News

OH - An Amish couple, who adopted the biological daughter of a couple convicted of raping her at the Trumbull County Children Services offices on Reeves Road in 2011, has sued the agency and three workers. The lawsuit, filed in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court by Atty. Michael D. Rossi, doesn’t name the parents, who live in West Farmington. They are listed as Jane Doe and John Doe.

QUINCY, MI — It would seem a cell phone saved the life of an Amish farmer in Branch County’s Butler Township. Quincy Fire Chief Kurt Barve says Amos Schwartz was injured when he became trapped under an overturned disc in a field at his farm on Bidwell Road late Monday morning.

MILLERSBURG, OH — Lena Schlabach of the Millersburg area had a dream to own her own company, and in July 2012, the dream became reality when she launched Lena’s Amish Granola. “I was raised Amish, and my parents are Amish,” said Lena, who recently celebrated her 40th birthday. “I wanted a quality product to offer to the community and collaborated with an Amish family to make the granola for me, which I market it.”

As Dakota O'Leary reported last month, a number of members of an Ohio Amish community, convicted of hate crimes in hair and beard cutting attacks are entering federal prison. The Associated Press reported this weekend that the prisoner's departure will leave nearly three dozen children without one or both parents.

MESA, Ariz. — Growing up Amish on a farm in rural Ohio, Elsie Keim was told from an early age that all she could expect to do in life was bear 10 or more children and live a simple, traditional lifestyle that rejects most modern conveniences. A self-professed "adrenaline junkie," Keim knew she wouldn't be happy. So with only an eighth-grade education and little knowledge of the modern world, she went looking for the ultimate challenge and the best job to fit her personality.

IN — An 18-year-old Fort Wayne man was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in prison for his role in a plot to rob members of the Amish community in Adams County.

Amish schoolchildren held their end-of-school celebration early yesterday so their parents could attend before they are jailed for beard-cutting. Nine members of the Ohio Amish sect led by Samuel Mullet Sr are already in prison after being convicted of the hate crime against rival followers, and five more will join them this Friday. Four women and one man will start jail terms of between one and seven years, leaving nearly three dozen children without one or both parents for the duration of their sentences.

PA — At least 200 calves were killed in a devastating barn fire that ravaged an Amish farm in Metal township, PA on Wednesday afternoon. According to the Chambersburg, Pa., Public Opinion, fire crews arrived on the scene too late to save the barn or animals. The building was mostly collapsed and there wasn’t much left.

Adam Lanza apparently was a student of Charlie Roberts. The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooter had read about the Nickel Mines Amish school shooter. He identified with him. And he followed in his violent footsteps.

I was born a typical Amish boy. Growing up, my brothers and I did what normal Amish boys do. Since my dad did construction, and we only had a small farm, we got bored a lot. I have several brothers; one just older than me and one just younger than me. I’m sure we caused mom quite a few gray hairs, trying to keep up with us mischievous little guys. We had goats for milk, so often times we rode goats, led them around, hitched them to sleds in the winter time, chased cats, climbed trees, rode wagons.

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KENTON, Ohio - The Kenton-Hardin Health Department said Tuesday night the way two Amish families are living jeopardizes the health of their neighbors. "There's a potential there for a lot of people to get sick and our job is to prevent things from happening." said Shane Lotts, the Environmental Director for the Kenton Hardin Health Department. The health department voted to uphold a decision by the board that said two families need to vacate their homes because their sewage systems were not up to code.

KENTON, Ohio — Amish from northwest Ohio are promising to turn out in force this week for a meeting of a county health board seeking to evict two families from new homes that lack the required modern wells and septic systems. Last summer, the Kenton-Hardin County Health Board said it would start enforcing rules that any new home must have a proper well and septic system - something the simple-living, outhouse-using Amish have never had to do. Health inspectors have not forced existing Amish homes to change

New York — As the number of Amish families continues to rise in St. Lawrence County, law enforcement agencies are looking for ways to reduce accidents between buggies and motor vehicles on North Country roads. It’s a task officials are finding difficult, even though people on both sides understand the severity of the problem.

LANCASTER, PA — The former wife of the man who opened fire inside an Amish schoolhouse in Lancaster County is breaking her silence for the first time since that tragic day.

