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DAVIESS County, IN - Many of the roads across Daviess County are gravel, but that’s starting to change. The county recently bought a surplus paving unit to convert some of the more heavily-traveled roads to pavement. But, it’s not making the roads much smoother. The county has a large Amish population that relies on horse-drawn buggies for transportation. And the steel horseshoes they use are hurting the roads. Daviess County is searching for a solution to prevent significant damage to its paved roads.

I was born and raised in the Amish culture. Growing up, I don't ever remember desiring not to be Amish. I sincerely thought that being a part of the Amish was the only way I would have a chance to go to heaven one day. When I was twenty years old, I married my wife, Leah. God then blessed us with eight wonderful children. As an Amish man, I was very zealous about my religion and tried my best to live according to the rules and what I understood of God's Word. I was involved in enforcing the excommunication of several people in my community because they claimed they could be sure that if they would die, they would go to Heaven. These people believed that salvation had nothing to do with following the Amish rules, which was not a permissible way of thinking.

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Kalona, IA - This small town has become a landmark in the organic-farm movement, and it has nothing to do with foodies or hippies. Instead it has been Amish farmers who, in their suspenders and wide-brimmed hats, have helped develop one of the densest clusters of organic farms in the United States. More than 90 operations certified by the Agriculture Department have emerged within a 10-mile radius, producing, among other things, corn, soybeans, eggs and, perhaps most important, milk.

Thorndike, ME - With rain in the forecast, hay on the ground and high stakes in front of him, Kenneth Copp was racing the clock. The Thorndike furniture-maker and farmer was beginning to feel desperate about his chances of getting the first hay cutting inside his barn before the predicted rains came. His horses will eat hay from the bales all winter, and he can’t afford to purchase supplemental hay if his crop is lost to mildew and rot. So the wiry 57-year-old rolled up the sleeves of his thin cotton shirt, adjusted the turquoise sweat band beneath his straw hat and got to work on the huge task ahead of him — alone.

Lexington, KY – An Amish farmer has been sentenced to six years in federal prison for selling improperly labeled herbal salve. U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves handed down the sentence against Samuel Girod on Friday in Lexington. Outraged supporters of the rural Kentucky farmer pledged to seek a pardon from President Donald Trump.

Holmes County, OH - Sitting on the back of a wagon pulled by two beautiful horses in Holmes County OH, I finally had a chance to speak directly to an Amish teenager about the Rumschpringe experience. With the beautiful green scenery passing by us, the young teenager described to us his plans and options and this juncture of his life and how Rumschpringe might affect it. I also realized that some aspects of Rumschpringe carry with them a valuable lesson for Jewish teens, while others do not.

Wooster, Ohio - Ohio police had to make an unusual stop after finding a driverless Amish buggy going down the road. In a Facebook post, the Wooster Police Department says the horse apparently decided to take a morning run Sunday without its owners.

Fossil Hill, Ontario - Manitoulin’s relatively new Amish community is dealing with its first horse and buggy accident on an Island roadway, thankfully not involving a motorized vehicle. On Saturday morning Manitowaning’s Shirley Hamilton and a friend were on their way to breakfast at JD’s Garden Shed Café in Tehkummah when they made a starting discovery while cresting Fossil Hill on Highway 6, just before New England Road.

Frankfort, KY - About 50 members of the Amish faith — men, women and children — from Bath County descended on the Kentucky Capitol on Tuesday, seeking help for a friend convicted of violating federal laws. Samuel A. Girod, a member of the Old Order Amish faith, is scheduled to be sentenced June 30 in Lexington for selling improperly labeled health products and 12 other charges, including threatening a person in an attempt to stop him from providing information to a grand jury. The most serious charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.

Washington, IN — Gravel roads in a rural southwestern Indiana county recently paved with asphalt to boost economic development are being damaged by horse teams used by the region's large Amish population, according to frustrated county officials. Daviess County has more gravel roads than any other Indiana county, with nearly 600 miles of such roads, the Washington Times-Herald reported. County officials have been using grant money to pave some of those roads with asphalt, but the newly paved roads quickly suffer damage from the impact of steel horseshoes worn by horses pulling Amish buggies.

Kinzers, PA - One man was injured after his horse-and-buggy was rear-ended by a box truck in Paradise Township midday Friday, an official said. The crash happened just before noon on Lincoln Highway East, according to Lancaster County-wide Communications.

PITTSBURGH, PA — A Pennsylvania man already convicted in state court for stalking Amish children near their school has been sentenced to more than 11 years in federal prison for collecting hundreds of child pornography videos and images online. U.S. District Judge Mark Hornak imposed the 11-year, three-month sentence against Lucas Klobetanz because of the "library nature" of the collection, which included categories of various types of images, notably "Boy Scouts," described by prosecutors.

