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Who is likely to be a more successful entrepreneur – a Harvard Business School graduate or an Amish man who quit school in eighth grade? According to new research, the answer may surprise you. Amish scholar Don Kraybill says the failure rate of Amish start-ups is less than 10%, while the failure rate for non-Amish businesses is 65%. Although it is tempting to say that their businesses target different consumers, the reality is that Amish businesses are competitive with mainstream businesses, with many Amish even offering online ordering and shipping.

Lancaster, Pennsylvania – A Lancaster County man has been charged with exposing himself to Amish women and girls. Benjamin R. Grafius, 39, of New Holland, admitted he targeted Amish and Mennonites for three months last summer. He told investigators the women and children were “easy targets” who wouldn’t call police, according to the district attorney’s office.

Canton, Ohio - Gifts of money, food, building materials and other support from the entire community have been a godsend to an Amish family who are finishing a new home out of the ashes of a house where a father and son died Jan. 11. The family of Jost Y. Hershberger, 58, and his son, Benjamin Y. Hershberger, 18, who died in the fire, want to say thank you, said Eli Hershberger, a neighbor.

It was a lot of fun to grow up on an old-order Amish farm! Feeding livestock and watching things grow was exciting, and being outdoors was something I enjoyed a lot. Going to church was something I also looked forward to; I always enjoyed seeing friends and having a good time. Growing up in a family of fourteen had its challenges, and I never really felt a strong connection between myself and my parents. Even though attention was often divided, I still had heart to heart talks with my parents sometimes.

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Two former classmates who bumped into each other while shopping Friday believe they were there for a reason that day. Both women, who were trained in First Aid, were in the same aisle at the right time when an Amish baby was choking on a lollipop. Leslie Austin of downtown New Castle and Cheryl Paolini of Neshannock Township graduated together from New Castle High School.

Lancaster, Pennsylvania - Days after a tornado hit the Eby family's Lancaster County farm, the extent of the devastation finally sunk in. "At first we were just so happy with all of the support we had from the community," said Corrie Eby, 32, who was in her basement holding her 2-year-old daughter, Gloria, when a tornado hit the home at 334 Millwood Road in Salisbury Township Wednesday.

Dear Dad and Mom, Greetings of love and cheer from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This leaves us on Tuesday morning; the next morning after we left your house! You know, Dad, it hurts me to see you so confused and so full of hurt, and in your heart you just don’t understand how your oldest son (me) can do what he does. I hate that you bottle all those things inside yourself. If you go for answers to man or yourself, you’ll never find it; you simply have to go to God for what you’re looking for.

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Jesus says in Matthew 5:11, “Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.” You have done just that in your letter to me. You are not welcome here anymore until things are made right, and you repent. Every time you come, I end up getting a letter full of lies, which you know are not true.

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Gap, Pennsylvania - More than 100 Amish were gathered in a barn on Seldomridge Road here Wednesday when the winds suddenly and violently kicked up. Beth Engel, pastor of the nearby Pequea Presbyterian Church, also in Gap, said attendees would later say it felt like the "barn was breathing," as what is now aconfirmed tornado passed over them and cut a path through surrounding Salisbury Township.

What makes a quilt Amish? Does it have to be “quilted by a group of Amish women sitting around the frame in their sitting room?” Or does it have to have an Amish pattern, like the Amish Wedding pattern created and popularized by Rachel Pellman of the Old Country Store in Lancaster, Pa? Is appliqué or pieced the appropriate technique?

Testimony in a bond hearing Wednesday revealed an ongoing criminal investigation against an Amish man charged with poisoning his own wife. Samuel Borntreger appeared in a Harrison County courtroom Wednesday on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Anna Yoder Borntreger, in 2006. Authorities raised the possibility of additional charges while arguing that Borntreger's bond shouldn't be lowered from its current level of $250,000.

LaGrange, Indiana - One Amish family in LaGrange County is still in shock after their horse was shot in a drive-by shooting Wednesday morning. So far, neither the police nor the family knows who did this. Now, they're just hoping to find answers. The owner’s grandson heard the shots. He wants to warn others about the incident.

Sarasota, Florida - Sarasota County commissioners on Wednesday approved a master plan to preserve and protect the Pinecraft neighborhood, a historic Amish and Mennonite community struggling to maintain its lifestyle amid the steady encroachment of the modern world.

Strasburg, Pennsylvania - Soon after birth, Daniel and Rebecca Stoltzfus's first child fell ill. Fearing pneumonia, her parents rushed her to a hospital where she later died. Testing revealed Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID), a rare genetic disease, as the cause of death.

When Emma Gingerich left her Amish community in Eagleville, Missouri, she was 18 and had an eighth-grade education. She barely spoke English. The life that awaited most Amish women—one of cooking, cleaning, and child-rearing—never appealed to her. She wanted an education and the freedom to choose her own path.

My name is Nora Garrett, and I have kind of a unique story because I was only Amish for the first four years of my life. Even though I was really little when we left, I still remember loving visiting my grandparents every Saturday night and taking rides in my grandma’s buggy. My best friend at school was Amish, and we also had many fun conversations in Dutch at school and church.

