Amish in the News

The Allen County Sheriff's Department gave a detailed account today of the death of Sgt. Joseph Cox, 48, a 19-year deputy who died Sunday after suffering a medical emergency while on duty. Sheriff David Gladieux said Cox, 48, was investigating an accident involving a horse and buggy and an automobile about 8:30 p.m. The driver of the buggy had apparently fallen out of the buggy and the horses had taken off, running out of control, when the buggy was hit by a car. Gladieux described that night's events as hectic. Cox was one of three deputies who responded to the scene to investigate the crash and get the horses under control.

HILLSDALE COUNTY, MI - State Sen. Mike Shirkey, R-Jackson is working to improve safety on the road for areas of Hillsdale County that encounter automobile and Amish horse-and-buggy collisions. According to Shirkey, road safety concerns seem to be a big issue for the county, and he plans to speak with Amish bishops in the area to understand how they perceive the situation before working toward a solution. The county does not have a record of how often the accidents occur; however, several county officials and Amish residents find it necessary to improve the situation.

LEBANON, PA - William Kautz grew up in the Chesapeake Bay's backyard. He remembers standing in water up to his hips that was so clear he could see his feet. A few decades later, he couldn't even see his shins. Environmental activists have targeted Amish farming, human waste disposal and animal waste disposal practices as a leading cause of pollution. Meanwhile, farmers who resent the cost of laws requiring more eco-friendly agricultural practices are frustrated by rumors that the Amish don't follow the same rules.

OWINGSVILLE, KY - I know it sounds like I made up a terribly inflammatory headline... but it's not JUST inflammatory. It's true, the Girod indictment is below. Amish farmer Sam Girod of Owingsville makes 3 products: a chickweed salve, a bloodroot salve and an essential oil blend called Sine Eze. The photo of the 3 products was just taken on my iPad on my desk. You can find similar products online. In fact, you’ll find the recipes online. You can make these products in your kitchen, it’s not rocket science. A few years ago, the FDA came after Sam for labeling crimes — Sam said his salves could cure certain things and that’s a big FDA no-no. Sam immediately fixed the labels as per FDA demands.

SUGARCREEK, OH - "THE BUDGET" is the name of two newspapers, headquartered and coexisting in Sugarcreek, Ohio. One is a local newspaper, with readership and news content limited to the Sugarcreek community and environs. Budget National is another matter, entirely. Its readers and subscribers are the Old Order Amish, Amish Mennonites, Beachy Mennonites and Mennonite communities all across the United States, in Canada, South and Central America. Beyond that, the weekly 52-page broadsheet has subscribers and news reports from the rest of the world. A news source index on the front page lists submissions from Ghana, Ethiopia, England, Ireland, Liberia, Israel, and Romania. The Amish and Mennonite groups are separate groups, with differing histories, practices, life styles and degrees of liberal or conservatism, but they all share The Budget.

LANCASTER, PA - Automotive-style brakes and tubular-steel torsion bar suspension.LANCASTER, PA - Automotive-style brakes and tubular-steel torsion bar suspension. A dash console with LED components and switches for headlights, taillights and turn signals, all powered by cordless tool batteries. That Amish buggy you see traveling down the road in Lancaster County isn't in quite the time warp you might imagine. The technology keeps evolving, reports Popular Mechanics magazine, which recently interviewed a Lancaster County buggy maker about his work and the industry's latest innovations.

NORWICH, ON, CANADA - High hydro bills are a thing of the past for one man who turned off every light in his house, rejected all forms of modernity, and joined a local Amish community. “I tried everything to conserve electricity, but nothing seemed to work,” explained Jakob Yoder of Norwich, formerly known as Stan Bisla from Ajax. “I turned everything off during peak hours, used cold water to wash my clothes, insulated my windows for winter, and unplugged all of my electronic gadgets, but my bill barely budged in price.”

AUBURN, KY - Two Amish men are suing the city of Auburn, Kentucky, in Logan County, saying a city ordinance is placing a substantial burden on their freedom of religion. The ordinance, passed in 2014, requires all horses within the city of Auburn to be outfitted with equine diapers to catch their waste. The plaintiffs are members of the Old Order Swartzentruber Amish religion, widely considered the most conservative Amish order, and affixing diapers to their horses is not permitted by the Swartzentruber church. Plaintiffs Dan Mast and Emanuel Miller say they and other Amish Auburn residents carry shovels with them and clean up any waste their horses leave behind.

