A Salina burger restaurant has plans to finish its controversial mural after a legal battle with the city winds down.
Steve Howard, owner of the Cozy Inn, didn't give it much though in 2023 when he decided to paint a mural on the side of his restaurant. The City of Salina, however, decided the image was more of a billboard than a mural and took legal action to stop the work. And the painting of a large hamburger on the side of the Cozy Inn building has been left undone ever since.
Until this week.
Howard has plans to finish the mural this week after a federal judge ruled in November that the city violated Howard's First Amendment rights by attempting to stop the mural. The legal fight ins't over, though. The City of Salina has appealed that decision, which will now send the case to the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. If that court's decision is appealed, the case would then go to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The City has faced backlash over the legal fight since it has spent thousands of dollars to wage the legal battle. As for Howard, he says, if the court rules against him, he'll just paint over the mural.
