Amish in the News

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.

INDIANA CO., PA — State police reported an underage DUI incident involving five Amish men last month in Indiana County. The four passengers, 20-year-old Andrew D. Coblentz, 18-year-old William W. Byler, 20-year-old Raymond E. Kurtz, and a 16-year-old known juvenile, received citations related to their alcohol consumption and possession.

BETHANY, MO - An Amish man who admitted to poisoning his wife to death 10 years ago was sentenced to 25 years in prison Monday. Samuel Borntreger, 39, admitted to poisoning his former wife, Anna Borntreger, 26, over the course of about a month in 2006 while he lived near Bethany, Missouri, in Harrison County. In a written statement, Borntreger admitted to using antifreeze and battery acid to bring about his wife’s death.

WISCONSIN - In 1989, in a cornfield in southeastern Pennsylvania, Holmes Morton, MD, built a timber-frame clinic to care for the area's Old Order Amish and Mennonite children, many of whom had poorly understood, complex medical problems due to inherited disorders. Dr. Morton spent his first day in Wisconsin at a community health event at the Scenic Bluffs Community Health Center in Norwalk, near one of the more concentrated Amish settlements in the state.

INDIANA - A study published Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2015, explored reasons why asthma is so uncommon among Amish communities, where children play barefoot in dairy barns and farm fields. Experts have long recognized that exposure to farm animals – and the microbes associated with them – protects children from asthma.

CANTON, MO - A Lewis County man is facing a sex abuse charge for an alleged incident in 1997, according to the sheriff's office. Henry Schwartz, 53, of Canton, was arrested Wednesday on a first-degree sodomy charge.

PITTSBURGH, PA — Pennsylvania police are investigating a case of alleged animal cruelty after photos of the incident surfaced on Facebook. The woman who made the post claims the horse wasn’t able to pull a wagon full of watermelons, and the man began beating the animal.

LANCASTER COUNTY, PA -14-year-old Amish girl 'gifted' to man 33 years her senior in exchange for financial help: court hears. "Fourteen," the young woman responded when asked: How old was she when she began having sex with Lee Kaplan, a man 33 years her senior? She was 14 when she moved in with him, she testified, 15 when their first child was born, and 17 when the second one came. Police said the adults claimed the teenager was given to Kaplan at 14 in exchange for his having helped the Stoltzfuses out of financial ruin, but Savilla Stoltzfus' attorney has disputed that account. He also has said he will seek to sever the cases.

DRUMORE, PA - Father, 2 sons charged in sex assaults of 3 girls at Drumore Twp. home. Ephraim Zook and Daniel Zook are each accused of assaults involving one girl while Ivan Zook allegedly assaulted two of the girls, court papers show. The girls ranged in age from 6 to 14 at the time of the alleged assaults.

DECATUR, IN - More than 100 Amish men, many of them bishops in their church, along with a handful of members from the English community, attended a public informational session at the Berne Senior Center Monday night on the possible implementation of a wheel tax in Adams County. What is commonly referred to as a wheel tax is actually two different taxes: a wheel tax and an excise surtax. The excise surtax applies to passenger vehicles, motorcycles, motorbikes and trucks weighing less than 11,000 pounds. The wheel tax applies to larger vehicles like semis, buses, recreational vehicles and trailers.

HOPEWELL, PA - If at first you don’t succeed at harassing a farmer out of business, try again…and again…and again. That has been the tack the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Hopewell Township have taken since 2012 against Amish farmer and FTCLDF member Chris Zook. All four actions against the farmer have stemmed from Chris Zook’s building of a new barn on his farm to replace the original one that had been destroyed in a 2011 fire. Hopewell Township issued Zook a permit to rebuild his barn, but both the Township and the Commonwealth objected to Zook using part of the barn as a retail store.

LANCASTER, PA. - Medical professionals are trying to minimize the number of farm fatalities in Lancaster County. The county leads the state in fatal farm incidents with more than 60 deaths since 2000. In 2011, a team from Lancaster General Hospital visited an Amish farm to see what was causing so many injuries. Children, they found, were falling through barn hay holes, rectangular openings in the structure’s upper level that provide ventilation and are used in the feeding of cattle below. The holes can be as high as 10 to 15 feet off the ground.

In 2009, the Amish community was rocked by the murder of one of their own, Barbara Weaver, in Apple Creek, Ohio. Even more shocking was when her husband, Eli, was charged with aggravated murder. It was only the third time an Amish man was suspected of killing his wife in the 250 years the Amish have lived in America. On the day of her murder, Weaver’s alibi was solid — he was fishing with friends. But neighbors and family kept mentioning one name: Barb Raber.

ELKHART, IN - Nearly 400 members of Elkhart County's Amish community recently learned about the dangers, warning signs and law enforcement efforts related to the illegal drug epidemic. "They are simply being proactive and I applaud them for that," said State Police Sgt. Trent Smith, spokesman for the Bremen post. "This is something that they have done in the past with other agencies. The difference being the entire community was present, parents and children at the same time."

HARRISBURG, PA – An Amish couple have won an appeal against the Sugar Grove Sewer Authority that will allow them to connect to the township’s sewer system in the way that is least restrictive to their religious beliefs. The recent order by the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania follows an appeal submitted by Sugar Grove Township residents Barbara L. Yoder and Joseph I. Yoder.

SOUTH AMERICA - The Amish branched out last year with new settlements in Bolivia, Argentina and Canada as their numbers continued to grow and a high percentage of young people opted to remain within the religious community, which eschews many modern conveniences. The sect's total current population is about 308,000 and has grown about 18 percent over the past five years.

NAPPANEE, IN — It's a place you may not expect to hear about substance abuse. But there's a push to get the word out in the Amish community. "There is drug problems among the plain community," said a community member. "I know of a young gal that's actually being challenged right now because of that."

FEASTERVILLE, PA - Lee Kaplan was arrested at his home in Pennsylvania on Thursday morning after child welfare workers and police conducted a surprise visit based on an anonymous tip. They found girls between the ages of 6 months and 18 years living in the house in Bucks County. All are believed to be Amish. Daniel Stoltzfus told investigators he and his wife were the parents of the 18-year-old, whom they "gifted" to Kaplan as thanks for helping his family out of "financial ruin", according to Kaplan's criminal complaint.

RICHMOND, IN - Amish communities from three Indiana counties met Monday night to talk about a common problem: heroin. Amish elder Ben Stoltzfus says the problem of opioid addiction hasn't spared his otherwise isolated community.

LANCASTER, Pa. — A Nottingham man will serve at least one month in prison for causing one of the most "bizarre" DUI crashes officials say they have ever seen. Thomas Candler Felts was convicted of giving Amish teens beer and yelling "Rumspringa" at them before crashing into their buggy with his car at a Turkey Hill store on Route 272 in August.