Coshocton Officials Plead for Strip Club and Church to Stop Protesting Each Other

The battle between the Warsaw Church in Coshocton County and the Foxhole strip club is one steeped in history, breasts, anger, and determination. For eight long years, topless protests and religious protests have gone head-to-head in a war for the county's soul (and yours, we suppose, in a roundabout fashion) by way of public demonstrations that have garnered a healthy dose of media attention (including on these very pages over the years.)

Coshocton County officials have really had enough — of the bitterness, of the negative attention, of police having to stand guard at the protests, and for their otherwise swell little slice of Ohio showing up in Google search results with pictures of topless strippers walking around in the street.

According to Coshocton Tribune, law director Bob Skelton, in a letter cosigned by the prosecutor and others, has asked the two sides to please, please, please just stop already.

"These protests are becoming a little more escalated, and we're just worried about violence breaking out," Skelton said. "The protests are becoming more personal and more problematic, so we felt the need to plead with both sides to at least stop for a while."

Skelton's letter states Coshocton County is rebounding from tough economic times and is competing to attract new jobs to the community. However, possible tourists and employers, along with the media, see the county defined by the dispute between the church and the strip club.

Back to your respective corners, combatants.