NEILLSVILLE, WI - A driver who crashed his pick-up truck in Clark County may have been harassing Amish buggies in the area before a fatal crash. 35-year-old Steven Faber is charged with homicide drunken driving and reckless endangerment. A witness told police that Faber nearly hit a horse-drawn buggy on County Road W in Clark County, and then turned his truck around and crossed the center line and sped towards the buggy a second time. He lost control of his vehicle. Faber and a passenger, 35-year-old Andy Mallory, were both ejected during the roll-over that followed. Mallory was killed in the wreck.

Four hundred years ago, the ancestors of the song leaders who recently gathered in an Ephrata-area church likely would have sung the same hymns in the same way. They would have been sung in German, with a cadence slow enough to sound like a dirge. The hymns and the singing style changed as different religious sects were created.

BATH, KENTUCKY - In the words of Ronald Reagan, "Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives." More than 35 years after Reagan first spoke those words, what do they mean for each of us? If you fail to understand and comply with the thousands of federal regulations which have been passed to run our lives you face the risk of huge civil fines, or worse yet, you face the risk of being criminally prosecuted. If you think that it could never happen to you, consider the case of Sam Girod, an Amish farmer from Bath County, Kentucky. For decades, Sam, like many members of the Amish community, has been making and selling salves which contain natural ingredients. Unfortunately for Sam, his products came to the attention of an inspector from the Food and Drug Administration in 2013 because the container for his salve had a claim on the label that the salve cured cancer.

BUCKS, PA - On the second day of Lee Kaplan's sexual-abuse trial, a girl took the stand to describe summers swimming in Kaplan's backyard pool, learning history from documentaries, tending to the chickens, picking fruit from trees - and having sex with the man 37 years her senior beginning when she was 10 or 11. Over two days, a parade of witnesses have described the extraordinary hold Kaplan had over the once-Amish Stoltzfus family, centered on God, education, and marriage to the underage daughters.

BUCKS, PA - On the second day of Lee Kaplan's sexual-abuse trial, a girl took the stand to describe summers swimming in Kaplan's backyard pool, learning history from documentaries, tending to the chickens, picking fruit from trees - and having sex with the man 37 years her senior beginning when she was 10 or 11. Over two days, a parade of witnesses have described the extraordinary hold Kaplan had over the once-Amish Stoltzfus family, centered on God, education, and marriage to the underage daughters.

LANCASTER, PA - Forty years sounds like a lifetime. It also can fly past in the blink of an eye. Just ask the Rev. Sam Smucker. In 1977, Smucker and 30 other people gathered for worship in a room at the former Sheraton Conestoga Hotel on Oregon Pike. Three years later, they were renting space at the Lititz Rec Center for services. Today, Smucker preaches to a weekly audience of 2,800 in an auditorium at the Worship Center — a 106,000-square-foot building along New Holland Pike complete with rooms, chapels and cafe. Adjacent is the first church building, now accommodating Lancaster County Christian School students in kindergarten through 12th grade. On a recent morning, Smucker talked about how he, a former Amish youth from Ronks with only an eighth-grade education, became the pastor of a modern megachurch.

ASHVILLE, NY - The Chautauqua Children's Safety Education Village, located at 2695 Route 394 in Ashville, will receive an Amish buggy on May 31st. The child-sized buggy is being donated to the Safety Village by the Clymer, Sherman, Ashville and Panama Fire Departments. The buggy will be used as part of the Traffic Safety Classes that take place at the Village. “We need to begin to teach children at a young age that they have to be alert and aware when they are driving and pay attention to the traffic signs, especially those telling us that there may be slow moving vehicles ahead. We have several rural areas throughout Chautauqua and Cattaraugus County that are populated with Amish families and farmers who are going to be in slow moving vehicles. We need to react when we see signs indicating that there may be a horse and buggy or a tractor ahead and immediately lower our rate of speed and proceed with caution."

SEYMOUR, MO - Two babies are hospitalized from a outbreak of whooping cough in the Amish community in Webster County. County health officials now are trying to control the spread of the disease. Six cases are confirmed, while there are many more possible cases in the Amish community along Highway C. “The challenge came because you have to go to them; they don't really have the means to hear or see about it through the news, the media,” said Banks. The Webster County Health Unit used word of mouth and set up an immunization clinic at a country store last week. In two days, they vaccinated more than 300 adults and children.

Learning about other religions and cultures will help create a better understanding among people. During the April 22 presentation of "A World of Faith and Cultures in our Neighborhood" at the Batesville Memorial Public Library, three individuals explained how their lives changed after following a different path. “Samuel Girod, the oldest of 13 children, was born into a Swiss Amish culture,” read Katherine Taul, Ripley County Tourism Bureau executive director. “At the age of 30, he suddenly realized that he had everything an Amish man is allowed to have … (but) was very unhappy and depressed. In September 2012, he walked away from his two properties and half ownership in a construction company. With a duffel bag in each hand, Samuel traveled from Indiana to Ohio, where he met up with Joe Keim (a former Amish member who helps people who left this religion). For the next two days, the two of them discussed God’s plan of salvation. Finally, on day two, the Lord opened Samuel’s eyes and saved his soul.