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Chet Beiler is worried about the direction of the country. The Lancaster County Republican is concerned that leaders in Washington are bankrupting America by shrinking the economic opportunity of its people and failing to keep the nation secure from threats abroad. Beiler thinks he can do better.

Visitors to my neighborhood in central Maine are often startled by the presence of Amish people. Locals, though, are accustomed to the yellow road signs with black silhouettes of horse-drawn buggies, tracks of bicycle tires and horse hooves in the snow on the shoulder, and the sight of women in bonnets and long dresses in line at the local grocery store. The handful of families that arrived eight years ago have grown into a sizeable and thriving group which coexists well within the greater community.

Gallia County, Ohio - A man is behind bars, accused of robbing an Amish bakery and store. The robbery happened about 11:45 a.m. Friday at Hillside Variety Store on Deckard Road in Raccoon Township in Gallia County. Investigators say Steven S. Davis, 41, of Gallipolis, walked into the store and had what appeared to be a handgun tucked into this pants.

I enjoyed growing up in an Old Order Amish home. I had a big family with lots of brothers and sisters, and I was also really close to many of my cousins. I am an outdoors-man, so I also really enjoyed all of the time spent working outside. As a young child, I had a decent relationship with my parents, but when I reached my teenage years, things went downhill fast. Our relationship was very strained during this time in my life. Because of the tensions at home and because I genuinely felt that I was going to hell no matter what, I eventually made the decision to leave the Amish behind in order to pursue a life in the English culture.

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Sam Girod is a Kentucky farmer who runs a small business selling natural skin salves made from herbs such as chickweed, which seem to help relieve a host of skin conditions, including allergic rashes, psoriasis, poison oak and even skin cancers.

Hansen, Wisconsin - Amish safety on Wisconsin roads needs to be addressed in the wake of recent fatal buggy crashes, according to a state lawmaker. Republican State Rep. Bob Kulp of Stratford hopes the Amish communities in Wisconsin would be open to a discussion about making horse-drawn vehicles more visible. Many Amish don't realize how difficult it can be for a driver to see a buggy when their vehicle is traveling 55 or 60 mph down a highway, he told Daily Tribune Media (http://wrtnews.co/1nIhfGu ).

The non-Amish community has been reaching out to Amish neighbors near Canton since Jan. 11, when a fire destroyed not only a home but is presumed to have taken the lives of two Amish men – Yost Hershberger, 58, and his son, Benjamin Hershberger, 18. Even as the fire was burning, some English, as the Amish call non-Amish, were at the scene, helping out in large and small ways, even bringing groceries to the affected families.

Shortly after a fire tore through an Amish home 14 miles south of Lanesboro, killing two men, a call went out for help. In southeastern Minnesota, where the Amish and non-Amish coexist but rarely intermingle, the call was heard by everyone, said local resident Mary Bell. Hundreds of Amish have stopped by the property since the Jan. 11 fire, but so, too, has a contractor with heavy machinery, bakers donating pies, visitors with donations of food and cash for the family, and others. It’s been a comforting reminder that the Amish and non-Amish communities can rely on each other when needed, said Bell.

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania - An Amish man who led state police on a chase that hit speeds of up to 120 mph through northern Dauphin County was sentenced to 2 years of probation after pleading guilty to multiple charges Wednesday. Sylvan M. Stoltzfus wasn't driving a buggy during the pursuit. And no, he didn't have a really fast horse, either.

Spartansburg, Pennsylvania - Mineral spirit lamps light shelves of soup mixes, bulk candies, natural remedies and straw hats. A homemade ice chest keeps perishables fresh, including roll butter and sausage casing. The restroom is an outhouse near the parking lot. Schrock’s General Store, 43446 Penoyer Road in Rome Township, Crawford County, has been the Spartansburg area’s “Amish Walmart” for 26 years.

Fredericksburg, Ohio - From the inside of a small, 1800s-era log cabin, Amish farmer and author David Kline writes about farming, nature and the simple way of life that he enjoys. Outside of the cabin - on the family's 120-acre organic dairy farm in northeastern Ohio - he lives that life each day, surrounded by the farm animals and wildlife, family and friends that he calls home.

As part of this week's Community Vibe series. We're exploring one interesting thing about different towns across the state. Today, we go to northern Mid-Michigan, which is home to a large Amish population. For some Amish families there, their traditional lifestyle is starting to evolve and change.

Canton, Minnesota - A sheriff in southeastern Minnesota says the two people killed in a house fire are believed to be a local Amish bishop and his teenage son. Fillmore County Sheriff Tom Kaase says the coroner has not made positive identification, but investigators believe the victims are 58-year-old Yost Hershberger and 18-year-old Ben Hershberger.

A Barren County man confessed Sunday to killing his wife nine years ago when the couple was living in Missouri, according to a release from Barren County Sheriff Kent Keen. Samuel Borntreger, 39, of East Nobob Road, told Barren County sheriff's deputies that he poisoned his late wife, the release said.