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GALATIA, IL -- A family living near in the Harco area says a neighbor shot their dog from a moving horse-drawn buggy in front of their home. Saturday, some members of the Walker family living on Brown Road heard the sound of a buggy going past their house. It's not an unusual sound, according to Hillary Walker, because several of their neighbors are Amish. 

Diane Bell is still sworn to secrecy so far as the details of her quest for blood relatives is concerned — but she finally knows when her story will air. Bell’s episode on TLC’s “Long Lost Family” will air at 8 p.m. Dec. 11, she revealed Thursday. The reality series seeks to reunite relatives who, for whatever reason, have been parted.

I am a former Amish from Ohio. Growing up it seemed life was simple; everything was black and white. Surrounded by others of various beliefs, we just knew we were the ones who got it right. Others were out to mislead us, and we needed to resist. It seemed that isolating ourselves would hush those others who taught things that threatened our "Amishness."  I was born in 1938 and raised in Holmes County, Ohio. I went to school at Buena Vista school, which was closed in 1957. My father decided to move to Canada at that time as some of our people, the Troyer Amish branch, had already begun a settlement in Ontario. There are several different types of Amish around Ontario. In Amish there are degrees of "Amishness," and we would have been near the lowest with Swartzrntruber Amish at the bottom.

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SHERIDAN, MI - Funeral services are Friday for three Amish children killed last Sunday when their family’s horse-drawn buggy was hit from behind by a pickup truck. Cameron Martin, 11, Kayla Martin, 9, and Kendra Martin, 7, were heading to worship services when the accident occurred near Sheridan in Montcalm County.  Lux and Schnepp Funeral Home in Carson City said services are 9:30 a.m. Friday at the Vickeryville Old Order Mennonite Church on the corner of Sloan Road and M-57. Visitation is 1 to 5 p.m. today at Leonard Schrock’s home, 7042 Vickeryville Rd., Sheridan.

Reuben Kauffman had seen his father cry only once. Then came Feb. 20, 2012, when Kauffman walked into the kitchen of his family’s Wisconsin farm home. His father sat at the dining table he helped build, reading a well-used Bible. A kerosene lamp dangled from the ceiling. Kauffman’s mother prepared scrambled eggs and homemade granola. The spartan kitchen was full of wonderful memories for Kauffman, one of nine children. The cinnamon rolls his mother made were treats that remain unmatched. The mashed potatoes and chicken were just as good.

WOOSTER, OH - The annual Buckeye Book Fair is one of the biggest book events in Ohio with 100 Ohio authors, illustrators and photographers to sign copies of their new books for readers of all ages.  The 30th anniversary Buckeye Book Fair will be held on Saturday, Nov. 4 from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Fisher Auditorium (1680 Madison Ave) in Wooster. 

My name is Rhoda Brubaker, and I was born and raised in an Old Order Mennonite community; most might know my community best as the Black Bumper Mennonites. Growing up, I learned about the Word of God, was taught to “walk my talk,” and knew that following God was important. Unfortunately, however, both of my parents were mentally ill. Although they did their best, my siblings and I were emotionally neglected because of their illness. I always blamed my problems on my Mennonite upbringing, but it wasn’t until I was thirty years old that I realized my problems were not Mennonite related, but rather, the result of human ailments. Surprisingly, my Mother did validate my relationship and walk with God. Because of her mental state, I can see that the validation was truly a gift from God.

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I didn’t really take time to consider what I liked about the Amish culture while growing up in it, but now, looking back, I realize that I enjoyed the closeness of my Old Order community; everyone helped each other out when a need arose. I also farmed and appreciate the fact that I was taught the importance of work ethic. Growing up, I can’t say that my relationship with my parents was good, but it wasn’t bad either. In our family, there wasn’t anything that I would call closeness; we pretty much just lived and worked. I eventually decided to leave the only culture that I knew because I noticed that some of the things the Amish were practicing went directly against scripture. In addition, certain scriptures were also being overlooked and not practiced at all.

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NEW WILMINGTON, PA - A New Wilmington Amish teen is facing charges for allegedly driving his horse-drawn buggy while under the influence of alcohol. New Wilmington Borough police arrested John J. Byler, 19, of 220 Pine Lane, on Oct. 1 after he allegedly failed two field sobriety tests. An officer pulled over the buggy around 7:30 p.m. Oct. 1 because the buggy did not have on its flashing lights in the dark, according to a criminal complaint. The officer, who was stopped on stationary patrol on Route 208 at Park Avenue, flashed the headlights of his cruiser four times at the buggy to inform the driver that his lights were not on.

