rose/