Amish in the News

DOVER, OH - Marlene C. Miller was able to forgive the father who beat her and the mother who let him after she gave her life over to God. Her conversion occurred after her Amish husband’s brother had spoken to her about eternity. She was washing dishes, she recalled, when her sin began weighing on her. “I asked God, ’Where will I go when I die? I heard the answer in my heart: hell,” she told an audience at Dover Public Library recently.

REBER, NY - Midnight is dark in this remote stretch of fertile landscape, where country lanes creep through fields ringed with misty mountains. Motorists must combat a thicket of possible difficulties that only magnify at the crepuscular hour, including snowdrifts, wild animals, single-lane bridges and hairpin corners along unpaved roads with low visibility. In the small pocket where the Amish have planted roots — at least three settlements in Westport, Essex and Reber — numerous signs warn motorists of variables: deer, snowmobiles, horseback riders, tractors, firetrucks and diesel trucks. But there are no warnings for the buggies, which are jet black and are not outfitted with headlights or the orange triangle displayed on other slow-moving vehicles — only the lanterns.

MONTOUR, PA - A member of the Amish sect allegedly indecently assaulted two girls several times over a more than six-year period. Amos Stoltzfus Lapp, 43, of 170 Hillside Road, faces two counts of aggravated indecent assault of a child, two counts of aggravated indecent assault, three counts of indecent assault, three counts of corruption of minors and six counts of indecent assault. Police allege the assaults occurred between Feb. 1, 2007, through Aug. 21, 2013.

GEAUGA, OH - Chipmunk Lane in Burton Township is normally a quiet street, but that peace was shattered for William Yoder and his family several weeks ago. "We came into the driveway, and I seen the tire tracks and the ruts in my yard," Yoder said. "My wife tells me that both front doors were standing open . So I walked into the master bedroom and saw the nightstand open. I told her to check her purses and both of them were gone," Yoder said. Geauga County Sheriff’s deputies said 39-year-old Lisa Bishop, of Montville Township, is responsible.

MIDDLEFIELD, OH - A group of Amish taxi drivers, who serve the Amish in Middlefield, Ohio claim, in some cases, the Ohio State Highway Patrol is unfairly pulling them over for safety checks if they see Amish passengers in their transport vans. Dale Eloph, who transports Amish passengers 10,000 miles every month, believes multiple drivers have been pulled over without probable cause, simply because Amish passengers can be seen inside the vehicles.

AROOSTOOK, ME - Hoping to avoid seeing a legal confrontation between the Amish and state government, Rep. Dave McCrea, D-Fort Fairfield, wants to let Amish community members hunt wearing red rather than blaze orange in accordance with their religious customs. Dozens of Amish families have settled in Aroostook County and other parts of Maine in the last decade, and they now operate farms, carpentry shops, bakeries and other businesses. While they avoid most kinds of modern technology, they do participate in one of Maine’s oldest traditions: hunting, with firearms.

SEYMOUR, IA - Rebuilding is well underway on farms in Wayne County, after an EF-2 tornado struck Monday night. The twister also damaged the school and homes in Seymour. Four Amish farms as far as six miles southwest of town were damaged. Vernon Mullet's farm had three buildings destroyed, including his house, a barn, and a huge shop used to build

BELLEVILLE, PA - One woman was injured when the Amish buggy in which she was traveling was hit with a BB or similar projectile. According to the release, officers were dispatched Tuesday to the area of Trella Street in Belleville. A woman passenger said she and the buggy were hit by a BB or similar projectile while the buggy was traveling toward South Penn Street.

LANCASTER, PA - On Tuesday, a man riding a bicycle exposed himself to young Amish children who were walking home at 3:15 p.m. from Forest Hill Amish School in Upper Leacock Township, near Leola. He approached the children on West Center Square Road, just west of Forest Hill Road, while the children were still within sight of their school, East Lampeter Township police said.

LANCASTER, PA - Lancaster County is home to the United States premier center for academic research into Amish and other Plain Sect culture, and it's expanding. Two wings totaling about 3,500 square feet will be added to Elizabethtown College's Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies, increasing its size by 60 percent.

HUNTINGTON TWP, OH - When Levi Shetler and his friend and work partner Jon Swartzentruber were hit by a driver Jan. 18 in an accident that left Swartzentruber dead, it was the 14th time Shetler was hit while traveling in an Amish buggy. Shetler, 54, of Huntington Township, is recovering from the crash on state Route 58 and looks remarkably unscathed for a man who has had so many brushes with death. He’s attending outpatient physical therapy, is up and moving and a neighbor drives him to appointments. He said this accident was by far the worst of the 14, and ligaments in his neck and other parts of his body cause him constant pain.

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.