The reason I am writing this is my wife and I were with the Beachy Mennonite Church for about twenty years, and it was very hard on my dear father and mother when we left the Amish Gma (church). They came to visit us soon after, and admonished us out of love, and asked us to come back. But we hardened our hearts against parental instruction and against conviction. We stopped our ears against the truth and shut our eyes against Light. In other words, we were fighting against God and against our own souls.

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DAUPHIN COUNTY, PA - An Amish man said nothing Thursday before a Dauphin County judge sentenced him to 1 to 2 years in state prison for molesting two girls six years ago. Daniel Ray Fisher's family and the members of his Old Order church weren't silent, however. They told Judge Deborah E. Curcillo they forgave the Mifflin Township man years ago, after Fisher confessed his "sins" to Amish bishops in northern Dauphin County.

Whitefield, ME - The hot topic at the Tuesday, Oct. 10 meeting of the Whitefield Board of Selectmen was the Wednesday, Oct. 4 rear-ending of a horse-and-buggy on East River Road by a Whitefield resident driving an SUV. (See “SUV strikes horse-and-buggy in Whitefield, no injuries”.) Several members of the public joined the ongoing meeting at the Whitefield fire station shortly before 6:30 p.m., the time stated on the meeting’s agenda for discussion of the crash. Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Rand Maker, who had been invited to attend the meeting by Aaron Miller, administrative assistant to the Whitefield Board of Selectmen, arrived at about the same time.

LICKING, MO - The story of abrupt change in this small south-central Missouri town starts with the water tower. A giant baseball is painted on top as a fading reminder of when Rawlings was king. As sporting goods manufacturing dried up, a $60 million maximum-security prison opened in 2000. The South Central Regional Correctional Center doubled the local population to more than 3,000 people.

GRABILL, IN – At least two cows were killed after fire ripped through an Amish barn outside of Grabill late Thursday night, according to Northeast Fire officials. The fire was reported in the 11400 block of Witmer Road shortly before 11 p.m. Firefighters arrived to find a large barn fully engulfed in flames.

FREDERICKSBURG, OH - Holmes County Sheriff's deputies say normally the area near County Road is peaceful and quiet. Lately, however, they have received several calls of break-ins of Amish businesses. Deputies in Wayne County have also received a couple reports. “One of the things we realized is criminal do not recognize jurisdictional boundaries,” said Wayne County Capt. Doug Hunter.

ELKHART COUNTY, IN - While Amish buggies may be a quaint sight along country roads, those horse hooves are causing damage to asphalt surfaces. Ruts or troughs cut into the road an inch or two deep-- that could cause problems for scooters, motorcycles, or other vehicles. Extra money is being spent to fix the damage.

BUCKS COUNTY, PA - A cult-like figure whose spiritual and financial hold over a formerly Amish couple enabled him to have sexual relationships with six of their daughters has been sentenced to up to 87 years in prison in the United States. The sentencing of Lee Donald Kaplan on multiple counts of child rape, statutory sexual assault and other charges that authorities said were committed during at least six years marks the end of a set of criminal cases that have landed the victims in protective custody and their parents in prison. "Corrupted, perverted, atrocious. Use what adjective you would like to use," Bucks County Judge Jeffrey Finley told Kaplan, 52, adding that the court has classified him as a sexually violent predator.

A young woman, wearing a traditional full-length Amish dress and white bonnet, stepped away from a farmer’s market, opened her palm and revealed a smartphone. She began to scroll through screens, seemingly oblivious to the activity around her. Not far away, a man in his late 60s with a silvery beard, wide-brimmed straw hat and suspenders adjusted the settings on a computer-driven crosscut saw. He was soon cutting pieces for gazebos that are sold online and delivered around the country. The Amish have not given up on horse-drawn buggies. Their rigid abstinence from many kinds of technology has left parts of their lifestyle frozen since the 19th century: no cars, TVs or connections to electric utilities, for example.

In October of 2015, Emma Drummond left her Orthodox Mennonite community in Gorrie for the modern world. Her aunt and uncle picked her up just after midnight and drove her to their home in Hanover. Two years later Drummond wrote about her experience for the CBC Nonfiction Prize and was selected alongside 28 others for the long list. "Growing up in the Mennonite community I was always a little different and didn't have someone to talk to, so I put it into writing," she said during a phone interview. "I did a lot of journaling ... I have this love for books. It's kind of an escape from the real world."

