Amish Controversies

This is an odd story. A certain endangered orchid happens to grow in only one spot in vast Canada. That spot happens to be in a little area outside the community of Vita, Manitoba – where a new Amish settlement came to be last year. One of the settlement’s farmers is now in hot water for […]

Continue Reading Should A Rare Orchid Stop An Amish Farmer From Working His Land?

Two volunteer firefighters have been charged with arson in the burning of an Amish furniture shop in Pennsylvania. The community in question is Smicksburg (Indiana County), one of the larger settlements in the state. Byler’s Custom Built Aspen Log Furniture burned down in a fire back in January. This was one of four Amish business […]

Continue Reading Two Volunteer Firefighters Arrested For Burning Down Amish Furniture Shop

The person driving the abandoned stereo-equipped buggy is now known. The story in a nutshell – a deputy in Trumbull County, Ohio pulled over an Amish buggy which was going down the road with a twelve-pack of beer on its roof. The people inside jumped out and ran off into the woods, leaving behind their […]

Continue Reading “Stereo Buggy” Driver’s Father Comes Forward

Back in February, we looked at four major financial schemes which Amish had fallen victim to since 2008. A principal figure in one of those schemes has now been ordered to pay restitution. One thing to mention up front: articles on this are describing Earl D. Miller as “Amish” (of course, that’s a catchier and […]

Continue Reading Earl D. Miller Ordered To Repay $5.2 Million, Mostly To Amish Investors

This is what an Amish buggy equipped with a stereo system looks like. These are big speakers and can surely put out some noise: It’s unclear if they were turned on when sheriff’s deputies pulled this buggy over in the Geauga County Amish community. The occupants of the carriage promptly ran off. From wspa.com: Just […]

Continue Reading Amish Youth Abandon Stereo-Equipped Buggy After Being Pulled Over

An Amishman was sentenced Thursday in Dauphin County, PA for sexually abusing four girls when he was a teenager. From Penn Live: The 11 ½- to 23-month prison term President Judge Richard A. Lewis imposed on King was set in an agreement King reached when he pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including aggravated indecent assault, […]

Continue Reading Sexual Abuse Awareness Program Leads To Arrest, Conviction Of Amishman

Residents have spoken out in one Lancaster County township – over a proposed change which would permit stabling of two horses on a half-acre lot. Voices were strong against the idea. From Lancaster Online: East Hempfield Township residents panned a proposal to let Plain sect households stable two horses on residential lots as small as […]

Continue Reading Residents Object To Amish-Friendly Horse Acreage Change; Vote Postponed, Lawsuit Possible

Amish in Lenawee County, Michigan were told they had until last Friday to leave their homes – due to “unsafe living conditions.” This comes after a years-long conflict between the county’s Amish and local authorities. Here’s a summary of the story til now, from WTOL: The first group arrived four years ago after branching off […]

Continue Reading Michigan County Deems Amish Homes “Unfit For Human Habitation”

Have you ever watched Amish “reality” TV? This type of programming made its first big splash in 2004 with “Amish in the City”. The series followed five Rumspringa-age Amish youth paired with a similar number of non-Amish young people living in a home in Los Angeles. “Amish in the City” was just a precursor of […]

Continue Reading The Ugly Reality Behind Amish “Reality” TV

From the Salamanca Press: Amish school children in Cattaraugus County will probably have to find another way to school this fall if they currently are transported by school bus along with public school students. New York’s new vaccination regulations eliminating religious exemptions — such as those claimed by the Amish — go into effect this […]

Continue Reading New York Vaccination Law Could Keep Amish Schoolchildren Off Buses