Amish Controversies

The Amish in Geauga County have been having issues following the state’s “stay-at-home” order – at least to the satisfaction of their neighbors. Now, health officials have gotten involved. First, Amish were reported for holding gatherings in violation of the state’s stay-at-home order. Non-Amish neighbors sent in photos allegedly showing Amish breaking the order’s rules. Health inspectors are now filing a notice of violation against…

People living in the Geauga County Amish community area have contacted Cleveland’s FOX8 news channel with reports of Amish “gathering for church and parties,” presumably violating the state’s stay-at-home order. Ohio’s stay-at-home order, prohibiting gatherings above 10 people, was issued March 22, to last from March 23 to April 6. Last week it was extended to last until May 1. Several have sent in photos of…

Iowa has been getting attention as one of the states not officially ordering schools closed during coronavirus. The governor limited it to a recommendation that they close for four weeks, issued mid-March. Here is an article describing it as a “recommendation,” and here is the governor’s own two-minute video statement doing the same. But things have apparently changed in the past several days. Bear with…

Sam Mullet was the pseudo-Amish bishop of a breakaway church who orchestrated the beard and hair-cutting attacks which terrorized an Ohio Amish community in 2011. Mullett is currently serving out the end of his 10-year, 9-month sentence in a halfway house. He would like to be released to finish his sentence under house arrest due to the coronavirus threat. Mullett is 74 years old and…

Ohio lawmakers want all 75,000+ Amish in the state to make some changes to their buggies. A proposed law would require a buggy-top flashing light, and a new kind of tape. From the Wooster Daily Record: Rep. Scott Wiggam (R-Wooster) and Rep. Darrell Kick (R-Loudonville) announced a bill Monday designed to make buggies more visible. The bill would require animal-drawn vehicles to display a new…

On our recent post “Nearly 40 Amish Youth Partygoers Arrested,” reader Al in KY commented about an unusual billboard. It can now be seen on the edge of Shipshewana, the center of the northern Indiana Amish community where the arrests occurred: Near the intersection of Hwys 5 and 20 (the main, very busy intersection as you enter Shipshewana from the south), I saw a large…

Lenawee County, Michigan authorities hope to find a compromise with Amish over sewage and water violations in an ongoing conflict in this southern Michigan community. That’s according to a new article in the Daily Telegram. The report contains more details about how waste is handled by the Amish: The health department said it started receiving complaints in 2015 about how the Amish were disposing of…