News
Estimate: A new Amish community is founded every three and a half weeks in US
| July 28, 2012A new census of the Amish population in the United States estimates that a new Amish community is founded, on average, about every 3 1/2 weeks, and shows that more than 60 percent of all existing Amish settlements have been founded since 1990.
125 Amish churchgoers help save horses in fire Sunday morning
| July 26, 2012Quick work by Amish church goers of the Northwest District at the farmstead of Neal Borntrager, 5570 Eagle Ave, Kalona, saved 12 horses from a building that caught fire about 10 a.m. Sunday.
Lightning kills pregnant Amish woman on due date
| July 24, 2012A pregnant Amish woman picking berries in the woods near her Pennsylvania home was killed by lightning on her due date. The fetus also died.
Woman pleads guilty to Amish store robbery
| July 22, 2012BELLEFONTE — The young woman who robbed an Amish family’s store at gunpoint last year in Aaronsburg has pleaded guilty as part of a plea agreement.
Prosecutors will ask that Brittany Wingard, 20, of Aaronsburg, get three to seven years when a judge sentences her next month.
Court: Amish man failed to make case for no permit
| July 19, 2012An Amish man failed to show how obtaining a permit for his new sawmill violates his religion, a state appeals court ruled Thursday.
The 4th District Court of Appeals found Joni Borntreger's arguments too vague to conclude the permit requirements infringed on his beliefs and kicked his case back to the circuit court level. The ruling reversed a decision by Jackson County Circuit Judge Thomas E. Lister, who initially ordered Borntreger to pay a forfeiture before changing his mind and dismissing the case.
Amish couple held up at gunpoint
| July 16, 2012An Amish couple in a horse and buggy was held up at gunpoint Sunday by a bandit who pulled his car in front of the buggy and then drove off when the victims didn’t have any money, police said today.The attempted robbery occurred about 12:20 p.m. near the intersection of Holly Island Road and Bryants Corner Road in Hartly, Master Cpl. Gary Fournier said.
Amish firefighters: Flashing lights may seem out of place, but service to others is key
| July 15, 2012LANCASTER, Pa. — Daniel is a publicity-shy member of the Old Order Amish Church. But it thrills him to jump into an ambulance vibrating with wailing sirens and flashing lights.
The 24-year-old Leacock Township father of two recently became certified as an emergency medical technician. For five years previously, he was a firefighter.
New York Amish vaccinate horses against deadly brain disease
| June 29, 2012Amish farmers, whose beliefs stop them from inoculating their children but not their horses, thronged a first-ever free veterinary vaccination clinic this week to fend off a disease that has killed a dozen horses and a four-year-old girl.
Kansas county clashes with Amish over outhouses
| June 26, 2012FORT SCOTT, Kansas (Reuters) - The simple way of Amish life is a bit too simple for one Kansas county, which wants outhouses on their farms to be upgraded and an end to plowing raw human sewage into the fields.
Officials in Bourbon County want Amish families to stop using outhouses unless they comply with codes requiring waste disposal tanks. That would be costly and unnecessary, say Amish homeowners.
Amish Couples Robbed at Gunpoint
| June 20, 2012GEAUGA COUNTY, Ohio – The Geauga County Sheriff’s Office is looking for two men who robbed two young Amish couples at gunpoint, at separate times, about 11 p.m. Sunday on Patch Road in Parkman.
“The county sheriffs are doing a very good job of trying to track this down, and we really appreciate that,” said an Amish man driving by the robbery site in a buggy.
Mennonite Farming Death Raises Cultural Questions
| June 16, 2012GREENWICH, Ohio - Life in Mennonite and Amish communities in northwest Ohio center around family. The children intrinsically know how to please and provide.
"If it's feeding calves, you know, they can do that before they go to school. A five-year-old can feed a calf," said Elvin Zimmerman.
Everyone of Zimmerman's eight kids started doing chores at age five which included hand feeding calves. As they grow, their responsibilities grow as well.
But in April, one of Zimmerman's sons was killed in a farming accident while operating a machine his dad made.
Amish Communities Deal With Meth Problem
| June 16, 2012One look at the countryside and the beauty should take your breath away.