Dauphin County, PA - An Amish bishop pleaded guilty in Dauphin County court last week to a charge of failure to report child abuse. Christ M. Stoltzfus, 70, of Elizabethville, entered the plea Thursday before Judge Deborah E. Curcillo and was sentenced to three months probation, according to the Dauphin County District Attorney's Office. State police launched an investigation in January after a confidential source alleged child sexual abuse in the Amish community.

Andy Yoder believes there are lessons to be learned from the ashes that were once his home. Someday soon — before anyone has a chance to begin cleaning up the charred trees, molten metal and other burned debris — the 34-year-old Amish man will take his family back to its 20-acre parcel that was ravaged on Sept. 2 when the Caribou fire tore through a portion of the state's oldest Amish community in West Kootenai just west of Eureka. He knows there will be tears.

Auburn, KY - An Amish man stood trial Wednesday for violating an animal ordinance in the city of Auburn. John Mast was tried by a jury in District Court on four counts. The ordinance requires all large animals traveling through the Auburn City limits to wear collection devices to capture manure. According to County Attorney and acting prosecutor Joe Ross, Mast was found guilty of three of the counts and not guilty of one.

CARTER COUNTY, KY - Kentucky State Police troopers in Ashland arrested a Carter County man on multiple charges involving the sexual abuse of a child. According to a release, Levi Hershberger, 39, of Olive Hill, was arrested after troopers investigated a report of illegal sexual activity involving a juvenile in June  2017. Troopers obtained evidence that Hershberger was involved in sexual intercourse and sodomy with a female relative while she was under the age of 12.

REXFORD, MT - The wildfire that ran roughshod through West Kootenai west of Eureka on Saturday evening wreaked havoc on Montana’s oldest Amish community. “Everyone’s kind of in shock. We’re just kind of dazing around here,” Darinda Yoder said Tuesday from her family’s temporary home near Rexford across Lake Koocanusa. The house and adjacent Kootenai Kraft and Grocery that Yoder and husband Dean own weren’t among the 10 homes burned by the Caribou fire when it came roaring down the mountain within three miles of Canada.

Andy Weaver had always loved his quaint Amish community in West Salem, Ohio, United States. He treasured the joys of simple life and the natural rewards of hard work and communal living. It was his people’s Christian religion, however, that presented him with some challenges. “I never found peace in the Amish religion,” said Andy. In his communal church, he heard a lot of “fire and brimstone” preaching. How can a merciful God torture sinners in the lake of fire for eternity? he wondered. How can I know whether I will end up living with God or burning for ever?

OSWEGATCHIE, NY - Two Amish men were charged with third-degree criminal mischief, a class E felony, by St. Lawrence County sheriff's deputies Monday, Aug. 28. A press release from the sheriff's office said the Amos F. Gingerich, 45, and Henry A. Gingerich, 16, both of 595 Horseshoe Road, Heuvelton, allegedly cut hay on another person's property without permission on Aug. 4.

MORRISTOWN, NY - A second drowning victim pulled from the murky waters of Black Lake near Edwardsville about 8:30 a.m. Friday has been identified as 47-year-old Menno L. Glick of Hammond, according to the St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s office. On Wednesday, the body of 67-year-old Eli Yoder was pulled from the water. Mr. Yoder, a member of the Lisbon Amish community, had been fishing with Mr. Glick when their boat apparently capsized, according to St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s deputies.

When I was a young girl, my father left the Amish and took me with him. He felt that the Amish culture was too staunch and that the tradition and doctrine of men was not of God. Instead, he believed that Jesus was the answer. We joined a Mennonite church, which I didn’t care for. I felt that this church was too strict and too focused on the outward whereas God cared about and looked at the heart.

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Terri Roberts, the mother of Nickel Mines shooter Charles Carl Roberts IV, died Saturday after a battle with cancer. Roberts, 66, was under the care of Hospice & Community Care when she died, according to an obituary posted Monday by Bachman Funeral Home. The Strasburg Township woman was remarkably open about her son after he barricaded himself in a rural Amish schoolhouse on Oct. 2, 2006, killing five girls and wounding five more before fatally shooting himself.

ELKHART, IN — After visiting 450 Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores around the country during a 30-year span, Ray and Wilma Yoder decided it was time to set a goal of visiting all of the company's restaurants. Now, the Goshen couple is just one stop away from enjoying their favorite foods at all 645 Cracker Barrel locations in 44 states. In less than two weeks, on Aug. 26, they'll mark off the last location when they visit Tualatin, Oregon, a suburb of Portland. Company officials will send them to Portland to visit the nearby Tualatin Cracker Barrel location, as a way of thanking them for visiting the 644 sites.