Amish in the News

Eau Claire, Wisconsin — A judge is set to hear cases this week involving four Amish families who failed to obtain certain building permits, on the grounds that complying would require them to install electronic equipment that violates their religious beliefs.

Dunkirk, New York - An 8-year-old Amish boy suffered a gunshot wound to the chest this morning in Leon when one of his brothers accidentally shot a .22-caliber gun at him while they were playing, according to Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Capt. Robert Buchhardt.

Akron, Ohio - A court-appointed guardian is dropping her attempt to force an 11-year-old Amish girl with leukemia to resume chemotherapy after she and her parents fled their home to avoid treatment.

New Wilmington, Pennylvania - After two crashes involving Amish buggies in the past three days, safety on the roads is a top priority in Western Pennsylvania's Amish country. People living in those communities say too many times, drivers simply don't pay attention. Or they make risky moves and don't practice enough caution when passing buggies.

Jerusalem - Amish preacher Roy Yoder normally marks Thanksgiving the traditional way in his Montana home. But this year, he’s celebrating Hanulkah instead — in Israel. Instead of tucking in to a Turkey meal, he nourished himself on falafel, and instead of reflecting on the pilgrims, he spent the day learning about the story of the Maccabees.

Millersburg, Ohio - Drug addiction motivated them to break into two Amish homes while the residents were out at church, and now a local man and woman are looking at prison. Emanuel A. Miller, 31, of 9275 Township Road 657, Dundee, and Jolliene R. Sutton, 32, of 605 E. South St., Wooster, both pleaded guilty in Holmes County Common Pleas Court to two counts of burglary.

Ronks, Pa. - Police say a horse pulling an Amish buggy in Ronks, Lancaster County was shot by someone in a passing vehicle. It later died. According to officials, an Amish buggy carrying five passengers was traveling north in the 100 block of North Ronks Road at around 9 p.m.

DEKALB — The sweet smell of cooked apples fills the air of Verna Hershberger’s tidy Amish kitchen. Atop a wood-fired stove, apple chunks simmer inside large metal pots, making the kitchen warm and cozy on this cool fall day. Nearby, Mrs. Hershberger’s daughter, Fannie, 16, uses a hand-cranked metal sieve to separate seeds and peels from the mushy apple mixture. Several quart-sized canning jars line the counter behind her, ready to be filled with freshly made applesauce.

A group of filmmakers have teamed together to create a film that tells the chilling story of an armed gunman who walked into the one-room West Nickel Mines Amish School in 2006 killing five young schoolgirls and injuring five more before taking his own life.

The Amish and others who drive horse-drawn buggies on Allen County roads could soon be paying more for the privilege. Hoping to recover some of the expense of maintaining and repairing roads damaged by the hooves and buggies, the County Commissioners on Friday are expected to consider increasing licensing fees for the first time in several years.

A local man accused of viciously beating a star of television series "Amish Mafia" was arrested Wednesday morning. Imir R. Williams had been a fugitive since Sunday, when Strasburg police charged him with felony aggravated assault for beating Esther Schmucker on Oct. 31.

Geauga County, Ohio - An Amish man has admitted sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in Parkman Township. Raymond F. Miller, 18, of Parkman Township, pleaded guilty Monday in Geauga County Common Pleas Court to rape. He now faces between three and 11 years in prison when he is sentenced in six to eight weeks by Judge Forrest W. Burt.

Cleveland, Ohio - A 71-year-old man found guilty of harassing Amish women has been sentenced to three years probation which requires him to stay away from local members of the religion and out of the area they live in south of Owen Sound.

Ohio — The alarming saga of Andy and Anna Hershberger and their 10 year old daughter Sarah, who is now in complete remission from lymphoblastic lymphoma, an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, has taken yet another dramatic turn. A heated court battle has been ongoing for months since Andy and Anna decided to forgo a second round of chemotherapy treatments for Sarah at Akron Children's Hospital in Ohio after witnessing her terrible suffering and her continual pleading for the treatments to stop. Andy and Anna opted instead for the guidance of another physician at a wellness center along with the use of natural medicines. At that point, Akron Children's Hospital sued for medical guardianship of Sarah to force the chemo to continue, guardianship that was granted by an appeals court earlier this month.

Many people have misconceptions about the Amish and their way of life. While many people know that Amish are frugal, one of the biggest misconceptions due to this is that they maintain a way of life that’s reminiscent of “the good old days” and that doesn’t rely on money. However, many of the beliefs people hold about Amish culture are nothing more than myths. Here are a few different money related myths about the Amish:

Pennsylvania's laws governing non-nurse midwives are so "murky and disjointed" that the safety of mothers and their newborn babies is at risk, a Lancaster County investigative grand jury is contending. In a report issued this week, that jury and District Attorney Craig W. Stedman are urging Gov. Tom Corbett, the state Health Department and the Legislature to tighten the regulation of such midwives, who now operate without licensing or hardly any government oversight.

COLUMBUS––The nationally covered trial of a group of Amish involved in a forced beard-cutting against other Amish members made an impression across the county, but some Ohio judges recently learned about complicated realities behind the community. Highland County Magistrate Cynthia Williams was one of around 50 Ohio judges and magistrates who learned about the Amish community during an Ohio Supreme Court Judicial College course. The group traveled to the heart of Amish country to Berlin in Holmes County where about 45 percent of the county’s population, or 30,000 people, are Amish. “I’m overwhelmed with their knowledge of our culture and how little we know about them,” Williams said.

SPENCERVILLE, IN - The Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration (IOSHA) has handed down more than $4,000 in fines toward the Amish pallet factory Timberline Crating, located near Spencerville. This comes several months after a 15-year-old girl’s arm was cut off by a woodworking machine and the state cited the factory for a dozen child labor violations.

