Nonprofits Take Stand Against Coffee Shop Owners

A local-business support group has asked that Waking Life Espresso return a loan intended to support a second location as anger mounted Monday over anonymous Internet media posts in which the coffee shop owners boasted of sexual conquests.

That request from Mountain BizWorks came the same day another nonprofit, Our VOICE, said it would reject any donations given to it by Waking Life Espresso.

Both moves come amid protests against owners Jared Rutledge, 31, and Jacob Owens, 27, who chronicled their sexual acts with women in online outlets before their identities surfaced, sparking outrage that largely has been directed toward their West Asheville, N.C. business.