With the amount of controversy that this has caused...seems a little fishy...

No Insurance-Could care less about the nature of the business but hopefully they nail the jerk that burned it down

Maybe the community will have a fundraiser to help rebuild... Wonder what kind of event one would have to raise money for a topless ds?? Maybe the gov't would help out with some sort of grant monies? OK enough of my twisted thoughts...I am sorry for this man's loss of investment and the loss of employment...kudos to the seven fire depts and any others who were called to fight this fire...thankful for safety...

No Insurance....ooo my goodness. What business owner who has people inside a building would not insure it? Yes berquis...with this controversy and just getting back from the Planning Board, does seem fishy... A business is a business no matter what kind it is. We do not have to agree about it but it did employe people who depended on it.

my thoughts exactly!

This is sad. Is this an instance of Maine being unfriendly to business?

How does someone spend $277,000 renovating a building and not insure it?

I was hoping for the strip club. Damn now what are we going to do?

Telefunkinu47, I believe Platinum is still open just off former exit 8 in Portland.

Maurice_Fleckman it is a damn long drive from Vassalboro to Portland.

jms92977, good point. I suppose all you can do now is make coffee at the house and order one of the ppv flicks, Or stay up late and watch skinamax with some tissues.

No insurance! OMG what an idiot...But then again we knew that from the fact he opened a Topless Donut shop in the middle of nowhere....

Maybe he could get some of the stimules money to rebuild. At least somebody would be getting stimmulated from it.

The work of more religious extremists?

It's Bush's fault.

gee that's too bad

bush would probely come up from kennebunkport have a few beers and check out the babs. IN fact he would probely drunk drive to do it .thay are all hypocrites you know.

Maybe he should RE-PURCHASE his home in Ellsworth that he sold.....It had a nightclub in the basement, and the _hit the went on there, all of Ellsworth knows about it. The town was glad 2 see him leave here....point #2, IDIOT...NO INSURANCE....

When we look at the history of this country and then look at other countries that our forefathers came from, we see that we are the most uptight nation in the world whe it comes to nudity. There is nothing wrong with nudity, we make it wrong. We act like it should be shame to be seen naked. We teach our children that it is wrong and that it is nasty when in fact it is a human body and a piece of art. Now I can hear the religious screamng about now, yet did God shun Adamn and Eve for not having clothes? No, He is the one who brings us to this earth nude. If it were such a bad thing we'd be born with clothing. So i ask this question......WHY DO WE AS AMERICANS HAVE TO MAKE EVERYTHING SUCH AN ISSUE?

Hmm, guess there's no reason to travel to Vasselboro anymore. Shame, I imagine a number of locals with no ties to the coffee shop were making good money off publicity that had gotten around - gas stations, restaurants. But this is why Maine is poor - everyone is averse to business. Wind mills, factories, retail stores. "Not in my backyard!" they yell. Then wonder why their property taxes are so high and all of their children graduate college and move out of state.

Just the beginning; after the abortionist's killing; of right wing extremism. Hope it is stopped before going any further. Too much fiery language inciting people to take the law into their own hands; even in our churches.

Nice to see the true colors of some Mainers..No one should be happy about it..If you are you are sick minded..its your choice not to agree with others..but to do something like this..I hope they find out(if set) and whoever did it loses everything they have..besides going to jail..maybe they have a family that will suffer the way the now un-employed workers families will..sad..and sick.

No doubt, arson. Most of the local Yokels never liked the cafe and its entertainment.

Nice to see that the American Taliban is thriving in Maine. They don't have the brains to understand they'd be more at home in Pakistan.

This is really a shame that people had found jobs they enjoyed and now they are gone. I'm glad I got to visit it at least once before it burned.

Vassalboro, 97% of your population needs to get a clue. Here are your Ps and Qs, mind them.

Why wouldn't he have any insurance?

Damn, I always stopped for a cup of coffee on my way to Togus. Well, on the way back too. Seems I had a lot of problems lately. And the Bangor Clinic was just too busy. Guess I'll have to stay well and buy my coffee at Timmy Ho's.

But where will the people with tatoos go for coffee now?

Off to the head to the little fire bug. We need our topless coffee!

So close to New Brunswick?

i think if you read the story again the hotel that they bought was not insured...

To those that feel anything should go, I agree. I think we should allow any form of entertainment as long as it makes money. After all, think of the possibilities. A chain of topless coffee shops, pedophile burger joints, wife-beater taco stands. Anything for money. However, it is suspicious to me that a controversial business burns down while the owner has an alibi. We all know tat no busoness owner in Maine would tourch his own business for profit. How were the profits, anyway.

Just wondering...

If it was foul play, it's the work of someone more than just a right winger. I'm conservative, and could never fathom burning down a business... Especially with people inside. Someone wanted to cause quite the damage and didn't have much reguard for the lives within the establishment. Actually I wouldn't mind having a coffee there.... It would be a good reason for a drive south - hope he rebuilds. As for the person(s) that did this (if in fact it was arson), they should be looked at for attempted murder of whoever was inside, if and when apprehended.

unlistedid:

"Crabtree said he spent $277,000 buying and renovating the former motel in Vassalboro, just north of Augusta. It wasn’t insured, he said."