TUSCAWARAS, OH - Jerry and John Miller just wanted to cook breakfast over the fire. After a night of camping in their backyard in Dundee, the 11-year-old Amish twins with matching dark hair and even darker eyes, wanted to enjoy one last Memorial Day weekend activity. It’s not something Leah Miller, their mom, would normally do — take so much time to cook a meal on a weekday morning. But she was feeling different that day, so she told the boys to go get the fire ready. As Leah gathered the dishes, a loud boom suddenly rattled the house. She looked up to see a gas can sprawled 20 feet from the fire. Outside, her youngest boy was up in flames. “Jerry’s on fire!” Leah screamed.

LEBANON, PA - A search for an Amish man with a severely cut hand who walked away from a mental health facility in Lebanon County Saturday afternoon ended hours later when he was found at a Harrisburg area truck stop. Multiple police agencies in Lebanon County had been looking for Brandon D. Schmidt, 36, of Clarksdale, Mississippi, after he left the Green Pastures facility in West Cornwall Township, according to a police news release issued Saturday. The news release did not specify how Schmidt was injured other than to say he cut his left hand.

ALLEN COUNTY, IN - A third person has died from injuries suffered when a pickup truck hit an Amish buggy about 8:30 p.m. Nov. 20 at Notestine Road and Indiana 37 near New Haven, the Allen County Coroner's office announced Monday. Two young women passengers in the buggy, Rebecca Graber, 18, of Grabill and Michelle Graber, 16, of Fort Wayne, died at the scene. A second man in the buggy also was taken to the hospital for treatment of his injuries.

WOOD COUNTY, WI - It's been a year since a pickup crashed into a horse-drawn wagon in Wood County, killing a father and son near their home and illustrating the dangers for non-motorized traffic on Wisconsin roads.WOOD COUNTY, WI - It's been a year since a pickup crashed into a horse-drawn wagon in Wood County, killing a father and son near their home and illustrating the dangers for non-motorized traffic on Wisconsin roads. Since then, little has been done statewide to improve safety for these travelers, despite multiple fatal crashes in Wisconsin involving horse-drawn vehicles and bicyclists. In fact, the Legislature repealed a law and cut funding designed to make roadways safer for these "vulnerable users."

HOLMES COUNTY, OH - The owner of a farm where a massive Amish drinking party was held in September will not be charged criminally for taking part in the event, or for charging admission to young people who were rounded up in the underage drinking raid. What is being called a "large Amish party" was broken up in Holmes County, Ohio, late Saturday night and into Sunday morning resulting in around 75 adult and juvenile arrests for underage drinking.

LANCASTER, PA - Forty years ago, a widowed Amish woman and her daughter watched from their window late one night as someone in dark clothing walked up to their farmhouse near Gordonville, Lancaster County, and left a basket on the porch. Forty years later, that little Jane Doe — all grown up and raising children of her own in Lititz — hopes to find her birth family. Diane Bell has been an artist and pastry chef.

CLARK, MO - This past weekend my husband and I visited the Amish community in Clark. If you never have driven around this charming area, it's a lot like stepping back in time. In 1953, Amish families began moving into this agricultural area and buying farms. Their goal was to establish a new Amish community. Today, this is one of the largest Amish communities in Missouri, stretching to parts of Audrain, Randolph and Monroe counties.

AUBURN, KY - Amish residents of a western Kentucky town are fighting back against an ordinance requiring large animals to wear collection bags to catch their droppings, arguing that the law unfairly singles out their community.

LAWRENCE COUNTY, NY - A man wielding a pistol and a woman brandishing a knife forced an Amish man to open his safe late Saturday night. The man pushed his pistol into the chest of the Amish man, and after they had what they wanted, forced him to his knees, according to a statement from the St. Lawrence County's Sheriff's office. State police and sheriff's detectives are investigating a total of three robberies, which began a little after 7 PM. They're asking for the public's help in finding the robbers

FEASTERVILLE, PA - Lee Kaplan, the Feasterville man already facing charges for allegedly having sex with an underage Amish girl and fathering her two children was charged with additional rape counts Monday involving five of the girl's sisters. The youngest victim was 6 years old when she was sexually assaulted, Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub said at a press conference Monday in Lower Southampton.

MONTAGUE, P.E.I. - Home Hardware owner Mark Beck says they've been busy supplying new customers with lumber, hardware, and paint. They've even started stocking a specific model of straw hat. About 14 pioneer Amish families from southwestern Ontario have bought farms here this year, lured by low land prices, and settled in the communities of Dundas and Summerville. Many more families are expected.