Sixth-graders from the Ohio Amish community at Wise Elementary School in Holmes County are better equipped to save family and friends from choking deaths. Twenty-eight Amish children learned the correct way to perform the Heimlich maneuver recently as part of a Heimlich Heroes curriculum demonstration taught at their school.

BELLEVUE, MI — Ten people were hurt, two possibly critically, when a northbound van slid off I-69 two miles north of N Drive North. Calhoun County Sheriff Department deputies reported the accident at 9:08 a.m. They said the van went out of control on icy pavement.

WARREN, Ohio - The attorney for the Trumbull County Amish man accused of raping young girls has entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity on his client's behalf. Daniel Miller is charged with 17 counts of rape, gross sexual imposition and sexual battery.

The Amish in the US have a genetic mutation that causes mental retardation, researchers have found. Scientists at the Bellvitge Institute for Biomedical Research (Idibell) and the University of Barcelona have said that inbreeding has led the strict religious community to develop a gene that holds back mental development.

Lydia Zook, bundled in a plain, black coat over a lavender linen dress, steps out of her family’s renovated barn. A few strands of dark brown hair streaked with gray peek out from beneath a teal kerchief headdress. “I stay inside a lot during the winter,” the native Pennsylvanian says with a laugh.

Pinecraft resident Katie Troyer teeters between the English world, the media and the Amish. It's a delicate balance, but she manages it between taking photos for the Pinecraft Pauper, blogging and following her own relationship with God without attending church.

CLEVELAND, OH — The eight men convicted of an Amish hate crime in Ohio have been assigned to prisons scattered across the United States, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons said. Bishop Samuel Mullet, 67, leader of the Bergholz, Ohio, group who was prosecuted with 15 of his followers for a series of beard- and hair shearing attacks on perceived enemies of the breakaway sect, was notified last weekend he had been "re-designated" to a prison in Texarkana, Texas.

LOYSVILLE, PA — A 5-year-old Loysville girl was flown to Penn State Hershey Medical Center after a car crashed into a horse and buggy in Perry County, according to state police in Newport. Police said the girl was one of four people in the buggy when it was struck Monday afternoon on Route 850 near Fisher Hill Road in Northeast Madison Township.

Last week, I had a story on an Amish trade show. It was mostly about power tools, but there was another other thing that we didn't mention in the online version: The booth selling computers to the Amish.

I can still see his face. Lean. Determined. Framed by his lengthy beard. I can see him running up the hill toward our house. He was carrying his bag of doctor implements. Mom was having chest spasms, and any real doctor was miles away—across four hours of the broken, rutted, dusty Honduran road we took only as a last resort. The running man was my Uncle Joe. The smart one of the family. The older brother. The intellectual genius. When Uncle Joe walked by, we stopped talking and listened intently when he spoke. On this day, he rushed by, not paying any attention to us children.

MONTGOMERY, PA — A nine-year-old Amish boy was pronounced dead following a barn accident on Monday.

Lancaster, PA — Lebanon Levi's sidekick is in legal trouble after a state constable nabbed him for a stack of criminal warrants, according to officials. However, John Schmucker's attorney said the fugitive arrest won't keep the "Amish Mafia" star off the small screen.

I am a little confused between "staying and going" right now. I am Amish, but I had left for a year and a half and I liked it. You probably get this every day! But I have a story for you. I grew up about 4-5 miles from Aylmer, Ontario. They call the community Amish. I happened upon Ira Wagler’s book about a month ago. It was a really good story. He had incredible courage in his journey. My story was different, but you can relate to it, right? Now I'm back with the Amish, but I'm faced with the decision of leaving again and it's tough!!

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Although there is no shortage of extraordinary sights at the Wall, the visit by a group of 31 Amish people (29 Americans and 2 Canadians) had people staring in wonder as the group filled the air with their heartfelt hymns. The group came to Israel to apologize to Jews for not previously recognizing the Jews as the chosen people.

A Chevron rig drills for natural gas behind the property owned by the Mast family in Lawrence County, Pa. Energy companies are leasing land throughout Pennsylvania and Ohio where Amish families like the Masts live.

CLEVELAND, OH — The ringleader in hair- and beard-cutting attacks on fellow Amish in Ohio was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison and 15 family members received sentences of one year to seven years.