HippyKicker, even your alias reflects the intolerance and ignorance that has engulfed the right wing in this country! I'm very glad to hear you would never burn down a business, what an Angel you must be! Now, kicking a hippy, that's all just good hillbilly sport! And let's murder some Doctor's! Wghat's teh use of having all tehse guuns around if we don't put them to some good use?

The American Taliban thrices, and they are too ignorant to even understand the irony.

If I heard this correctly he had insurance.... it just doe not cover the structure for FIRE.. In order to have a operating license he would have to have liability insurance (i think) to cover his employees and patrons and Workers Comp as well. I can't believe owning this outright he didn't have fire insurance,but maybe no insurer would insure this building for 1 reason or another.

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I am a christian. Catholic to be precise and I could careless about the type of business. This place is not harming anyone and those who are against it probably would not oppose if he had it in Bangor. So waht if it is their back yards... Don't frequent it if you don't like it. I don't like lobsters, but I don't go around trying to get the pounds closed down These places go back to the early stages of our country.. some people need to get their panties out of a bunch and keep their noses in their own business.

The American Taliban are up to their old tricks. They kill Family Planning Doctors and the burn down toppless coffee shops.

I hope he builds a bew strip joint.

AWWWWWW!!! Couldn't have happened to a nicer business! hahahaha

I hope the arson investigators don't leave a stone unturned on this one ! If there was ever a fire that had an extremely high probability of being intentionally set --- this is it.

This is not good. But why the hell didn't the owner have insurance on the place? That is just stupid. Hopefully he will reopen and this time buy insurance.

I hope he rebuilds in a town that is out of the 15th century and welcomes him and his tax/payroll dollars.Christian conservatives are murderers and arsonists

and have never done anything useful in any country.They are nothing but a cancer on humanity.

However,if Crabtree had over a quarter million dollars to build and no security cameras,no insurance,no watchman-WHY?These would've been inexpensive fixes.

Get the FBI,ATF and whoever else needs to be involved and put this clown away for life.Too bad Maine doesn't have the death penalty.Wimps just like Kansas.

Another den of sin is gone.

Why do people always resort to mayhem only in God's name? I am reminded of the words of a song sung by an Irishman named Patsy Watchorn, and written by Frank Hennesey:

As the Belfast evening thunders the Lord looks down and wonders

Will my children ever live as one

From the church He hears them calling as his bitter tears are falling

For this, he said, I gave my only Son

If you take exception, then take exception but don't blame God for almost killing this man's family including a couple of infant's.

As soon as I saw the teaser on CNN, I knew just where this happened. I think this is a sad day in America when we have to resort to arson. It would have been pretty easy to zone him out of business if one was really so opposed. But this extremism at its most extreme. Nazi's for God?

yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you don't like places like this one don't go there.People that complain the most about places like that are more than likely closet perverts.Wow...pretty much a whole state full of closet perverts.

As a firefighter and a business owner, I don't like this kind of activity. An arsonist is the lowest form of coward. He not only endangers the lives of those living at the residence but also endangers the llives of the "friends & neighbors" who respond to extinguish the blaze. This could quite possibly be the sons or brothers of some of the posters who have sympathy and encouragement for the arsonist. Consider how you tell your spouse that the arson fire you set ended by the death of your son or best friend who perished in a building collapse while fulfilling his civic responsibility to his community.

Timothy good post and agree....

LongGoneNative - I thought my name was a fun way to express my political standpoint... not a literal designation as someone who commits acts of violence against a certain political group. Throwing stones huh? What about the extremeist liberal groups, most often designated as hippies, who do violence toward animal testing labs, political institutions, military installations, etc. What are they other than domestic terrorists themselves?

I am far from a murderer or a hillbilly as you suggest - I am not an angel, but I pride myself in being one of the good guys.

Tell me, what deep meaning does your name have - can one read your standpoints or your heartfelt custom from your hallowed screen-name on BDN... ?

i am a God fearing christian woman who believes it is not my place to judge what other people do...these are people with families...they are moms,dads,brothers.sisters and are still loved by God and i say they without sin cast the frist stone...it breaks my heart to know that if that ambulance had not happend by that there could be 2 innocent babies dead or babies without mommys or daddys...there is no excuse for this no matter what your beliefs on the business...i hope who ever did this is found soon and punished to the full extent of the law

Not that smart of a business man to invest that much money and not have fire insurance.

HippyKicker, I love to repeat myself, and that's all I need to do in response:

Even your alias reflects the intolerance and ignorance that has engulfed the right wing in this country. The American Taliban thrives, and they are too ignorant to even understand the irony.

I read on the CBS site they are begging as I call it for money to rebuild the place. It is wrong to have burnt the place. No one was/is forcing ye to go in to the place. IPlaces have a wear shirt and shoes or no service. Topless? They have to wear a top when not in the place. This makes mo sense to have burnt the place down. It was not the right thing. The persons hurt themselves and not the business. I as a blibd person see no need for this,

Gee, strange I saw Miss Perry patronizing the place on more than one occasion.