PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (AP) - Parkersburg officials have taken steps to lift a nearly 70-year-old ban on fortune-telling in the city.
The News and Sentinel (https://bit.ly/2bRfzqh ) reports that the City Council voted 5-4 Tuesday to approve the first reading of an ordinance repealing the ban.
City resident Heather Cooper called for the change after she was initially denied a business license for her tarot card-reading business.
Officials had rejected the repeal in July, but court rulings submitted on Cooper’s behalf prompted one councilman to reconsider.
The American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia recently sent the city a letter saying the ban “is an unconstitutional restriction of speech.”
Washington, West Virginia, resident Janie Baer spoke out against the repeal, saying God would protect the city from any lawsuits that would result from keeping the ban.
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Information from: News and Sentinel (Parkersburg, W.Va.), https://www.newsandsentinel.com
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