In the past year, more than 20 Amish families have moved to P.E.I., turning heads with their distinctive clothing and old-style transportation. After exchanging their farms in Ontario for more fertile, and more affordable P.E.I. properties, the Amish newcomers arranged for government exemptions, to create buildings without plumbing, and, get government identification without pictures.  Their real estate agent, Brad Oliver, expects many more are on the way.  Oliver said the newcomers do enjoy some modern perks, like watching hockey on TV.  “If the game’s on, yeah, and they’ll have a beer.” But, mostly, they follow the old ways, like women using manual push-mowers to cut their lawns, or, the family that milks 25 cows a day by hand.

An Amish bishop in Dauphin County has been charged with failing to report two cases of child sexual abuse. An Amish bishop in Dauphin County has been charged with failing to report two cases of child sexual abuse. Christ M. Stoltzfus, 69, of Roller Road in Mifflin Township, told investigators that he was informed that one of the incidents "wasn't really that bad" during an interview in February, according to state police. Both cases involved Daniel Ray Fisher, 44, of Weaver Road in Mifflin Township, records state. Fisher was charged in a separate case in November and again January with inappropriately touching a then 5-year-old girl and a then-10-year-old girl, records state.

DUBLIN, VA — Ammon “AJ” Miller’s journey of faith has taken him from the horse and buggy to a 2004 turbo diesel Volkswagen Jetta. The same journey led his twice-shunned family from an antiquated Amish village in Pennsylvania to their modern farm in Giles County. And now the 22-year-old is set on a path toward a previously unimaginable future — working with robotics.    The fourth of seven children, AJ Miller will be the second in his family to earn a college degree. His brother Reuben Miller earned degrees from both NRCC and Radford University on his way to becoming a middle school math teacher and his sister Sarah Miller is currently enrolled at NRCC.

SUWANNEE COUNTY, FL - Jeremiah Raber is in trouble. Again. The man appears to be unable to stay out of trouble. The 37-year-old star of TLC's Return to Amish and former star of TLC's & Breaking Amish has been arrested for #Domestic Violence. The latest domestic violence charges were filed against him by his current wife, Carmela Raber. She accused Jeremiah Raber of throwing hot coffee on her lap. The alleged event happened during one of their many arguments.

WILLSBORO, N.Y. - There are new neighbors for Essex County residents. Community members in the North Country say they're happy to see Amish families moving into town, but there's one problem. It boils down to traffic troubles. People say Amish buggies on country roads, especially at night, are hard to spot. Strict religious requirements prevent Amish people from using most technology. So with cars mostly off-limits, the horse-and-buggy is the next best transportation.

ASHLAND, OH - Cinnamon Lake, a cluster of 500 newer homes about 40 miles west of Akron, promotes itself as being in the heart of Amish country yet within easy reach of 70 mph freeways leading to modernity. On weekday mornings, commuters from that development and surrounding areas in cars, trucks and SUVs hit the blacktop country roads slicing through the corn and soybean fields, sometimes forgetting that their Amish neighbors are on their way to work, too — in horse-drawn buggies traveling about 5 mph. The Swartzentrubers recognize there’s a road safety problem and changes must be made. The first is a simple, white 10-by-12-inch piece of plastic outlined in reflective tape that will be attached to the back of buggies.

SUWANNEE COUNTY, FL - Jeremiah Raber is in trouble. Again. The man appears to be unable to stay out of trouble. The 37-year-old star of TLC's Return to Amish and former star of TLC's & Breaking Amish has been arrested for #Domestic Violence. The latest domestic violence charges were filed against him by his current wife, Carmela Raber. She accused Jeremiah Raber of throwing hot coffee on her lap. The alleged event happened during one of their many arguments.

ST. PAUL, MN – Members of a southeastern Minnesota Amish community claim in court that municipal and state wastewater ordinances forcing them to install treatment systems violate their religious beliefs against modern conveniences. Ammon Swartzentruber, Menno Mast, Amos Mast and Sam Miller – all members of the Swartzentruber Amish community – sued the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and Fillmore County on Friday in Ramsey County District Court. The lawsuit focuses on how Swartzentruber and his members dispose of household water called “greywater,” which is used for indoor household duties like washing dishes, bathing and laundry before it is reused in fields and gardens.

BUCKS, PA - A Bucks County judge has denied defense attorneys' request to move the child sexual assault trial of Lee Kaplan out of the county. Kaplan, 52, of Feasterville is slated to go to trial May 30 on charges that he raped or sexually assaulted six girls, all from a formerly Amish family from Lancaster County. Some of the girls allegedly had been "gifted" to Kaplan by their parents to be his wives.