A couple with Mennonite beliefs has filed a countersuit against the Iowa Civil Rights Commission after a complaint was filed against them for refusing to host a same-sex marriage at their wedding venue. Dick and Betty Odgaard's lawyer says the Civil Rights Commission is seeking to force the couple to host same-sex ceremonies at Görtz Haus Gallery, which 'violates' their beliefs and is in breach of their civil rights. In August, the Odgaards turned Lee Stafford and his partner Jared away from the Görtz Haus Gallery in Grimes, Iowa after discovering they hoped to hold a gay wedding.

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania — Among the flowers and plants in Marie Monville’s sunny yard sits a rosebush, a gift from her first husband, Charlie. A few years ago, Monville painstakingly unearthed the roots and transplanted the bush from her old house 10 miles away - a house that Charlie had thrown into tumult and grief. The bush’s prickles recall the pain she and her family have endured, Monville said, and its peach-colored blossoms offer a yearly reminder that God creates new life from old. After years of silence, Monville is now telling a story herself. It’s the story of how a milkman’s daughter became a murderer’s wife, and how she found a divine calling after a devastating tragedy.

An Anabaptist publication says the television show "Amish Mafia" is a "bigoted attack on Amish identity" that shamelessly exploits recent tragedies including the Nickel Mines massacre to gain ratings. The publication, the Mennonite World Review, calls "Amish Mafia" the latest and most disparaging of a string of similar productions that degrade Amish identity. "The time for these shows to stop was years ago. But Amish Mafia enters new territory. And the difference lies in what's real and what's fake. While the show portrays the obviously fake and clownish criminal antics of its Amish and Mennonite actors, it despicably makes use of the real-life Nickel Mines school massacre and recent violent attacks on Amish families by an Ohio cult to supplement the entertainment," the Mennonite World Review states.

In Clarion County’s Licking Township there are vibrant green hills, windy narrow roads and traffic signs posted just as much for the trucks and tractors as for the horses and buggies. It's a small, rural farming community north of Pittsburgh. When you pull up to Emmanuel Schmidt’s home, you see acres of land, his woodworking shop and carriages. The 49-year-old Amish farmer knows Obamacare is coming, but he doesn’t quite know what that means. "I’ve wondered, I’ve really wondered what’s going to happen with the health care, I don’t know," he said.

Pa. — Police say a man stole a cash box from a roadside farm stand on Saturday afternoon, but was caught by police a short time later. East Lampeter Township police said they responded to a report of a heavy set man who spent a long time ordering a lot of produce and talking to the Amish woman tending the stand along the 2800 block of Irishtown Road around 1 p.m. When she walked away for a moment, he grabbed the cash box and fled in a blue Scion TC coupe, according to police.

ASHTABULA– A father and son have plead not guilty to 13 felonious assault charges after police said they allegedly shot at a van filled with Amish teens, seriously injuring two. Kenneth and Michael Jameson of Huntley Road in Ashtabula were arraigned Monday and remain free on a $250,000 bond. The shooting happened in July, when the teens went to Jameson’s property around 11 in the evening to get items they had in a storage area.

On September 14, 2013 at approximately 3:10 PM the Sauk County Communications Center was notified of a child that had drowned at a residence of an Amish family on STH 154 in the Township of Washington just outside of the Village of Hillpoint. Sauk County Sheriff’s Deputies, Hillpoint First Responders, and Reedsburg Ambulance Service were immediately sent to the scene. The preliminary investigation revealed that a 2 year old boy, who did reside at this farm, was playing outside when his mother briefly lost sight of him and began to look for him. She did find him a short time later floating face down in a water tank. Resuscitation efforts were not successful and the child was pronounced dead at the scene by the Sauk County Coroner Office.

An Amish West Farmington man was sentenced 20 years to life in prison Monday for sexually assaulting seven girls between 11 and 13 years old. Daniel Miller, 47, of state Route 534, pleaded guilty as charged Monday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to five counts of first-degree felony rape that carried life-in-prison maximum sentences, one count of second-degree felony sexual battery and 10 counts of third-degree felony gross sexual imposition.

A three-year-old Amish boy died Wednesday afternoon after he was run over by the trailer of a horse-drawn wagon in Seneca County. Lester Schumucker and his brothers Daniel, 10, and Victor, 6, were riding on a wagon driven by their father Chris Schumucker Jr., 36, of Junius about 4 p.m., said Lt. Michael Schell of the Seneca County Sheriff’s Office.

Many outsiders assume the Amish reject all new technology. But that's not true. One Amish man in Lancaster County, Pa., checks his voicemail about four times a day. His shop is equipped with a propane-powered forklift, hydraulic-powered saws, cordless drills, and a refrigerated tank where milk from dairy cows is stored. The difference between Amish people and most other Americans is the deliberation that takes place before deciding whether to embrace a new technology. Many Americans assume newer technology is always better, and perhaps even inherently good.

PARADISE — Police say four people were injured, one critically, and a horse was killed after a minivan collided with the animal in central Pennsylvania. The (Lancaster) Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era says the minivan was heading west on Route 30 in Paradise Township in Lancaster County. State police said the driver apparently didn't see a horse running east in the same lane and struck the animal head-on, killing it, at about 11:30 p.m. Sunday.

(ORLEANS) - An Amish man was killed in a sawmill accident Monday afternoon. According to Orange County Sheriff's Department Public Information Officer Bill Fullington, 23-year-old Jacob Stutzman slipped and fell, landing on a moving saw blade.