COLDWATER, MI - There has been public outrage that the couple who took an Amish horse and buggy the wrong way down I-69 Sept. 17 were not charged with drunken driving. Michigan law does not allow that. Assistant Branch County Prosecutor Scott Smith said Michigan’s drunk driving law is very clear. As adopted in 1949, Section 257.625 of the Michigan Vehicle Code deals only with “Operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated” and does not include a horse, a horse and buggy or a walking person.

OHIO/PENNSYLVANIA - The Republican Party has been reaching out to the Amish for a number of election cycles, but saw their first real positive gains in 2012. With religious liberty—and a candidate who has made a vow to protect it for Christians a central theme of his campaign—it appears it may be paying off much more this year. There are about 70,000 potential Amish voters each in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The margin of victory for President Obama in those states was 166,000 and 310,000, respectively, in the 2012 election. So while the "Amish vote" can't necessarily swing either state on its own, it could be an indicator of a larger movement.

ARTHUR, IL - That old house sitting behind him on wheels hitched to eight Belgian Amish horses? Yep, Ervin Yoder was born in it 80 years ago. His seven brothers and sisters were raised there, too. They are to become the cornerstones of the newly established Illinois Amish Museum and Heritage Center. The Yoder home and the Schrock home, built in 1882, were nearly demolished in 1999. But thanks to the efforts of Ervin Yoder and Wilmer Otto, the president of the Illinois Amish Heritage Preservation Foundation, the homes were saved and stored near Yoder's Amish Kitchen in Arthur until Tuesday.

GLADWIN, MI - As long as he stays out of trouble for the next year, a Coleman man, Kevin D. Toner, 58, who crashed into a buggy, killing a pregnant Amish woman while he had THC in his system, won't be jailed. Toner in August pleaded guilty to one count of involuntary manslaughter in exchange for prosecutors' dismissal of operating a motor vehicle under the influence causing death.

LANSING, MI - The day that new paving went down on Southern Road - east of Fremont Road - last month, there were visible chips from hardened horseshoes from Amish buggies. The chips were clearly visible in the new blacktop, between the buggy wheel marks. State Rep. Joel Johnson (R-Clare) sponsored bills to charge a $50 registration fee for horse-drawn vehicles. The bill says the money can only be used for road repairs.

WYOMING, KY - Forrest Mast’s Kentucky congregation felt a call to plant a church where there are few Mennonites. They found that place in Wyoming — home to about 100 conservative Anabaptists in a small handful of congregations. “One of the goals of our churches is when they get to a reasonable size and financial means, we reach out,” he said. “We’ve been reaching out in the East; there are a lot of churches there, and I’ve always had this vision to start our type of churches in the West.”

MILLERSBURG, OH - About 75 people, adults and juveniles, were arrested for underage consumption of alcohol late Saturday night and early Sunday morning when local law enforcement raided a massive field party along County Road 400.

TOPEKA, IN - There is one stoplight in Topeka. It blinks red at the downtown crossroads, an indication that the 1,200 town residents are in no hurry to get from here to there. As Amish buggies trot by and bicyclists ride past on South Main Street at noon on Fridays, a large number of Muslim men gather to worship in a makeshift mosque they have created in a worn building that was once a restaurant. The mosque serves between 30 to 40 Muslim families.

MADISON, WI - Three people were arrested Monday in connection with a string of burglaries affecting numerous Amish homes in Columbia and Marquette counties, according to a release. Grant G. Pulver, 21, of Portage, Alex A. Moulton, 20, of Portage, and Dylan J. Bartaczewicz, 20, of Pardeeville, were arrested on a tentative charge of felony burglary.

FREWBURG, N.Y. - An intoxicated Frewsburg man who repeatedly tried to strike an Amish buggy and horse with his vehicle on Friday was arrested, New York State Police said. Ryan Fusco, 30, was charged with aggravated driving while intoxicate.

AKRON, OH - Supporters of presidential candidate republican Donald Trump want you get out the vote in Ohio from a group not known for participating widely in elections. They've set up an Amish PAC, a political action committee, to target the religious community. It's estimated about 70,000 Amish live in Ohio and about 17,000 of them are registered to vote. With me to talk about the outreach to the Amish is Benjamin Walters who came up with this strategy.