I believe that Stark County Common Pleas Judge Natalie Haupt served as the umpire in a baseball game calling balls and strikes. While I may not agree with her ruling, I would never disrespect her or her office. She personally granted a continuance of the March 1 hearing and again on March 2, because I was not able to hear the proceedings through my landline. Can you imagine the pressure from Columbus on the Stark County Health Department, Prosecutor Deborah Dawson, and Haupt? If the court ruled in favor of Lake Varsity Diner, the morning after, every restaurant in Stark County would take down the signs on their doors and say, “If they can do it, so can we.”