"If you want to retire some place, this is the place to do it," said Justin Siak. "There's something to this."
Amish country is nestled in northeast Ohio and is a snapshot of living life simple and serenely.
Thousands of tourists are drawn to Holmes County each year, ONN's Denise Alex reported.
Ohio's "Amish Bernie Madoff" gets prison term for bilking investors
| June 13, 2012YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- The man dubbed the Amish Bernie Madoff tried to disassociate himself from the notorious New York City swindler Wednesday, but a federal judge didn’t buy it.
U.S. District Judge Benita Pearson rejected Monroe Beachy’s request to serve a term of home confinement, and instead ordered him to spend 6 ½ years behind bars, followed by a year of probation, for bilking investors out of millions of dollars.
Amish man to serve up to 10-year prison sentence on sexual abuse charge
| June 7, 2012FAIRBANK - A member of an Amish Community, William J. Yutzy, 30, of 33906 Hilton Road, Edgewood, formerly of 1370 Dillon Ave., Fairbank, pleaded guilty and was sentenced on one count of Sexual Abuse in the Third Degree, a Class C Felony, in Buchanan County District Court on Tuesday, June 5.
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Mario Miller
| June 5, 2012I was born in Holmes County Ohio. I don’t remember much about my time spent there. Soon after I turned three years old my mother died and that’s when everything changed. My Father decided to move to Seymour, Missouri. We had left the Amish but not left the lifestyle completely. I suppose my Father never really knew how to assimilate into society, so that was his way of leaving, but not completely. I grew up in a very violent household, my Father was a very strict man, and very headstrong.
Middlefield: Former Amish seek out education
| May 23, 2012MIDDLEFIELD -- Some Amish leave the faith to pursue further education.
William Troyer grew up in Middlefield and left the Amish community at age 18.
"There's nothing wrong with being Amish, it just wasn't for me," says Troyer. He is now a student at the University of Akron who plans to become a teacher.
Middlefield: Former Amish seek out education
| May 23, 2012MIDDLEFIELD -- Some Amish leave the faith to pursue further education.
William Troyer grew up in Middlefield and left the Amish community at age 18.
"There's nothing wrong with being Amish, it just wasn't for me," says Troyer. He is now a student at the University of Akron who plans to become a teacher.
Police: Eight Amish, Mennonite boys sexually assaulted by Huntingdon County man
| May 22, 2012HUNTINGDON, Pa. — According to criminal complaint obtained by 6News, a Huntingdon County man charged last month on accusations of sexually abusing three boys was slapped with new charges this week.
State police filed 145 child sex abuse charges against 65-year-old Larry Myers in April, after three boys told investigators that they were molested and sodomized by the man inside his home and on trips when he hauled mulch with his truck.
Smoke Detectors Violate Our Religious Beliefs, Say Amish
| May 21, 2012A group of Amish men are currently in court because they refuse to install smoke detectors in their New York homes:
Remembering Dalton Keim
| May 17, 2012On May 10th, 2012 we buried our two year old nephew, the son of my brother William (former Amish) and his wife Jenica.
When we first heard that Dalton passed away, it made little sense and was almost unbearable to accept.
Dalton (front right), two years old, was mischievous and had no fear. His mother was cooking a wild turkey on the stove, which had been boiling in water for four to five hours and as the family eagerly waited for the turkey to get done, little Dalton was behind his mother at the oven and tried to pull himself up by the oven door handle. When he did that, the whole oven tipped forward and all the hot water poured down over his body. William and Jenica just moved into this fully applianced house less than two months ago and had no idea that the oven was not anchored down and the oven could tip. We would like to encourage you to leave a message for William and Jenica. Your message will instantly be send to both of their email accounts.
Amish Business Owner Robbed at Gunpoint
| May 14, 2012GALLIA COUNTY, Ohio (WSAZ) -- An Amish store was robbed at gunpoint Monday morning. The Gallia County Sheriff's Office says the robbery happened about 7 a.m. at Yoder Lumber in Walnut Township.
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E. Miller
| May 9, 2012I grew up in an Amish home and I don’t remember my parents ever telling me that they loved me. Never got a hug or any praises that I recall. I guess there may have been times though, that they expressed appreciation for something my brothers, sisters or I had done. But for the most part it seemed we were always being pushed and yelled at.
Amish man carefully walks line between belief in privacy and the need for public outreach
| May 7, 2012On a chilly April morning, Amishman Moses "Mose" B. Smucker joined Mennonite and Evangelical friends, all of them Stoltzfus descendants, to talk of faith and heritage in an unfinished Wyomissing barn.
It was a cold barn, smelling of freshly cut wood and earth, not passing for a church or temple but somehow evoking the sacredness of a manger.
Thoughts of words in the Bible's 1st Corinthians resonated: "For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ."
Elderly man accused of sexually abusing Amish victims
| May 2, 2012PULASKI, TN (WAFF) - The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation arrested a Pulaski, Tennessee man on several sex charges.
Investigators said 80-year-old Maurice Dale "Jimmy" McAllister abused male and female victims over the course of seven years.
Residents in Pulaski said they were shocked the allegations happened in their community.
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Marvin Schlabach
| May 1, 2012My name is Marvin Schlabach, but I like to be called MJ. I come from an Old Order Amish community in Smicksburg, Pennsylvania. I have three brothers and two sisters. My dad left the Amish in 2001 when I was eight years old, and he was gone for two months and went back. I can easily remember what a shock it was for everybody. I think that is when I first started to think about leaving the Amish. The longer I thought about it, the worse it got.
Two recent crashes of Amish buggies with autos raise safety issue
| April 29, 2012Two collisions that crushed horse-drawn buggies and critically injured two Amishmen in Mercer County this month have renewed attention to the mismatch between fast, heavy metal motor vehicles and slow, lightweight wooden buggies.
Most Amish and Old Order Mennonite communities have worked diligently to make their buggies visible at night. The trouble is that new research shows that nighttime isn't the most dangerous time for buggies. Instead it's sun-blindness. And often the problem is not the buggy, but a distracted motorist.
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Bishop's Letter to Member who Left the Amish
| April 25, 2012One guy came back and went Amish again, the way he was learned. He said, don’t let anybody tell you it don’t bother them out there, where you are now. He knows better. The spirit that won us over, is the one we are working for. Good or bad? Another thing that tells me a lot is a good number of these that went the way you are headed now say, or have before they died, that they wouldn’t do it now. But it’s too late. The old timers used to say, when the devil is satisfied he has them tied up in knots, he lets them fall and goes and looks for someone else.
Are There any Other Ex-Amish Atheists Out There?
| April 13, 2012I am a formerly Amish atheist. Life can get a little lonely when there’s no other person that you know of that shares your background and your skepticism. This post is a shout-out to ex-Amish atheists everywhere. We need to get together, socialize, and support each other.
If you’re an ex-Amish atheist or agnostic, please comment on this page so we can get to know each other. I have also started a group on Atheist Nexus for people like us. Please come and join me;
Man Sentenced for DUI Crash that Killed Amish Girl
| April 11, 2012WOOSTER, Ohio – A Wayne County man convicted of causing the death of an Amish girl in a drunk driving accident was sentenced on Wednesday to two years in prison.
The crash happened in August 2011, when the girl’s family was heading home from a produce auction in Congress Township, and their wagon was struck from behind by a pickup truck. Four members of the Amish family were ejected from the wagon, which was outfitted with lights and reflectors. Sarah Zook, 11, was killed, and her brother and sister were seriously injured.
Woman leaves Amish but doesn't cut family ties
| April 7, 2012HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — Esther Miller found a calling in her strong hands.
They are bringing relief to the aching muscles of her clients at Hutchinson's Anointed Massage.
The 24-year-old Miller can't believe how her life is coming together. Not only does she have her own business; she recently became engaged and is planning her wedding to Devin Schoonover, a man she met at church.
She hasn't always felt so grounded or certain about life. Miller briefly lost her mooring when she chose to leave behind the traditions of her Old Order Amish roots. Though she has remained close to her family, through soul searching she has been led to a church that feeds her hungry spirit.